Bali Canggu Traffic
Planned Traffic Flow Changes In Canggu Cancelled As Bali’s Tourist Congestion Woes Worsen
The Badung Transportation Agency, which, in early June, suggested that major upgrades were on the cards, but news this week says that plans have already been hampered.
You don’t even have to have visited Bali to be aware that traffic in Canggu is chaotic. Bali’s issues with traffic congestion are longstanding and low-key worsening.
In areas like Badung Regency, which is home to top destinations such as Canggu, Seminyak, and Uluwatu, there are several reasons for this. Firstly, the sheer volume of vehicles on the road; there are 500,000 official residents of Badung Regency, and more than one million registered vehicles.
Then there is the rapid development and commercialization of rural areas, coupled with narrow roads that were never designed to support such huge volumes of traffic.
Speaking to reporters this week, the Head of the Badung Transportation Agency, AA Ngurah Gde Rahmadi, confirmed that his teams and the Badung Police have been discussing traffic engineering plans in Canggu for some time. However, preliminary studies indicate that the available options remain limited.
A new traffic engineering system has just been implemented for a 14-day trial in Uluwatu. Leaders suggested that if the trial on the Bukit was a success, the new system would be implemented permanently, and that a similar system would be rolled out in Canggu.
Unfortunately for both tourists and locals who want to whizz around Canggu with ease, this may still be a long way off.
Rahmadi told reporters, “We’ve discussed possible traffic engineering schemes with the Badung Police. However, conditions on the ground are indeed challenging because the roads in the Canggu area are nearly the same width and are all heavily trafficked.”
He explained how these narrow roads, in particular, make implementing a one-way system or diverting traffic flow very difficult.
The issue is that every alternative route is already congested with vehicles, especially during rush hour and the tourist season. Gridlock upon gridlock upon gridlock.
Rahmadi confirmed to reporters, however, that despite this challenging situation, the Badung Transportation Agency continues to seek solutions.
A number of different options are still being reviewed with stakeholders to find an effective solution without creating new problems on other roads.
He told reporters, “We, along with relevant stakeholders, continue to seek the best solution. Congestion in Canggu cannot be tolerated, as the area is a highly populated tourist hub.”
Rahmadi was clear that managing traffic congestion in Canggu requires collaboration between multiple agencies as well as drivers. He noted how the police play a crucial role in enforcing the law when traffic engineering is implemented.
He concluded by voicing his hopes that the collaborative steps being prepared can produce short-term and long-term solutions to reduce traffic congestion in Canggu.
He shared, “We continue to coordinate with the police, as they are the spearhead of enforcement on the ground. Meanwhile, we at the Transportation Agency are preparing a technical study and supporting the implementation of traffic engineering, which will be mutually agreed upon.”
As the peak travel season kicks off in Bali, here at The Bali Sun, we are already seeing traffic congestion in popular hotspots like Canggu intensify.
Our advice for tourists visiting congestion-prone areas like Canggu, Seminyak, Legian, Uluwatu, and Ubud is to simply leave more than enough time to travel from A to B…and we really mean more time than you think.
A simple 5km journey should only take 10-15 minutes even in moderate traffic, but at peak congestion times, it can take over an hour.
Bali Tourist Visa's
Bali Immigration Office Outlines Do’s And Don’ts Of Most In-Demand Tourist Visa Categories
There are many different reasons why travellers may visit Bali.
Some may come purely for vacation, others will come to visit family and friends, while others may come to volunteer, to create content, conduct a few business meetings, and take the time to add on some extra leisure days to make the most of the trip.
While these all feel pretty similar at first glance, for Indonesian immigration, each of these activities is very different indeed and requires a different visa category for each stay.
Here at The Bali Sun, we have been reporting all year about Indonesia’s Immigration’s mission to crack down on visa violations. In fact, there has been a concerted effort from the Indonesian Immigration to tackle immigration crime since borders opened after the pandemic.
Over the last 6 months, there has been a real focus on unpaid work. Indonesia Immigration has been working to eliminate any violations that have fallen in the so-called ‘grey area’ of unpaid work, with a specific focus on content creators and influencers, freelance service providers, and stay-for-free style skills exchanges.
There has been a separate focus to eliminate violations of the pre-investment and investment visas, as well as cracking down on those violating the terms of the remote worker visa, aka the digital nomad visa.
Indonesia Immigration and the regional immigration offices across Bali have been sharing updated information this week for tourists, travellers, and foreigners planning on coming to the island for these kinds of stays.
Through a series of helpful information, Indonesia Immigration has made it crystal clear for foreigners, and there are hopes that now that this information is spread even more widely, all foreigners will enter the country on the correct visas and honor the conditions of their stay permits.
None of this information is new; it has been widely available and easy to find on the Official Indonesia Immigration website, and available in English, French, Mandarin, and a number of other languages.
It is evident that the Indonesian Immigration wants to leave tourists with no excuses for not knowing the rules by sharing this information in its clearest and simplest form on social media.
The Do’s and Don’ts Guide for Indonesian Visas covers the C5A, C6, and E33G. Before we dive into the nuances of the C5A, C6, and E33G, here at The Bali Sun, we thought now is a good moment to review the tourist visa on arrival.
The standard Tourist Visa on Arrival, known as the B1 and referred to as the eVOA, is a single-entry stay permit that is valid for stays of up to 30 days.
It costs IDR 500,000 per person and can be extended one time for an additional 30 days via the Hybrid Application Process.
The C1 is another category of tourist visa; it is a single-entry visa that allows for stays of up to 60 days. The D1 Tourist Visa is ideal for those who travel to Indonesia regularly for family and leisure travel purposes, with sub-categories offering validity of 1, 2, and 5 years.
