Renting A Scooter In Bali In 2024: ULTIMATE GUIDE
You see Instagram pictures all the time of tourists riding scooters in Bali – Bikini-clad and hair blowing in the wind. What those carefully curated images don’t tell you is that there is a lot that goes into renting and driving scooters in Bali (legally, anyway). I live in Bali and drive a scooter here daily, keep reading for everything you need to know about renting scooters in Bali: how to do it legally, safely, affordably, and about any alternatives.
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✔️ Bali Scooter Rentals Quick Guide
🛵 Best Rental Service – I use Bikago as it offers collision insurance and pickup/dropoffs anywhere on the island.
✅ Is It Legal for Foreigners to Drive in Bali? It is legal to rent and drive scooters in Bali, but you need an International Drivers Permit (IDP) as well as an active driver’s license.
💳 International Driver’s Permit – If you don’t already have one, you can get an International Driver’s Permit dropped off at your location in Bali through Bikago.
👉 Need to Know – Always drive with your helmet on and IDP physically on you. Both for safety reasons and because Balinese Police pull tourists over and charge steep fees.
📲 Transportation Alternatives – If you don’t know how to drive a scooter I recommend using the Grab taxi app to get around. It’s just as cheap, and much safer than driving without experience.
Why Rent A Scooter In Bali?
Renting a scooter in Bali is by far the easiest way to get around the island. This is because a lot of the roads in Bali are small and windy, making it much easier to navigate most of the island via scooter. In fact, it’s not uncommon for the same route in Bali to take 2x the time when traveling with a car! So, all this to say it pays off to travel around Bali via scooter. There’s a LOT that goes into renting and driving a scooter in Bali, legally and safely anyway, so keep reading for my ULTIMATE guide to scooters in Bali.
Best Scooter Rental Service in Bali
The best overall scooter rental service that I recommend to everyone coming to Bali is 🛵 Bikago. I’m not being paid to endorse Bikago, I just think it’s filling a much-needed niche on the Island. 👉 You can read my full review of Bikago.
✈️ Airport Dropoff: You can use Bikago to get a scooter dropped off for you right at the arrivals terminal at Denpasar Airport.
🛵 Pickup/Dropoff: Bikago offers pickup and dropoff anywhere in Bali, which is great if you’re starting your travels in one area and finishing them in another.
💳 IDP Service: Bikago now also offers an add-on service where you can order an International Drivers Permit, which is needed to drive legally in Bali. They drop off a physical IDP right to your villa or hotel.
My Top Tips For Renting a Scooter in Bali
Don’t Mount Your Phone On Your Scooter (Or A Gang Might Snatch It!)
Ever seen one of those bike-mount phone holders that you can use to view your Google Maps in live time as you drive? Practically everyone has one, but you’ll rarely see them in Bali. This is because there’s a massive problem with gangs in Bali chasing down scooter drivers and snatching their phones right off their mounts, while the scooters are moving (!!!!).
Not only is this popular scam a stressful way to lose a phone, it’s also incredibly dangerous for the scooter driver because the gang member drives up right alongside them to get close enough to snatch their phone! This sounds like a Bali Urban Legend, and I was driving around with my phone on a mount for months with no issues, but then it actually happened to my friend! Her brand-new iPhone 13 was snatched from a moving scooter while she was driving down a highway near Canggu, going pretty fast too!
Note! The phone-snatching scam is most common in South Bali, more specifically near the tourist hubs of Kuta, Seminyak, and Canggu.
Don’t Forget To Stash Your Helmet!
Helmet theft is another huge problem in Bali and a very common scam. Even if you’re parked in front of a nice restaurant, or at your own house, it’s better to always stash your helmet in your scooter well (compartment under the seat).
Tip! If you have no room for your scooter under your seat, I’ve also seen scooter drivers just attach their helmet strap to their closed scooter well, that way the helmet is hanging free on the outside but no one can snatch it.
