In short. Almost all first-month mistakes are the same: not filling in the arrival card and not paying the tourist levy, not counting the visa term, getting on a scooter without a licence and helmet, leaving your passport as a deposit for a scooter, changing money without a licence, going into the water under a red flag and forgetting insurance. None of this takes experience, only knowing in advance. Below are twenty items, each with a link to the guide where it is covered by official sources.
Documents and entry.
- Flying in without the All Indonesia arrival card. It is filled in online before the flight, and the QR code is shown at passport control; without it you will have to fill it in from your phone in the queue. How to fill it in is in the guide to All Indonesia.
- Not paying the Bali tourist levy. It is paid on the official Love Bali site, and the voucher is shown at the airport and at checks at attractions. Guide to the tourist levy.
- Flying with a passport that has less than six months left. This is a requirement on every visa page at immigration, and an airline may refuse to board you.
- Thinking a visa on arrival can be extended as many times as you like. A visa on arrival gives 30 days and is extended once for another 30, after that either you leave or you get another visa. How to extend a VOA.
- Counting the visa term “roughly”. The term runs from the date of entry, a fine accrues for each day of overstay, and after a long overstay come deportation and an entry ban. Guide to overstay.
- Not knowing that you cannot work or sell services on a tourist visa, even to online clients in Indonesia. What counts as work and which visas allow it is in the guide to working legally.
- Bringing in a medicine or substance that is banned in Indonesia. Drugs here carry prison terms, and some ordinary medicines need a prescription and factory packaging. Drugs and medicines and what you can bring in.
Phone and connection.
- Bringing a phone and being surprised that the network is gone. Indonesia lets only phones with a registered IMEI onto mobile networks. A tourist for up to 90 days registers it at an operator's shop when buying a SIM, and someone staying longer registers it at customs on arrival, while it is free. Guide to IMEI.
- Buying a SIM card from a person with no registration by passport. The operator switches such a card off. How to buy and register is in the guide to SIM cards.
On the road.
- Riding a scooter without a licence. A tourist needs an international licence together with the national one, and someone living on a KITAS needs the local category SIM C; without them there is a fine, and the insurer will refuse to pay. Driving licence and what to do if the police stop you.
- Taking a scooter without inspecting it and photographing it, and leaving your passport as a deposit. The passport stays with you, and scratches and mileage are recorded before payment. Renting a scooter.
- Riding without a helmet or against the rules and getting an electronic fine from a camera on a rented scooter. How to check a fine by plate number and pay it is in the guide to ETLE.
- Not knowing what to do after an accident. The procedure at the scene, who to call and what to demand from the other party are in the guide to a scooter accident.
Money and housing.
- Changing money at the first exchange you see. A legal exchange has a KUPVA licence, while a “good rate” in a booth often comes with tricks in the counting. Rupiah, exchanges and ATMs.
- Sending money to a person from a chat for housing, a scooter or tickets without checking. Check who you are dealing with before you pay.
- Renting a villa for a month without a contract and without checking who is renting it out. What to check before paying is in the guide to monthly rentals and how to check a villa.
Health and safety.
- Flying without medical insurance or with a policy that does not cover a scooter. What a policy should cover and how to act in a case is in the guide to insurance.
- Going into the water under a red flag. Currents in Bali carry swimmers away every season, and the flags and lifeguard towers are not there for decoration. Ocean and flags.
- Brushing off a dog or monkey bite. Rabies exists in Bali, and the procedure is one: wash for 15 minutes under a tap with soap and go to a vaccination centre the same day. Guide to bites.
- Drinking alcohol of unknown origin. Methanol poisonings here are regular; symptoms and what to do are in the guide to methanol. And just in case, save the emergency numbers: the single number 112 works from any phone.
One more that people forget. Nyepi, the Day of Silence: once a year the airport is closed for a day, you may not go out or switch on lights, and in 2027 it falls on 8 March. If your arrival or departure falls on these dates, plan in advance: guide to Nyepi.
What this means for you. All twenty items can be covered in one evening before you fly and in the first two days on the island. If you do not want to deal with visas yourself, message @buzz_visa: they will choose a visa and arrange it, and you can read what suits you in the BUZZ VISA guides.