For most tourists who are visiting Bali or other areas of Indonesia for vacations and travel, these are the most appropriate visa categories.
The C5A, C6, and E33G are for those who want to stay in Bali for a number of different reasons. The C5A Content Creation Visa is specifically for influencers and content creators.
The list of do’s and don’ts for this visa category is very simple. Do: engage in activities related to social media content creation. Engage in activities related to tourism, purchasing goods, and visiting family and friends.
The Don’ts are just as clear. On the C5A Content Creation Visa, foreigners must not: overstay the visa or stay permit period in Indonesia; engage in the sale of goods or services; receive salaries, wages, or rewards from individuals or companies in Indonesia; create social media content related to journalism or filmmaking that requires special permits.
The C6 Social Activities Visitor Visa is designed for those visiting Indonesia to ‘engage in social, humanitarian aid, and volunteer activities in Indonesia’.
The Do’s are also very simple: engage in activities related to social work, providing humanitarian aid, related to volunteer programs, related to tourism, purchasing goods, and visiting families.
Much like the C5A, the C6 visa stipulations are very straightforward; do not overstay and do not engage in the sale of goods or services, receive salaries, wages, or rewards from individuals or companies in Indonesia.
The E33G Remote Worker Special Residency Visa is designed for remote workers who are employed by companies based outside of Indonesia and perform their work within the Indonesian territory.
The Do’s as outlined by Indonesia Immigration state that visa holders must conduct work activities only related to overseas companies, are allowed to bring family to live in Indonesia in compliance with immigration regulations, are permitted to enter/exit Indonesia during the validity of their visa, and can travel for leisure purposes, purchase goods, and visit family and friends.
The Don’ts for the E33G are simple: no overstaying, no selling of goods and services, and no performing activities other than those authorized by their activity description unless they have applied for concurrent activities or a change in activity type.
Foreigners who are seeking support from the Indonesian Immigration can find plenty of useful information on the Official Indonesia eVisa website, across the social media accounts, and via the live chat available on the website.
Bali's Vacation Costs Rising
Weakening Rupiah & Rising Fuel Costs Are Impacting Bali Tourists’ Vacation Spending
The conflict in the Middle East is affecting people around the world in both small and big ways.
As we live in a global economy dependent on fuel, the conflict is impacting everything from food costs to travel costs and even travel experiences, no matter where we are in the world.
There has been an uproar across Indonesia over the last month amid an economic climate that has caused the Indonesian Rupiah to continue weakening against the US dollar.
While in the first instance this was good news for tourists, with a weakening rupiah meaning that vacation budgets could go further and buy more, over the last week the economic fluctuations have found a new sense of balance.
With fuel costs rising in Bali and around Indonesia, it was only a matter of time until these costs had to be passed on to consumers, including tourists. That time has come.
The beginning of June has seen a price hike for Pertamax and Pertamax Green fuel, which is being felt across the tourism sector. As of 10th June 2026, the price of Pertamax (RON 92) has increased from IDR 12,300 per liter to IDR 16,250 per liter, an increase of 32%.
Then, Pertamax Green (RON 95) has increased from IDR 12,900 to ID 17,000 per liter. These are huge price spikes that are impacting just about every household on the island, and businesses are starting to feel the pinch, too.
At the moment, Bali’s tourist arrivals figures, for both international and domestic tourists, are stable. Leaders are looking ahead to the potential decline in the number of arrivals from the Middle East as airspace closures and flight cancellations continue to influence travelers’ holiday plans.
Leaders in Bali are already planning marketing campaigns to encourage more holidaymakers from Australia, New Zealand, China, India, and other areas of Asia.
There were hopes that this would help keep the economic situation stable and sustainable for both tourists and tourist businesses in Bali and Indonesia’s top destinations, but the updates coming from tour operators in Bali this week suggest that may not be the case.
Local Bali tour operator Erna Saenah told reporters that the increase in fuel costs will directly impact the cost of tourist transportation, which is one of the most costly components of any travel package. Price caps on fuel have also ended this month, which is another reason why the prices have rocketed.
Saenah explained, “Since the restrictions on subsidies and the increasing difficulty in obtaining subsidized fuel, most tourist transportation vehicles have switched to Pertamax. So today’s increase is certainly very noticeable and quite heavy for us.”
Saenah added, “Even with the efficiency measures, tourists have already decreased. Furthermore, airfare increases have caused some groups to cancel trips. Now, the increase in Pertamax will automatically affect the selling price of tour packages.”
She added, “When it comes to guests, around 50 percent of the package cost is transportation. With this fuel increase, the selling price of transportation will definitely increase.”
She warned tourists to expect prices to be elevated, and not only for tours and transportation, but for food and services too.
Transportation costs will impact hotel and restaurant services, including the delivery of supplies. She shared, “Food suppliers to hotels will certainly be affected. If distribution costs increase, selling prices to hotels will increase, and ultimately hotel room rates will also increase.”
Saenah shared her concerns with reports, concerns that are echoed by many in the sector that have been heard from in the last few weeks.
She noted, “We just finished participating in the tabletop and Bali and Beyond Travel Fair (BBTF). We’ve already released our prices and distributed them to agents outside of Bali for the next year.”
“With this sudden increase, we’re still unsure what steps to take, as clients aren’t necessarily willing to accept the price adjustment.”
Tourists traveling to Bali in the coming weeks and throughout 2026 can expect to find that they receive a higher than usual exchange for their vacation budget, but that the cost of everything will slowly start to increase too.
All above articles are provided by “The Bali Sun“
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