Exploring Bali by scooter, a good idea? This is our experience

Exploring Bali by scooter gives you a wonderful sense of freedom. You breathe adventure while you are out touring. It is above all a joy in the quiet areas full of nature.

Which is why this belongs on your bucket list.

Beautiful places on Bali

Exploring a tropical island by scooter: that suits us rather well. You regularly ride through jungle-like surroundings. Along the way you come across rice fields, waterfalls and beach clubs .

Ride your scooter to the glorious Tibumana waterfall between Ubud and Bangli. One big advantage: the Pengibul waterfall is just around the corner. Perfect if you want to see several waterfalls in a day. The Tegenungan Waterfall further south is just as worth a visit, although it is a good deal busier there.

As for beach clubs, La Brisa in Canggu is one of the best. Higher up the map, the ravishing rice terraces of Tegalalang deserve a visit too.

Exploring Bali by scooter: chaotic crowds in the south

The paradise picture of Bali is partly justified. The other side of the story throws up a few things to watch out for .

• The south, around Denpasar, is densely populated and packed.
• Kuta or Sanur, for instance, where the old normal goes by the name of traffic jams.
• In Semyniak too the streets can look restless.

You can easily end up in serious hold-ups with chaotic scenes.

The roads and road safety

To put it mildly, the roads are different from those in the Netherlands. Bumps, holes and street dogs do their thing. Traffic drives on the left. Traffic lights still carry some authority. Beyond that there are hardly any rules.

Wear a helmet, ride with the ‘flow’ as much as you can and stay alert at all times. Honking seems to be everyone's favourite part. Secretly rather good fun to be part of.

Riding smoothly through the little streets almost feels like a sport. Others see it the same way, so consider yourself warned. All of this depends on where you are, of course. Happily, relaxed scooter riding is possible in several parts of Bali. In the regions around Sidemen and Amed it is noticeably quieter. Quieter still is the neighbouring island of Lombok, on a scooter in unspoilt nature.

Insurance when you rent a scooter on Bali

Bali's ‘scooters’ are odd birds. Treacherous vehicles. They look like scooters, but their engines are often more powerful. A rental scooter on Bali may well count as a motorbike in the Netherlands.

Something to bear in mind: without a valid motorcycle licence you are not insured. Even with one you need insurance on the rental scooter. You can ask whether it comes with the vehicle; check the rental agreement. And sometimes you need an international driving licence as well.

Scooters on Bali: our own experience

Riding a scooter on Bali is sometimes advised against. Understandable enough, because there are risks. It took two weeks before we gave in and rented scooters.

• Until then there were other options, such as ordering a taxi or renting a car or scooter with a driver.
• An app like Grab was a solution. Only Grab does not go everywhere, and you stay dependent on others.

Simply doing your own thing is exactly what is so good about having ‘your own’ scooter. Touring around in complete freedom feels wonderful. Spontaneous side trips, stopping here and there. You can go anywhere, at your own moment.

In the end the ultimate sense of freedom won out over our earlier caution. A personal trade-off. By then we knew about the questionable road conditions, the fast scooters and the brisk traffic. That kind of knowledge changes your attitude and your behaviour. And we practised in a quiet region first.

Great adventures start with small steps. Before long we were hooked. Looking back, exploring Bali by scooter is an unforgettable experience we would never have wanted to miss.

What renting a scooter on Bali costs

Before corona we paid 50,000 IDR (Indonesian rupiah) a day, about 3 euros.