Bali is safe for most solo travellers, as long as you plan for the risks that actually hurt visitors. Those are mostly accidents and health problems: scooter crashes, cheap spirits laced with methanol, dog and monkey bites (Bali has been under rabies emergency status in 2026) and strong currents at unpatrolled beaches. Petty theft is the main crime to watch, and UK travel advice singles out bag-snatching in busy tourist areas.
We checked UK and Australian government advice and 2026 Bali news reports for each risk below. Then the guide covers where to base yourself and how to meet people. For the rest of your trip, see our Indonesia travel guides.
Is it safe to ride a scooter in Bali?
A scooter is the riskiest thing most backpackers do in Bali, and the paperwork matters as much as the riding. To ride legally you need your home licence with a motorbike category plus an International Driving Permit that covers motorbikes. A car-only permit or a “licence” sold by a rental agent won’t count. The WHO figure quoted by InDaily is that over 70% of Indonesian road deaths involve motorbikes or scooters.
Police do check. In May 2025, Badung police seized 56 vehicles and cited 81 riders, 30 of them tourists, in Canggu, Uluwatu, Kuta and Seminyak, InDaily reported. Helmets are compulsory for riders and passengers. Riding without the right licence can also void your travel insurance, which leaves you paying the hospital bill.
If you’ve never ridden, don’t learn on Bali’s roads. Lujza Horvathova, Paid Social Marketing Executive at Hostelworld, who went in October 2026, says:
The easy alternative is booking a bike or car ride on the Grab or Gojek app. For a longer day out, hire a driver through your hostel. Our guide to renting a motorbike or scooter covers checking the bike before you pay.
Is the alcohol safe in Bali?
Branded beer and wine are the safer choice, and cheap spirits are where the risk sits. UK government travel advice says methanol poisoning in Indonesia has come from drinks bought in licensed bars, shops and hotels in tourist areas, and that you can’t identify methanol by taste or smell. Indonesia is one of 29 destinations now carrying UK methanol warnings, the Irish News reported in July 2026.
On a night out, order bottled beer, wine or sealed premixed drinks. Skip free shots, buckets, suspiciously cheap “brand-name” spirits and arak cocktails (arak is the local spirit). Watch your drink being made and never leave it alone, because the same UK advice reports drink spiking in Bali, Lombok and the Gilis. Our guide to nights out in Bali has places to start.
Know the signs. Nausea, vomiting, dizziness, confusion, vision problems and breathlessness can appear 12 to 48 hours after drinking, according to that Irish News report. Don’t sleep it off as a hangover. Get to a hospital straight away and tell staff what you drank.
Do you need to worry about rabies in Bali?
Yes, enough to keep your hands off every animal. Bali is in rabies emergency status after cases rose through 2025 and 2026, according to a September 2026 RRI report. The Bali Provincial Health Office recorded 45,365 bites from animals that can carry rabies and seven rabies deaths between January and August 2026, Antara reported.
Don’t pet street dogs or cats, and don’t feed the monkeys, including at Ubud’s Monkey Forest, one of the most popular things to do in Bali. Keep food and sunglasses in a closed bag.
If you’re bitten or scratched, wash the wound with soap and running water for about 15 minutes, as the WHO advises, then go to a clinic or hospital the same day. Before you fly, ask a travel clinic whether pre-exposure vaccination makes sense for your trip.
How common is theft in Bali, and how do you avoid it?
Petty theft is the crime you’re most likely to meet, and in 2026 it’s mostly snatch theft from passing motorbikes. Australian outlets including InDaily reported a wave of phone and bag snatching in July 2026, and police have stepped up night patrols in Canggu, Seminyak and Kuta, according to The Bali Sun.
A few habits cut the risk a lot:
- Walk on the pavement and keep your phone and bag on the side away from the road.
- Don’t scroll on your phone at the roadside after dark. Order your Grab from inside.
- Leave necklaces and good jewellery locked up at your hostel.
- Take the key out of your scooter every time you park it.
- Change money at a bank or an authorised money changer, and count it before you walk away.
