Bali has always been my top destination getaway that is super budget-friendly, so it’s pretty easy to visit the island once every couple of months. Though often overrun with tourists, Bali is still surprisingly affordable if you know where to look. I would estimate 500,000 IDR (SGD$50) a day is a good estimation of budget to travel very comfortably around Bali.

Here are my itinerary and tips to Bali on a Budget:

ACCOMMODATION (460,000 IDR/night)

There’s no need for hostels if you’re planning to save cash on a place to stay in Bali. Private hotel rooms can be found as low as 280,000 IDR (SGD$29) a night, even located in areas central to seminyak and other popular areas a few distance away from the beach. I decided to pick a stay that is a walkable distance to the beach this time round. After looking through a couple of rooms online, I decided to pick a stay at Sedasa Lodge, Canggu, for a 2 bedroom at the hotel, with a 10 mins walk distance to Canggu beach and Finns Beach Club. The room that was near the pool costs us 460,000 IDR per night (including breakfast), the rooms not facing the pool costs about 410,000 IDR (SGD$42) a night. The place was great! The rooms were clean and the staff were always there to assist us, especially since our room was right in front of the main area, we could literally wave at anyone entering the place.

Accommodation Tips:

Stay in area with a walkable distance to beaches or just the central to save money on transport. | If you area staying further, do consider renting a bike to get around. Local taxis will just cheat your money. | If you feel saver travelling in cars, you can use Grab Taxi using the app since it’s much much cheaper than a local cab.

Arrival / Getting Around Seminyak

After arriving to Bali in the morning, we took a Grab Taxi from the airport (90,000 IDR) to check in to the hotel at Camggu. Since we stayed in a hotel that was a 10 mins walk from Canggu Beach, we decided to make our first stop at the beach, this was after 2 hours of waiting to check in and after getting ready. Canggu beach is a great spot to relax and swim in the ocean. Compared to other beach like Kuta beach, this is pretty secluded, most people come to the beach to surf, and it’s also nearby a couple of surf hotels. The great thing about our location was that, it was also right near Finns Beach Club and a couple of restaurants. So a couple hours passed by and we decided to take a trip central to Seminyak and ordered a Grab Car for about a 20 mins drive.

While at seminyak, we did a bit of grocery shopping in the mini marts to pack our bags with snacks and also went around to see clothes in some boutiques by the street. We stopped by a place to have an Indonesia Lunch at a gorgeous restaurant called Batik Bar and Restaurant in seminyak.

Batik Restaurant (Avg 80,000 IDR/meal)

The restaurant served Indonesia, Thai and other foods, so it had a great variety of options to choose from. I ordered the Thai Chicken Holy Basil for about 60,000 IDR (SGD$7) which was huge in portion. Photos below:

You can click here for their full MENU

After finishing our meal, we decided to continue to walk around shops in Seminyak. Since it was really hot, and there were so many ice cream shops, I couldn’t resist the temptation to have some dessert to cool down. We discovered a place called Mad Pops that sold a variety of vegan ice cream! I ordered the coconut and chocolate which wasn’t very good, so I traded it with this berry and coconut flavour!

MAD POPS SEMINYAK #VEGAN (30,000 IDR)

DINNER BY THE BEACH (Avg 65,000 IDR/meal)

There are a wide variety of places to eat by the beach in Seminyak, in all includes shisha to order and sit on bean bags to relaax, live music included. Shisha costs an average of 100,ooo IDR.

MILK & MADU DELIVERY (Avg 60,000 IDR)

Late night snack ordered using Grab to our hotel.

WATERFALL TOUR (400,000 IDR/pax)

The best part about bali is always getting to travel around the island and exploring its natural wonders and heritage. This tour package by Golden Bali Tours provided us with a great experience. The tour included a private driver that picks and drop you up at the hotel, 3 visited locations (Tegallalang Rice Field Terrace, Tegunungan Waterfall, and Ubud Market place), and lunch at a gorgeous Traditional Restaurant.

BEACH CLUBS TO VISIT

Out of all the many beach clubs in bali, I managed to squeeze in two into this trip for a quick dip in the pool and to relax on its well maintained beaches.

FINNS BEACH CLUB (Avg 85,000 IDR/meal)

SUNDAYS BEACH CLUB (300,000 IDR/entry)

PRANA SPA SEMINYAK (Min 510,000 IDR)

The last day of the trip was anticipated to be a relaxing and spa day for us. We went slightly above the budget here for a spa treatment at Prana Spa, a gorgeous middle eastern themed spa located in Seminyak. The 75 mins treatment included a traditional deep tissue massage and access to the spa facilities, costing us about 600,000 IDR per person. We personally wanted to come here to experience the unique theme that they had, however there are plenty of spas that would only cost half the price for the same treatment. Prana spa was listed as one of the best spa in Bali with a unique touch to it, so it was worthy experience to try something new for the first time. More on the reviews of the spa on my upcoming blog post!