DO Get Travel Insurance (And Be Aware Of Its Limitations)
Driving a scooter in Bali is probably one of the most dangerous activities tourists casually engage in while visiting the Island of Gods. You need travel insurance for Bali in General, even more so if you plan on driving a scooter!
🚨DO KNOW! Travel insurance is infamous in Bali for voiding coverage in the case of scooter accidents, here are some of the situations your travel insurance might not pay out if you get into a scooter accident:
❌ Reasons Your Travel Insurance Might Be Voided
- ❌ You’re not wearing a helmet
- ❌ You’re driving intoxicated
- ❌ You’re not driving legally (No International Driver’s Permit, or driver’s license that doesn’t permit you to drive a scooter). 👉 Get an IDP WITH Your Scooter Rental Through a Bikago Rental!
- ❌ You’re the passenger of someone who isn’t driving legally.
Do Consider Using Gojek Or Grab If You Don’t Know How To Drive A Scooter
If you don’t know how to drive a scooter you always have the option to use Grab or Gojek instead. Grab and Gojek are two different applications that are kinda like Indonesia’s version of Uber, but they have a lot more capabilities than Uber. Through Grab you can call a scooter taxi, so you won’t have to drive yourself. Scooter taxis are pretty much exactly what they sound like. The app uses your GPS location to call a scooter driver to your location, and then you just hop on the back of the scooter driver, hang on, and hope for the best!
Safety of Scooter Taxis: Scooter taxis look sketchy, but in my experience, they’re pretty safe, and either way certainly safer than if you were to drive your own scooter without adequate experience on Bali roads!
Do Keep Bills For Police “Fines” On You
There are lots of horror stories from scooter drivers in Bali who have been pulled over by the cops and written up for some sort of infraction. It’s a sad fact about traveling in Bali, but the cops do target foreigners here because they can charge them steep fines, and even sometimes bribes. If you’re staying for any extended amount of time in popular tourist areas like Kuta, Seminyak, and Canggu, expect to be stopped by cops multiple times looking for a reason to fine you.
Also, Ubud Center near where Monkey Forest Road meets the Ubud Art Market is a notorious police stop-and-fine location, since it’s right in front of Ubud’s police station. One of the worst things the cops do when they stop you is ask to search your wallet – They’ll then go through and decide based on how much money you have your “fine” amount.
👉 Tip: A tip I recently got from a long-termer in Bali is to always keep a 100K IDR note on you in a side pocket in your bag, that way if you get stopped by a cop you can show them and say it’s all you have on you. Not sure how well it works, but if you’re keeping your driver’s license + IDP in your scooter well, there should be no reason for the cop to even see inside your wallet!
❌ Reasons The Bali Cops Might Stop & Fine You
❌ You don’t have your IDP on you
❌ You don’t have your driver’s license on you
❌ You’re Not Wearing A Helmet
❌ You’re parked illegally (my bike was confiscated for this in Ubud Center and I had to pay 1,500,000 IDR to get it back!)
Katie’s Tips ✶
You always need to have your Driver’s License and International Driver’s Permit on you in person. If it’s in your hotel room, it won’t help if you get stopped by the cops!
Do Know What You Need To RENT A Scooter Is Different Than What You Need To Drive One
Most foreigners don’t know that driving legally in Bali is so complicated because rental agencies give scooters to anyone. This is because the responsibility for driving legally in Bali is on the individual, not the rental agencies, so they don’t care. Usually, all the scooter rental agencies in Bali will ask for is a photo of your passport. If it’s a more established rental agency, they might ask to see your driver’s license or IDP (International Driver’s Permit), but in my experience, most do not.
✔️ What You Need To Drive A Scooter Legally In Bali
- An active driver’s license
- A driver’s license that covers mopeds, motorcycles, and scooters (these vary by country and usually specify how many cc’s are covered).
- An International Driver’s License (You need to have this physically on you at all times in case you get pulled over!)
- A helmet
🚨 UPDATE!! Things in Bali change all the time, just recently the governor of Bali announced that all rental agencies must now ask for proof of an International Driver’s Permit to rent to foreigners. Will they actually do this in practice? We shall see… My most recent scooter rental asked me if I had an IDP, but did not ask to see it, so now it’s going on a case-by-case basis per scooter rental company.
