Can you fly a drone in Bali?

Bali is one of the most photographed places on earth and a large part of that is shot from the air. The rules are real, they are enforced unevenly, and the social rules matter as much as the legal ones.

The legal position

Indonesian civil aviation rules govern drones, and the headline points that affect visitors are:

• Airspace around airports is prohibited. Ngurah Rai sits in the middle of the southern strip, and its controlled airspace covers a large area around Kuta, Jimbaran, Tuban and the bay. Do not fly there.
• Altitude limits apply, generally 120 metres above ground, and drones must stay in visual line of sight.
• Heavier drones and commercial operation require registration and permissions. Rules have been tightened repeatedly, including registration of operators and aircraft. If you are flying commercially, check the current requirement rather than the blog post you read last year.
• Flying over crowds, restricted government and military areas, and controlled airspace is prohibited.

Customs may ask about a drone on arrival. Declare it and carry documentation; travellers have had them held.

The places you must not fly, regardless of the law

Over ceremonies. This is the most serious social offence on the list. A drone buzzing over a cremation or a temple anniversary is deeply offensive, and people will confront you.

Over temples, particularly inner courtyards and during prayer. Many temples have signs. Some, including major sites, ban drones outright.

Over private villas and pools. Obvious, routinely ignored, and the reason several areas in Canggu now have informal bans.

At Uluwatu and other cliff temples, where both the temple rules and the airspace rules apply.

Over the Tegalalang rice terraces and similar managed sites, where local landowners charge or prohibit and enforcement is personal rather than legal.

Where it is genuinely fine

The coastline away from the airport approach, the countryside in Tabanan and the west, the north coast around Lovina, waterfalls where the site permits it, and out over the water at quiet beaches. Early morning is best for light, for wind and for not having anybody around to mind.

Practical rules of thumb

• Ask. At a waterfall, a rice terrace or a beach car park, ask whoever is collecting the parking fee. They will tell you, and a polite question prevents the confrontation.
• Fly early. Before 8am the light is best and nobody is there.
• Never over people. Not the crowd on the beach, not the queue at the gate.
• Watch the wind on the cliffs. The Bukit has updraughts that eat batteries and drones.
• Salt air and sand. Both destroy gimbals faster than you would expect.
• Check for a listed ban at the site. Several waterfalls and temples have them posted at the ticket booth.

If you are shooting for a client

Commercial drone work in Indonesia sits in a different category from a holiday video: registration, permissions and often a local fixer. If someone is paying for the footage, do it properly. Confiscation and fines are the downside, and the person who gets in trouble is you, not the client.

Getting the shot without annoying anybody

The aerial shots that everybody recognises from Bali come from a short list of places, and most of them are now either restricted or crowded with other drones at sunrise. The better footage is elsewhere: the coastline between Kedungu and Tanah Lot, the west coast beyond Balian, the terraces at Jatiluwih on a clear morning, the north coast, and the cliffs on the east side of Nusa Penida away from the main viewpoints.

Fly with the sun behind you in the first hour after sunrise, keep the drone low and moving slowly, and land before the wind picks up mid-morning. Two batteries is the practical minimum and three is better, because the Bukit's updraughts drain them faster than the app predicts.

Insurance and the boring part

Travel insurance rarely covers drone loss, and almost never covers third-party damage caused by one. If the drone is worth more than the excess on your policy, check the wording before you fly it over water, which is where most of them are lost.