If something is stolen, call the police on 110, the free national police line, and ask for a report for your insurer. Bali police said in April 2026 that the 110 line runs 24 hours with multilingual service, The Jakarta Post reported, though you may not always reach an English speaker straight away. Our Bali neighbourhood guide helps you pick a quieter base.
Is the sea safe for swimming in Bali?
Only where the beach is watched and the flags say so. Many of Bali’s west and south coast beaches have strong rip currents, and Australia’s Smartraveller added a warning in 2025 that Australians have drowned at popular tourist beaches, many of them unpatrolled, The New Daily reported.
Learn the flags. A red flag means no swimming at all, and red and yellow flags mark the stretch where lifeguards are watching, according to Bali Live. In September 2025 a British tourist drowned at Legian after lifeguards had warned his group to leave a red-flagged area, The Jakarta Post reported.
If you want to surf, book a lesson with a local school rather than paddling out alone, and pick a base from our list of surf hostels.
What else should you know before you land in Bali?
Pay the tourist levy, and only on the official site. Every foreign visitor owes Rp 150,000 (about €7.34) once per trip, paid cashless through Love Bali, the provincial government’s portal, which emails you a QR voucher. Copycat sites charge extra, so type the address yourself rather than clicking an ad. The euro figure uses the European Central Bank rate of 20,425.83 rupiah to the euro on 4 November 2026.
Plan around Nyepi, the Day of Silence. For 24 hours the whole island stays indoors with the lights off, and the airport shuts too: in 2026, Nyepi fell on 19 March and Ngurah Rai airport suspended all flights from 6am that day to 6am the next, Antara reported. In 2027 it’s expected on Monday 8 March, according to Bali.com, so check the date again before you book flights.
Leave drugs well alone. Indonesia has a zero-tolerance policy, and UK government advice warns that people caught can face long prison sentences or the death penalty. That includes CBD and anything cannabis-based.
Drink bottled or filtered water, not tap water. Lujza, our Paid Social Marketing Executive, who went to Bali in October 2026, kept it simple:
Heading on from Bali afterwards? Our list of the best places to visit in Indonesia covers the next stops.
Where should solo travellers stay in Bali?
For a first solo trip, base yourself in Canggu if you want to meet people fast, or Ubud if you’d rather ease in. Canggu has the biggest choice of social hostels and the busiest nightlife, which also means the most traffic on its narrow roads. Compare hostels in Canggu, and our Canggu travel guides cover the area street by street.
Ubud is calmer, inland among the rice terraces, with yoga studios and cafés instead of beach clubs (just keep your bag zipped near the monkeys); you can browse hostels in Ubud here. Uluwatu, on the southern cliffs, suits surfers, but it’s spread out, so you’ll need a driver or ride-hailing app to get around, and there are fewer hostels in Uluwatu. Lujza, our Paid Social Marketing Executive, went in October 2026 with her partner rather than solo. Her take on the two bases she tried:
For specific picks in each area, see our guide to the best hostels in Bali.
How do you meet people safely in Bali?
Meet people through your hostel first, where staff and other guests know who’s going. The easiest way is a Linkup: activities run by your hostel, nearby hostels or other backpackers, like surf lessons, sunset yoga or a group dinner. In the Hostelworld app you can see who’s joining a Linkup before you go, and start browsing them 14 days before check-in, as Hostelworld’s Linkups page explains.
City Chats connect you with travellers staying at any hostel in town. Use them to split a Grab back from Uluwatu or find a surf buddy for a dawn session, and keep the first meet-up somewhere public.
Haven’t booked yet? A Social Pass opens the chats before you arrive. For bigger nights out, festivals and markets, check the Hostelworld Events pages. Our guide to finding hostel meetups in any city has more ideas.
Four habits that keep Bali safe
Yes, Bali is safe for solo travellers who keep four habits. Ride only with the right licence, or book a Grab or Gojek instead. Drink bottled beer, wine or sealed drinks. Keep your hands off stray dogs, cats and monkeys. And swim only between the red and yellow flags.
Base yourself somewhere social and you’ll spend your time on the rice terraces and the surf, not in a clinic. If you’d like somewhere quieter, try one of these places like Bali but less touristy.
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