Bali

Bali is one island carrying three separate trips, and the common mistake is booking one base for all three. The south, Kuta through Seminyak to Canggu and round to Uluwatu, is surf, beach clubs, traffic and most of the island’s rooms. Ubud is forty minutes inland on the map and often ninety in practice, and trades the beach for temples, rice terraces and a lower bill. The east and north, Amed, Sidemen and Lovina, are quiet and cheap and three hours from the airport.

Bali is the busiest hotel market in Indonesia. In April 2026 its star-hotel occupancy was 57.94 per cent against a national average of 48.83, the highest of any province on the Ministry of Tourism’s figures. The season moves that number hard, but only at the top. BPS recorded five star occupancy climbing from 52.70 per cent in March 2026 to 74.45 in July, a rise of nearly 22 points. Over the same four months one star hotels went from 45.49 to 47.37 per cent, under two points. Peak season is almost entirely a resort-end event, so expect a wide March to July price gap at the luxury end and close to a flat one at the cheap end.

Bali will not suit you if you expect short distances. Nothing is near anything once the traffic starts and there is no railway. It will not suit you if you came for a reliably dry island either. Rain returns everywhere from November, and the driest parts of Bali are the north and west, which is not where you are staying.

What it does suit: a two week trip split across two bases, diving in the east, a long stay at a low daily cost, and anyone who will hire a driver instead of a scooter.