Public Transport Bali and Transport Service
Transport Bali is one of the most common questions from our friends or relatives coming to Bali. It’s not a secret anymore that public transport in Bali is not efficient. But guess what, you don’t always have to rent or book a car to explore Bali. Here we share some options about transport Bali for you to explore the island.
Transportation Service in Bali
1. Car Rental
If you come to Bali with a group of family or friends, renting a car can be a good option: you can reach some far-away destinations without putting your a** on a flat and hard seats. But if you’re heading to the narrow streets around Kuta, Legian and Seminyak, it can be troublesome to find a car parking lot or just to avoid the traffic jam. Please note that driving in Indonesia (Bali) is on the left side, so driver sits on the right side.
However, if you do decide the rent the car, here are some considerations to find the right car:
- Number of passengers
- Car-only or with driver.
If you rent car-only and drive it yourself (Please note that you MUST have international driving license (click to make one) as the policemen often have the paper-check), it is usually for 24 hours. But if you use with driver, it is usually per half day (5 hours) or per day (approximately 10 hours). - Manual or automatic car
- Duration. Usually, the longer you rent a car, the cheaper the price (per day) would be.
- Drop-off and pick-up points. Rental company can drop-off and pick-up the car to your accommodation or airport. Mostly it’s free of charge to Kuta or Denpasar area, but with little additional charge to other areas.
2. Motorbike Rental
Motorbike is the most convenient way to go around Bali: easy to go through small alleys, more parking lots for motorbike, can explore off-beaten path. Please note that you’d better have international driving license (click to apply online) to ride motorbike, as the policemen often have the paper-check. However, if you bring a baby or during the rainy season, the motorbike can be a less-prefered choice.
- You can rent motorbike in Bali per 24 hours, weekly, or monthly.
- Wide range of motor bikes available for rent, such as: scooter-type, big motorbike, or that is equipped with a surf-rack (a rack for surfboard).
Public Transport Bali
1. Online / Apps-based Taxi
If you choose to use public transport Bali, online taxi is one of the most comfortable to use in Bali. Besides having a very reasonable fare, online taxi is also mostly comfortable and clean due to standard set by the (apps) company. In Bali, there are currently 2 hail-ride operators: Grab and Go-Jek PlayStore and iTunes AppStore
Personally, we recommend Grab for cars (rather than Uber) because they have a good call center service (and sometimes lower fare), and Go-Jek for motorbike taxi.
WARNING:
However, online taxi, especially cars, are quite difficult to access in some tourist areas like Canggu, Kuta, Legian, Seminyak, Sanur and Ubud, including at the airport. In these areas, most online taxis are only allowed to drop passengers off, so its quite difficult if we want to take and ride an online taxi from these areas. Therefore, we have a bit tricky (use it secretly) to use a taxi online in these (tourist) areas.
2. Taxi
Taxi in Bali (especially in tourist areas) can be found in every 500 meters — quite easy to find –. Some official taxis use meter, such as Blue Bird Taxi, but some random local taxi on the street would not like to use meter which can be very uncomfortable for us.
To cope up with the competition, Blue Bird Taxi now also has mobile apps which you can download:
3. Airport Taxi
Meanwhile, in Ngurah Rai Airport, you can find airport official taxi, which the fare is based on the drop-off area (you can see the official rate on the counter) so the pricing is more reliable. We can find these counter at both domestic and international arrival terminal.
4. Kura Kura Bus Bali (Shuttle Bus)
Kura Kura Bus, a mini-van ELF with 12-29 seats capacity, is a shuttle bus serving the route to Ubud, Sanur, Kuta, Legian, Jimbaran and Nusa. Kura Kura Bus operational hours start from 07:00 till 23:50, depending on the route.
We can say Kura Kura Bus is comfortable and safe, its facilities include:
- Electrical sockets;
- Free wifi on the bus;
- Luggage rack on 29 seats bus type;
- Insurance for all passengers
Source: kura2bus.com
For schedules, routes, drop-point locations of Kura Kura Bus, see on:
- Website Kura Kura Bus Bali
- Application mobile: Kura Kura Bus apps on PlayStore
- Application mobile: Kura Kura Bus apps on itunes
You can also make a reservation through this website and mobile apps. Children under 2 years old are not charged as long as they do not require their own seat.
5. Trans Sarbagita (Public Bus)
Trans Sarbagita is arguably the only public transport provided and operated by the government. Trans Sarbagita is a big capacity bus transportation modes that serve some routes including Denpasar, Bangli, Gianyar and Tabanan. The fare is very cheap, only Rp.3.500,- per person per way, but due to uncertain schedule, you can probably use Trans Sarbagita when you are not in the rush.
You can find the complete route of Trans Sarbagita through Bali government official website.
6. Perama Shuttle Bus
Perama bus is a shuttle bus service that serve the route to Kuta, Sanur, Ubud, Lovina, Padang Bai, Candi Dasa and Karang Asem district. This bus is the best option if you plan to go to further area like Padang Bai with bus. You can find their schedule and book through this link, the fare is around IDR 75.000 depend on your destination. They also provide fast boat and tour to Nusa Lembongan, Lombok and Gili Island.
7. Fastboat to Nusa Lembongan, Nusa Penida and Gili
If you plan to cross the island to Nusa Lembongan, Nusa Penida or Gili Island in Lombok, fast boat is the best option. You can find many operator from Sanur or Padang Bai, some of our reccomendation are Rocky Fast Boat, Marlin Fast Boat, Mola-Mola Express or Scoot Fast Cruise.
Estimated Regular Taxi Fare Transport Bali
This table shows regular taxi fare. It can be 2-3 times cheaper if you use online taxi, or you can compare the fares with other transport in Bali, such as shuttle bus, public bus, or transport rental.
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We hope this information can help you to find the best transport Bali option during your time in the island 🙂
