You want to go to Bali with the family, but need some tips on how to begin?
We have some hints on how to plan a holiday that will be fun for everyone!
BALI LOCATIONS BEST SUITED TO FAMILIES
Legian & Seminyak are our personal top picks.
Seminyak is personally our favourite location, but Legian makes a mention due to its offering of family friendly resorts – more about that later!
Sanur is a lovely choice for those that like slow pace.
Nusa Dua is well-suited to those that like resort-based holidays and are happy to being confined within the resort.
While Canggu, Uluwatu, Jimbaran, and the islands of Bali are all wonderful places, our experience has been that for the general family holiday where ‘happy kids, happy parents’ is your aim, these locations are a little more challenging when it comes to having an easy family holiday.
This all comes down to personal choice, and our blog is based on our own interests of having locations in which we feel safe, children entertained, and having access to restaurants that both the children and adults love.
BEST STYLE OF BALI ACCOMODATION FOR FAMILIES | BALI VILLAS VS BALI RESORTS
Whilst villas offer a luxe Bali vacation, our experience is that children are most happy in resort style accommodation.
Most Bali villas have open air living spaces, which doesn’t allow for you to have an airconditioned communal area to escape the heat (or the mozzies). The bedrooms generally have only external access, stepping straight out to the private pool which creates a nightmare for the safety of little ones having their own room and ensuring that they don’t access the pool without you knowing – unless you all share one bedroom, going to bed and waking up at the same time. The vision of a relaxing holiday soon becomes reality that you have added unnecessary stress.
Villas can be great for families travelling as a group, but our suggestion is that if you do choose this accommodation style, that you find a villa which has a western layout of indoor living and bedrooms that do not have external access. In addition to hiring a pool fence for safety.
Bali Family Villas is a great place to find that perfect family friendly villa. https://www.balifamilyvillas.com/
Resorts that offer kids clubs, toddler swimming pools, and room styles that allow for separate sleeping quarters for the little ones, are in our opinion the best way to ensure that you can relax as much as possible.
An extra bonus if the resort is beachfront or within short walking distance to the beach, so that you can step right out late afternoon to watch the sunset on the sand while your little ones play.
Our top suggested resorts –
Legian | Padma Resort https://padmaresortlegian.com/
Seminyak | Montigo Resorts https://seminyak.montigoresorts.com/
WHICH ROOM TYPE TO CHOOSE FOR FAMILY BALI HOLIDAYS
Our top hint – the lower the level, the less lugging of children. Ground floor = easier holiday.
Look for rooms that are apartment style, interconnecting or at least have a separate space for sleeping & relaxing. Being able to sit on your terrace, or in a living space while your little ones are in bed provides for a day that doesn’t need to end once your little one’s heads have hit the pillow.
Padma Resort Legian offer great family rooms that provide 2 separate sleeping areas, each with their own bathroom and tv (apartment style). There are approximately 6 ground level family rooms which face directly to the children’s pool & kids club. These rooms come at a high cost and low availability. To lower the budget, know that any room at the Padma is wonderful. Any style ground floor room that faces out on to the gardens with lush grass for the children to play would be our next pick!
Monitgo Resorts Seminyak have 4 x two-bedroom apartments on site, each bedroom having its own bathroom, in addition to a small living space and an extra toilet. 2 of these room types are on the ground level, easing the nerves of children on balconies!
Our top pick however is the garden room at the Montigo. These are on offer as interconnecting rooms if you want to book 2 to enjoy the extra space. If you are on a lower budget, one room can be arranged with daybed converted for sleeping as well as the king-sized bed. Our favourite feature of these rooms is the small grassed private outdoor space that each of these suites has to offer with a large outdoor daybed – a wonderful spot to retreat back to where the kids can play (or even splash around in an inflatable pool if you want to go out all extra & pack one!) while you relax in your own privacy.
GETTING TO YOUR BALI ACCOMODATION WITH KIDS | BALI TRANSFERS FOR FAMILIES
Car seats are not common in Bali.
Children will utilise a standard seatbelt, and/or can also sit on your knee when travelling if underage. For this reason, it is smart to pack a baby carrier and wear your baby while in the car.
If you wish to use a car seat for your transfer, Bali Baby Hire can arrange these transfer needs - https://balibabyhire.com/airport-hotel-transfers/
The easiest way to book a transfer is via your hotel / accommodation. This is the highest cost option.
If you wish to save a little $, you can use a local driver. We adore Facebook profile Sammy Hair Kobong for your driving needs. Fluent English, fun, and great with the kids.
A reasonable price for a private driver is 200,000-250,000 rupiah / approx. $20-$25AUD for Airport – Seminyak.
An alternative money saving option would be to go to the ‘grab lounge’ at the airport where the staff can help you book a grab car and pick up within minutes. Costing approximately 150,000 rupiah / approx. $15AUD for Airport-Seminyak. Download the Grab app before your holiday and make an account to order your car even quicker on your arrival to Bali.
https://www.grab.com/id/en/download/
Our tip : don’t bother booking a return transfer unless you have a driver that you love to use (or the cost is included in your hotel price). You will soon find that booking a taxi/car is very easy and can be done at low cost for your trip to the airport to return home.
