Is Bali safe? The real risks, the laws that catch tourists, and how to stay out of trouble

Yes, Bali is safe to visit: violent crime against tourists is rare, and the US State Department keeps Indonesia at Level 2 of 4, with no separate warning for Bali. The things that do go wrong are specific and mostly avoidable: scooter crashes, bags snatched from passing bikes, rip currents, fake spirits, animal bites and drug laws that put foreigners in prison for years. Here is each one, with the figures and the fix.

Is Bali safe to visit right now? The 2026 travel advisories

None of the three governments most read by English-speaking travellers warns against Bali. All three rate Indonesia as a whole at their second level, and the reasons behind that level (unrest in Papua, terrorism, earthquakes) have little to do with a holiday in Seminyak or Ubud. Here is where they stood when we checked on 14 October 2026.

What the advisories say about Bali itself is more useful than the level. Canada flags forced ATM withdrawals, methanol and visa scams. Australia, whose citizens make up the largest group of foreign visitors, lists drownings, scooter crashes, drink spiking and arrests for drugs. Those are the risks this page goes through, in order of how often they hurt people.

Is Bali safe from terrorism?

The 2002 and 2005 bombings in Kuta and Jimbaran are why every government still mentions terrorism. Smartraveller notes that Indonesian authorities keep disrupting groups, including in Bali. For a visitor, the risk is low and the precautions are passive: hotels, malls and some beach clubs run bag checks at the gate, and it is worth following local news during your stay.

Is Bali safe for Americans?

Yes, and no differently from anyone else. There is no anti-American hostility in Bali, US passport holders get a visa on arrival like Canadians, Australians and Britons, and the Level 2 rating applies to everyone in the country. What does differ for Americans is the safety net:

• Health cover. Medicare does not pay for care abroad, and many US health plans cover overseas emergencies only partly, without medical evacuation. A Bali hospital asks for a deposit or an insurer's guarantee before admitting you.
• STEP. Enrolling your trip in the State Department's Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (step.state.gov) means the embassy can contact you after an earthquake or an eruption.
• The embassy. The US Embassy in Jakarta answers 24 hours a day on +62 21 5083 1000. It cannot get you out of a drug charge or pay your hospital bill, but it can visit you in detention, contact your family and replace a passport.
• Driving. A US licence is not enough on Bali's roads: you also need an international driving permit, endorsed for motorcycles if you plan to ride a scooter. Your licence at home must cover motorcycles too.

Before you fly, check the entry formalities in our guides to the Bali visa and the arrival card.

Scooter accidents in Bali: the risk that actually hurts tourists

If something sends you to hospital in Bali, it will most likely be a road accident. Bali police counted 142 accidents involving foreigners in 2024, up 35% on 2023, with 21 deaths and 171 people lightly injured, according to the traffic directorate quoted by the national police in November 2025. In 2022 the count was 68 accidents and 4 deaths. The causes the police list are the same every year: riding drunk, riding without experience, and no helmet.

In November 2025 the police went further and asked foreigners who are not skilled riders to stop riding on their own and to rent with a driver instead. Smartraveller adds two points few people know: after a crash, theforeigner is often assumed to be at fault and can be made to pay all parties, and locally sold helmets do not always meet safety standards. Canada advises against riding at night outside the towns, where some vehicles run without lights.

Do you need an international driving permit to ride a scooter in Bali?

Yes. Indonesian police expect your national licence plus an international driving permit, both valid for motorcycles. Rental shops will hand you a scooter without asking for either, which is where tourists get caught. Police checkpoints in the south fine riders for each missing document, usually in the region of Rp 300,000 to 500,000 (US$17 to US$28 · C$24 to C$40), and riding without a helmet or in swimwear gets you stopped as well.

Does travel insurance cover a scooter accident in Bali?

Only if you were riding legally. Most policies exclude accidents when the rider had no valid motorcycle licence for the country, no helmet, or alcohol in the blood, and some exclude engines over 125 cc or require a motorcycle option. Read the motorcycle clause before you rent, not after. Policies such as SafetyWing's Nomad Insurance can be bought once you have already left home and set out what they cover on two wheels. Partner link: we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

Canada adds one cost people forget: rental scooters are often stolen, and the owner will make you pay for a replacement. Lock it, and park where someone is watching.

Scooter or private driver: the safer way around Bali

For day trips, a car with a driver removes the main risk on the island, and split between three or four people it costs less than most visitors expect. Prices and booking tips are in our guide to hiring a private driver in Bali. For short hops, Grab and Gojek give you a tracked ride with a named driver.

