How much is a massage in Bali?

Massage in Bali is cheap, everywhere, and generally very good. The price range is enormous for what is often the same treatment.

What things cost

• Local spa, one-hour Balinese massage: 100,000 to 250,000 rupiah.
• Mid-range spa with nicer rooms: 250,000 to 500,000.
• Hotel and resort spa: 700,000 to 2,000,000.
• Beach massage on a mat under an umbrella: 100,000 to 150,000.
• Two to three-hour packages with massage, scrub and flower bath: 300,000 to 700,000 at a good local spa.

The difference between the first and the third is the room, the robe and the tea, and sometimes the therapist's training. It is not usually five times the massage.

The treatments

Balinese massage. Firm, with long strokes, palm and thumb pressure, acupressure points and stretching, using oil. The standard, and what you get unless you ask otherwise.

Lulur. A scrub of turmeric, rice powder and spices, traditionally used before a wedding, followed by a yoghurt application and a bath.

Boreh. A warming paste of ginger, clove and other spices applied to the body, used traditionally by farmers for aching muscles. Not relaxing; genuinely effective.

Flower bath. A soak in a bath covered with frangipani and hibiscus, usually finishing a package.

Reflexology. Foot massage, widely available and often the best value hour in Bali.

Kerokan. Coin scraping along the back, a household Indonesian remedy. It leaves red marks and it is not a spa treatment in the western sense.

Four-hands massage. Two therapists working simultaneously, which is either wonderful or disorienting.

Choosing a spa

Ask what training the therapists have. The better local spas train their staff formally; the very cheapest often do not.

Look at the room. Curtained cubicles are normal and fine. Cleanliness of linen is the thing worth checking.

Book ahead in peak season at the good places, which fill in the late afternoon.

Say what you want. Pressure preferences, areas to avoid, whether you want conversation. Therapists will follow instruction and rarely volunteer the question.

Etiquette and tipping

You will usually be given a sarong or disposable underwear and left to change. Modesty is handled with towels throughout.

Tip 20,000 to 50,000 rupiah for an hour at a local spa, more at a resort. The therapist's share of the listed price is small, and this is one of the most appreciated tips in Bali.

Where the spas are

Ubud has the greatest concentration and the best value at the mid range, including several excellent independent spas in the villages.

Seminyak and Canggu have the fashionable ones, priced accordingly.

Sanur has old-fashioned, cheap, very good places.

Every resort has one, at resort prices.

A note on the other end of the market

Bali also has establishments where massage is a front for something else, generally obvious from the signage, the hours and the street. The ordinary spas are unmistakable and are what almost everyone means. If a place feels wrong, leave.

Building a spa day

The standard package at a good independent spa is two to three hours: a body scrub, a massage, a face treatment and a flower bath, for 300,000 to 700,000 rupiah. It is one of the better ways to spend a wet afternoon and costs less than a single treatment would at home.

Book the late afternoon, when the heat is at its worst outside, and eat afterwards rather than before.

For sore surfers and long-haul arrivals

Ask for deep pressure and say where it hurts. Balinese massage is firm by default and therapists here are used to working on surfers' shoulders and backs.

For jet lag, a massage on the first afternoon and an early night is the standard local prescription, and it works better than trying to sleep through the day.

Men and couples

Every spa treats male clients as routine, which surprises some visitors. Couples rooms are widely available and usually cost no more per person than two singles.