*Whilst Gojek is the most commonly used app in Bali for taxi/scooter & food delivery, unfortunately Gojek is not currently able to enter the airport for pick up transfers.
BALI ENTRY REQUIREMENTS | VISAS, CUSTOMS AND MORE.
This information was written as at May 2024.
To enter Bali for travel, Australians are required to have
- Minimum 6 months validity on passport
- Tourist Visa | https://lovebali.baliprov.go.id/home
- e-Visa on Arrival / Visa on Arrival | https://molina.imigrasi.go.id/
- e-customs declaration | https://ecd.beacukai.go.id/
** We highly suggest arranging all of the above online prior to your travel. This will make your airport arrival process much much faster.
All links above have been sourced directly from https://www.smartraveller.gov.au/destinations/asia/indonesia
Please be aware that scam sites are in operation and you should only ever use government owned sites.
1 – Passport | self explanatory 😊 6 months validity minimum (from last day of travel suggested.)
2 – Tourist Visa | The Bali Provincial Government has introduced a tourist levy of IDR 150,000 per person to foreign tourists entering Bali. Cashless payments can be made online prior to travel or on arrival at designated payment counters at Bali's airport. To process this online prior to travel, visit https://lovebali.baliprov.go.id/home
3 - e-Visa on Arrival / Visa on Arrival | you can apply for an e-Visa on Arrival (e-VOA) online at least 48 hours before your travel to Indonesia. This also applies if you're transiting through Indonesia at international airports, seaports and land crossings. You can get a Visa on Arrival (VOA) at the Bali airport.
Applying and paying for this visa online makes for one less queue that you need to line up in at the airport! https://molina.imigrasi.go.id/
4 – e-customs declaration. Along with this information comes a big hint ! You'll be required to complete an e-customs declaration for arrival. You can complete this within 3 days of departure to Indonesia.
You can complete your declaration online here - https://ecd.beacukai.go.id/
Now here comes the big hint!! If you hold an e-passport, and you have completed all steps above online prior to travel, you can go to the electronic arrival queue where you simply scan your documents & passport to enter Bali, rather than queuing in the historically painstakingly long hot queue that is the tourist entry line. Minimal fuss, quick entry, less time for kids to be agitated / hungry / tired.
BALI BEST HEALTH | BODY PREP & MEDICATIONS TO TAKE ALONG
Vitamin B! - prepping your body with vitamin B prior to travelling to Bali will aid in keeping the mozzies away. Drink up on that Berocca!
Probiotics – spend the time before you leave to get your gut health in the best shape it can be to battle that Bali Belly should it attack.
Consult your doctor for information on available vaccines and their suitability for your individual circumstances.
If you plan to bring over-the-counter or prescription medication, take enough legal medicine for your trip and carry it in its original packaging.
Further information can be found via https://www.smartraveller.gov.au/destinations/asia/indonesia
We suggest taking along with you
1 - Panadol +/or Nurofen
2- Antihistamine | hay fever/allergy medication
Why antihistamine ? – because if your little one is eaten alive by mosquitos, this will be your save in grace. Also, antihistamine tablets are very expensive to buy locally at a pharmacy.
Our local remedy hint is to go straight to your closest pharmacy in Bali and buy Bokashi Rub Oil. This oil is wonderful for making the recovery process of mozzie bites faster and can also be used for many other things like bee stings.
3- Mozzie Patches / wrist bands. Yes, the mozzies can be that bad!
4- Feminine products – one for the mums 😊 western feminine products are not plentiful in Bali. Save yourself the burden of travelling around trying to find products in a moment when you can’t move! – and pack what you need. This is not something we suggest that you are ‘easy going’ with for your packing and think that you can just easily purchase when you arrive.
5 – Laxatives – yes, the opposite to bali belly can happen to some. If your child (or you) is prone to constipation, pack your go to remedy. An unhappy tummy makes for an unhappy person & we don’t want that on holidays.
BALI NANNIES | BOOK YOUR BABYSITTER!
To secure the best baby sitters / nannies, this is best done in advance.
The company that we suggest is Bali’s Best Baby Sitting – https://www.balisbestbabysitting.com/
The cost per hour ranges between $7.50 AUD (2 children) – $15 AUD (4 Children) per hour, with a minimum of 4 hours for a casual booking.
Personally, we like to book our nanny from approximately 2pm-8pm as an extra set of hands, and then extend on that time should we want a date night.
Our nanny will arrive at the hotel from 2pm, play with the children in the pool, take them to the kids club, fly a kite in the lush gardens, come along with us for an early dinner or beach sunset, then help to bathe the children and pop them to bed. They are absolute angels and one of the many things that our children love so much about Bali.
Getting a nanny doesn’t mean you have to leave your children 100% in their care! It can be as an extra set of hands to allow the adults to enjoy an uninterrupted conversation while still enjoying family time, or for dad to go to the gym/run and mum not feel abandoned, or for mum to go for a massage or shop and dad not feel abandoned, or for child 1 to go to the kids club and mum not have to sit with them in there all day while child 2 complains they don’t want to be there.
The benefits are endless and really do make for a relaxing holiday.
Now that your holiday is booked, transfers sorted, visas arranged and you are prepped to go, we look forward to sharing with you some more blogs on packing suggestions (of course your fini. hats!), places to eat, shop & visit ! x