Crime in Bali: snatch thefts, ATMs and taxis

There are no reliable crime statistics for Bali alone, and Indonesia's homicide rate is among the lowest in the world. Violent crime against tourists is rare. Opportunistic theft is not, and it follows a pattern.

Bag snatching from scooters in Seminyak, Kuta and Canggu

The most reported crime is the snatch: a rider pulls alongside a pedestrian, or another scooter, and grabs a phone, a bag or a necklace. In July 2026 the Bali press named Seminyak, Kuta, Canggu, Legian and Uluwatu as the hotspots, mostly at night near markets, restaurants and bars, and Badung police stepped up night patrols. Theftscan turn violent when the victim holds on, or falls off a moving scooter.

• Walk facing the traffic, with your bag on the side away from the road.
• Keep your phone in a zipped pocket, not in your hand on the kerb, and never in the front basket of a scooter.
• Leave expensive jewellery at the hotel, or wear necklaces under your clothes.
• Take a taxi or a Grab back from bars at night rather than walking along the main roads.

Report a theft to the nearest police post or on 110. Your insurer will want the police report.

ATM skimming and forced withdrawals

Smartraveller warns about skimmers and hidden cameras on cash machines, and Canada about forced withdrawals, where someone makes you empty your account at an ATM. Use machines inside banks, malls and minimarts in daytime, cover the keypad, and keep a second card in the safe.

Taxi and ride-hailing safety in Bali

Canada recommends metered taxis from Bluebird, Thunderbird or Express, and never getting into a cab that already has a passenger. Smartraveller adds that assaults have happened in unregistered taxis, with women travelling alone most at risk. Ride-hailing apps are the simplest option: the driver, the plate and the route are recorded. They need mobile data, which is one reason to sort out a local SIM or an Airalo eSIM before you land (partner link).

Monkeys, dogs and rabies in Bali

Bali has had rabies since 2008, and it is still there: in June 2026 a rabid dog bit three people in Jembrana, and the Jakarta Post put Bali among the worst-affected provinces in Indonesia. Rabies is fatal once symptoms start. For tourists, though, the animal most likely to bite is not a dog. An Australian study of travellers treated after returning from Bali found that most animal injuries came from monkeys, at temples and monkey forests, mostly among people who fed them or played with them.

At the Sacred Monkey Forest in Ubud, at Uluwatu temple and at Sangeh, keep food out of sight, take off sunglasses and dangling earrings, don't stare at or smile at a monkey (a bared-teeth display is a threat to them), and let go if one grabs something. Give street dogs a wide berth, and don't pet them on the beach.

What to do after a monkey bite or scratch in Bali

1. Wash the wound with soap under running water for fifteen minutes.
2. Go to a clinic or hospital the same day and say "possible rabies exposure". Even a scratch that breaks the skin counts.
3. You may need a course of vaccine and, if you were not vaccinated before the trip, rabies immunoglobulin, which is not always in stock. Smartraveller warns that some travellers have had to leave the country to get it.

A pre-trip rabies vaccination does not remove the need for treatment after a bite, but it makes it simpler and removes the need for immunoglobulin. Ask your travel clinic, especially for a long trip or one with children.

Rip currents in Bali: are the beaches safe for swimming?

The surf beaches on the west coast, from Kuta to Canggu, and the reef breaks of the Bukit look calm from the sand and are not. Smartraveller says rip currents drown several Australians a year in Indonesia, including in Bali, and that many beaches have no lifeguards. No authority publishes drowning figures for Bali, which is part of the problem: the risk is easy to underestimate.

• Swim only where lifeguards are on duty, between their red and yellow flags. No flags, no swim.
• Watch for a calm, darker channel between breaking waves: that is often the rip.
• If you are pulled out, don't swim against it. Float, raise an arm, and swim parallel to the beach until you are out of the current, which is the advice of the US National Weather Service.
• Calmer water for children: the lagoons of Sanur and Nusa Dua, protected by the reef. Villa pools are often unfenced, so keep an eye on toddlers there too.

Fast boats and day trips to Nusa Penida

Smartraveller warns that some boat operators do not meet safety standards, carry too few life jackets(especially in children's sizes) and sail without radio or GPS. A day-trip boat to Nusa Penida capsized in March 2025, killing one passenger. Choose an established operator, check where the life jackets are, and stay ashore when the sea is rough.

Methanol in arak: is the alcohol safe in Bali?

Beer, wine and spirits from sealed bottles in a proper bar are safe. The danger is methanol, found in counterfeit spirits and badly made arak, the local palm or rice spirit. Smartraveller says it has killed or seriously harmed travellers and that "as little as one shot can be fatal". Canada says people have died. Cheap cocktails, buckets and free shots are the usual vehicle, because you cannot see the bottle.