Do Really Check Your Scooter Rental Before Taking It
I crashed for the first time a few days ago, after over a year of riding scooters. The reason I crashed was that I used my front brake, and my back tire slipped and slid out. Only after my crash did I notice that the back tire on my scooter was pretty bald, meaning it was worn down and there wasn’t a lot of traction on the tread. Now, when I go to rent a scooter I will look for this, always, but I’m warning you guys to do it too so we can both learn from my mistakes!
Before Renting also take a video of your rental to document any damage. Bali doesn’t have a scammy rental culture, but it’s always good to document any scrapes and scratches before you take the scooter!
Don’t Drink & Drive!
Self-explanatory, right? I’ve been to tiny islands in SE Asia where they don’t have any public transport options, and drinking and driving (+ the crashes that come with it) are simply considered a way of life. But in Bali, where you have Grab & Gojek apps that can hail you a designated driver (for cheap!) from pretty much all over the island, there are no excuses to drink and drive!
Do Know About The Different Types of Scooters You Can Rent In Bali
🛵 Honda Scoopy
The iconic Honda Scoopy is a Bali staple. Cute and vintage-looking, the Scoopy is great for slow driving on rice-field roads, but not so much on big highways. The Scoopy has a 109 CC engine and isn’t well-suited for drivers weighing more than 90 KG. I appreciate the Scoopy because it’s easy enough to pick up if it falls over, which is a problem I’ve had with bigger scooters, but it’s not good if you’re planning to drive with an extra passenger.
🛵 Honda Vario
The Vario is what most people in Bali drive, they’re not as iconic as the little Scoopy but they are a lot sturdier. Varios and Scoopys are usually around the same price to rent, and Vario has a 108-150 cc engine.
🏍 Yamaha NMax
The NMax is the standard “nice” scooter in Bali. It has a 155 CC engine and is a lot sturdier than the little Scoopys. If you’re a bigger person, or driving with a companion, consider getting the NMax.
🏍 Yamaha XMax
The XMax is the nicest/biggest scooter you’ll see regularly around the island. Expect to pay a lot more for an XMax rental than a Scoopy. XMax has a 250CC engine.
Do Wear Protective Clothes – ATTGATT, All The Gear All The Time
ATTGATT – Which means All The Gear All The Time, is biker slang you’ll hear for wearing protective clothing while driving your bike. Yes, you will see shirtless and bikini-wearing Instagram models all over Bali riding helmetless on their scooters – but that’s just about the worst thing you can do.
👉 About When I Crashed My Scooter: When I crashed on my scooter in Bali I was very very lucky to have just sustained Road Rash over a large area of skin. That being said I was bedridden for a week, experienced the worst pain of my life, and was left with no skin on the front of my left leg, from thigh to ankle -The road rash stopped abruptly where I had been wearing jean shorts. If I had been fully clothed (pants + long sleeves + clothes-toed shoes), I would have only had to deal with some scraped palms, and since I wasn’t wearing clothes I left that crash with no skin on my left leg.
Related Article: About When I Crashed My Scooter in Bali
Don’t Be Afraid Of The “Bali Beep”
In Bali, there is a ton of beeping on the roads. This isn’t the blaring beeps from back home, (or at least, from my home which is NYC), which mostly means “Eff You!”. Instead, the “Bali Beep”, as I’ve named it, is a small little beep that everyone uses when they’re about to pass you, or if they’re about to round a tight corner – Beeping your horn in Bali mostly just means “I’m here, be aware of me”.
Do Be Wary Of Potholes
I don’t know if it’s the climate, the frequent earthquakes, or what – but something you’ll notice quickly driving in Bali is that potholes are a HUGE problem! Big craters in the road come out of nowhere and are particularly dangerous if you’re driving at night.
Don’t Overlook the Dogs – They Dart Out into the Road All the Time!