The first signs look like a bad hangover: nausea, vomiting, headache. The ones that point to methanol are blurred or snowy vision, confusion and difficulty breathing, often 12 to 24 hours after drinking. That is a hospital emergency, and it is treatable when caught early. We explain how to tell it apart from food poisoning on our Bali belly page.

Smartraveller also reports drink spiking in Bali and Lombok. Keep your glass in sight and don't accept drinks you did not see poured.

What is the drinking age in Bali?

21. Indonesia's trade rules restrict the sale of alcohol to people aged 21 and over, with ID. The rule targets sellers rather than drinkers, and in tourist bars it is often applied loosely, butsupermarkets and some clubs do ask for ID. For Americans this changes nothing. For 18 to 20-year-olds from Canada, Australia or the UK it does. Carry a copy of your passport if you look young.

Alcohol is sold freely in Bali, a Hindu-majority island, unlike in parts of Indonesia. Being drunk in public, and especially drunk at a temple or on a scooter, is what gets tourists into trouble.

Drug laws in Bali: penalties for possession and dealing

Indonesia's narcotics law (Law 35 of 2009) makes no distinction for tourists, small amounts or "soft" drugs. Police target tourist areas and events, run random drug tests, and suspects can be held for a long time without bail while the case is investigated. These are the penalties as the law is written:

Law 35/2009, articles 111, 112, 114 and 127. Since January 2026, Law 1 of 2026 has been recalculating penalties in sector laws to fit the new criminal code, and courts have started applying lighter terms in some cases. The principle does not change. Converted at the rate of 13 October 2026: Rp 17,927 to US$1, Rp 12,585 to C$1.

These are not theoretical. A British man spent ten months in prison in 2025 after a death-penalty charge was dropped. An American was sentenced to more than nine years for selling cocaine and cannabis. In June 2026 an Australian was arrested in neighbouring Lombok over 59 ml of cannabis vape liquid. Smartraveller also warns about drugs planted by a "new friend" invited back to your room.

Is weed legal in Bali? Cannabis, CBD and vapes

No. Cannabis is a Category I narcotic, alongside heroin. Smartraveller is explicit that oils, creams, hemp products, CBD, THC, hash and edibles are all illegal, including medical cannabis with a prescription from home.A THC vape cartridge in your bag at the airport is drug trafficking. Leave all of it at home.

Prescription medications banned in Bali: ADHD drugs, codeine and painkillers

Some medicines that are routine at home are controlled in Indonesia. Smartraveller lists drugs for ADHD among the ones that are illegal, and Canada says morphine- and codeine-based medicines need authorisation before you arrive. Before you fly:

• Check each medicine with the Indonesian embassy in your country, well in advance.
• Bring only what you need for the trip, in the original packaging with the pharmacy label.
• Carry a copy of the prescription and a letter from your doctor naming the drug and the dose.
• Be ready to fill in a form from Indonesia's food and drug authority (BPOM) on arrival.

Buying a prescription-only medicine in Bali without a prescription from an Indonesian doctor is also illegal.

Laws in Bali that catch tourists in 2026

Bali's new criminal code: sex and living together outside marriage

Indonesia's new criminal code came into force on 2 January 2026. It punishes sex outside marriage with up to a year in prison and unmarried couples living together with up to six months. The headlines scared a lot of couples, but the detail matters more. Police can only act on a complaint, and only from a spouse (if one of you is married) or from a parent or child (if you are not). Hotels, neighbours and the police themselves cannot file one, and Bali's tourism authorities have said hotels will not ask for marriage certificates. For an unmarried couple of tourists, the practical risk is close to nil. For a relationship with a married Indonesian, it is real.

Same-sex relationships are not criminalised in Bali, but they are not recognised either, and Smartraveller advises discretion in public.

The governor's rules for tourists: temples, sacred trees and money changers

On 24 March 2025, Governor Wayan Koster issued a circular (SE 7/2025) listing what tourists must and must not do. The parts that matter on a normal trip:

• Tourists may not enter the inner and middle courtyards of temples unless they come to pray, in Balinese dress.
• No climbing sacred trees, no nude or disrespectful photos at holy sites, no littering.
• Exchange money only at authorised money changers (more on that below).
• No working without the right visa. Smartraveller adds that paid content creation counts as work on a tourist visa.
• Pay the tourist levy of Rp 150,000 (US$8 · C$12): sites can refuse entry without it.

Breaches can be reported to a provincial hotline, and foreigners have been deported for disrespecting sacred sites.

Carry your passport: immigration checks and damaged passports

Smartraveller says immigration runs random checks in tourist areas, including Bali, so carry your passport or a clear copy with your visa page. Indonesia is also strict about damaged passports: travellers have been refused entry over water damage or a torn page.

Dengue and Zika in Bali: the 2026 picture

Dengue is the mosquito-borne disease that matters in Bali, mostly in the wet season from November to April. 2026 has been a much better year than 2025: Bali recorded 1,588 cases from January to July 2026, against 9,116 over the same months of 2025, a fall of 82.6%, with two deaths by mid-year against 13 in the whole of 2025, according to the provincial figures reported by the Bali Post. The mosquito that carries it bites in daytime, so repellent matters at lunch as much as at dusk.

On 7 August 2026 the CDC issued a Level 2 notice for Zika in Bali, after cases in travellers returning home. Zika is usually mild but can harm a baby during pregnancy, and it can be passed on sexually: if you are pregnant or trying, talk to your doctor before booking.

• Use a repellent with DEET, picaridin or oil of lemon eucalyptus, day and evening.
• Pick rooms with air conditioning or window screens.
• A fever with headache and pain behind the eyes during or after the trip needs a doctor and a blood test.

Do you need vaccines for Bali?

None is required for entry from the US, Canada or Australia. The CDC recommends being up to date on routine vaccines (including measles, which has outbreaks in Bali) plus hepatitis A and typhoid, and suggests considering Japanese encephalitis and rabies depending on the length of the trip and what you will do. It recommends malaria medicine only for certain areas of Indonesia: check its map with your doctor before buying pills for a Bali-only trip. Food and water are the other everyday health risk, covered on our Bali belly page.

Volcanoes, earthquakes and tsunamis: is Bali safe from natural disasters?

Bali sits on the Ring of Fire, with two active volcanoes. On 14 October 2026, the Indonesian volcano monitoring service MAGMA had Mount Agung and Mount Batur both at Level I, Normal, the lowest of four. The last serious episode was Agung's eruption at the end of 2017, which closed the airport for days. Ash can still disrupt flights when volcanoes on neighbouring islands erupt, so a flexible ticket and insurance that covers delays are worth having.

The sunrise trek on Mount Batur is the volcano most visitors climb. It is a steep night walk on loose gravel, and local guides are compulsory, which is also the safe way to do it.

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Mount Batur sunrise trek, guide and breakfast included

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See the trek

Affiliate link. Booking through GetYourGuide costs you nothing extra and supports the guide. Price and rating checked October 2026. Both move with season and demand.

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Earthquakes and tsunami warnings in Bali

Earthquakes are frequent across Indonesia: a magnitude 7.7 struck near Flores, east of Bali, on 14 August 2026. If you feel a strong or long quake on the coast, move inland or to high ground without waiting for a siren. Indonesia's weather agency BMKG publishes quake and tsunami alerts in its app, InfoBMKG. In the wet season, floods and landslides also close roads in the hills.

Money changer scams in Bali and how to avoid them

The best-known scam on the island happens at the counter. A small shop shows a rate better than the banks, counts your rupiah quickly, and folds a few notes away as it hands the pile over. Rupiah notes carry many zeros (Rp 100,000 is about US$5.60), which makes it easy to miss.

• Use an authorised money changer: a proper office, the Bank Indonesia licence and QR code on display. Bank Indonesia's Bali office runs moneychangerbali.com, the official list, and the governor's circular now bars tourists from changing money anywhere else.
• Be wary of a rate far better than the banks, especially in a shop that also sells SIM cards or tours.
• Count the money yourself, at the counter, before you hand over your dollars. Then count it again.
• Withdrawing from a bank ATM is often simpler, and your bank's rate is easy to check afterwards.

Fake tourist levy and visa websites

Copycat websites charge extra for the Bali tourist levy, the e-visa on arrival and the arrival card, all of which have one official site. Use only the links in our guides to the tourist levy and the visa. Smartraveller also warns about rigged card games and high-pressure villa timeshare sales.

Is Bali safe for solo female travellers?

Bali is one of the easiest places in Asia to travel alone as a woman, and thousands do it every month. The risks are the ones listed above, with two more weighted towards women. Smartraveller reports sexual assaults in tourist areas, including Bali, says solo women are at higher risk, and warns about drink spiking. It also reports assaults in unregistered taxis.

• Book rides through an app or a metered taxi company, and share the trip with a friend.
• Keep your drink in your hand at bars and beach clubs.
• Pick accommodation with a staffed reception for the first nights.
• Dress modestly away from the beach, and always at temples.

Emergency numbers in Bali

Save these before you land. For a medical emergency, calling your hotel and your insurer's assistance line at the same time as an ambulance often gets you to a private clinic faster.