Every house in Bali has a watchdog – They range from tiny Pekinese puppies, to big-ol bear-like Samoyds. All of these dogs hang out at the entrance to Balinese housing compounds, practically in the road, and they have a tendency to dart across the street in front of oncoming traffic. Always be on your guard for dogs darting out into the road when driving in a residential area!
Do ALSO Be Cautious About Slipping On Sand, Gravel, and dirt In The Road
The first time I fell on my scooter was when I slipped on a huge patch of mud while I was driving on Flores Island (where the amazing Komodo Islands are located!). My scooter completely slipped out from under me! It was so scary. Luckily, I slipped on at least 6 inches of mud, so my landing was soft – but then after that my bike was stuck in the mud until some kindly local guys drove by and noticed my plight, screaming and laughing “Bule fell in the mud!” the whole time 😂. Mud, sand, moss, gravel, etc are all hazards when driving your scooter, and the road conditions in Bali aren’t great – There are frequently overspills of sand and gravel from construction, so look out!
Fun Fact! “Bule” is the word for foreigners in Indonesia, it literally translates to “Albino” 😅.
Don’t Drive Past The Roadside Petrol Stations!
While they do have proper gas stations in Bali with drive-up pumps and attendants, a lot of the time in Bali people just get gas on the side of the road from plastic water bottles! Really! If you see any roadside stall with a rack of blue water bottles, that means you can buy gasoline there. These stalls are incredibly helpful because large petrol stations are few and far between in Bali, so I usually top off my gas with water bottles!
Katie’s Tips ✶
Gas in Bali is either called “Pertamini” or “Pertamax”, so if you see a sign for either you can get petrol there!
Do Know That They Drive On The Left Side Of The Road
In Bali, like in the UK, they drive on the left side of the Road. In the USA and most of Western Europe, they drive on the right side. Depending on where you’re coming from in the world, you might have to do a mental shift to get used to the new roadside.
Do Keep A Rain Poncho In Your Scooter Well
The weather is unpredictable in Bali, it’s a tropical climate after all.So many times I’ve been driving on a clear day, just to wind up caught in a huge downpour!
Do Remember To Be Hati-Hati!
Hati-Hati means “be careful” in Bahasa Indonesian. You’ll see Hati-Hati signs all over the roads in Bali!
Do Accept Driving In Bali For What It Is: A Beautiful Mess
Driving in Bali, whether in cars or scooters, is quite frankly – insanity. The roads aren’t big enough for cars, but you’ll still see big construction trucks drive down them with dozens of little scooters passing on both sides. Frequently, you’ll see whole families with mom, dad, kids, babies, and dogs, all piled onto one scooter – somehow! Embrace it for what it is, and try to stay safe out there!
nice and informative article.
Thank you Byrone! I hope it helps you on your next trip 🙂
Hi, if my partner has a moto specific license, do they still need an IDP to drive in Bali?
Hello! Yes, unfortunately unless they have an Indonesian motorcycle licensed they will still need an IDP to drive in Bali. If you know you’re going to be coming to Bali a lot, you could get your Indonesian driver’s license so you won’t have a need for an IDP, but an IDP works to translate your home driver’s license for use in many countries not just Indonesia so most people consider it more helpful.
What about in Ceningan?
Hi 🙂 In Nusa Ceningan and Lembongan all of the same scooter laws will apply. I know some people rent a scooter in Lembongan and scooter across the bridge to Ceningan, but I haven’t done it myself. My favorite scooter rental service, Bikago, only works on Bali Mainland so you can usually rent through a hotel/hostel or an independent rental shop.
It’s less likely to get stopped by police checks in the smaller outer islands, driving is usually more casual.
Wow, Katie – This is a super informative guide on renting a scooter in Bali. You really went above and beyond to create something original and helpful for your readers. Great job, and keep it up.
Hey thanks Tahir, hope it helps you out in Bali !
Is there a summary of what I actually need to know to rent a scooter? Without all the useless information added to it?
hi ! thanks hope you enjoyed the free article