How do you get internet in Bali?

Mobile data here is cheap, fast in the populated areas and essential, because almost everything a visitor does — ride apps, maps, restaurant bookings, the tourist levy QR code — runs through a phone.

The three options

eSIM, bought before you fly. Activates the moment you land, no queue, no passport registration, no shop. Costs more per gigabyte than a local SIM but the difference on a two-week trip is a few dollars. This is what I would do for any trip under a month.

Local physical SIM. Cheapest per gigabyte and gives you an Indonesian number, which matters if you want Grab, Gojek and local e-wallets to work smoothly. Registration requires your passport, which is why you buy it at an official counter or an operator store rather than a stall.

Cafe wifi only. Workable in Canggu and Ubud where cafes are built around remote workers. Miserable everywhere else, and useless the first time you need a map on a dark road.

Networks

Telkomsel has the widest coverage, including the north, the east and the islands, and is the one to pick if you are leaving the south. Indosat Ooredoo and XL Axiata are cheaper and perfectly good in the tourist areas.

Coverage in Canggu, Seminyak, Ubud, Sanur and the Bukit is solid. It thins in the highlands, in parts of the east and on Nusa Penida's interior roads, and it disappears in the usual places: deep valleys, the crater rim in bad weather, and the far corners of the north.

Cost

A tourist data package of 15 to 50 GB valid for 30 days typically costs between 100,000 and 250,000 rupiah on a local SIM. Airport counters charge more than town shops for the same thing, and they will set it up for you, which some people consider worth it at midnight.

Getting a local SIM registered

Indonesian SIMs are registered to a passport. Buy from an operator store or an official airport counter and they do it while you wait. Buying an unregistered card from a random stall is how people end up with a SIM that stops working on day three.

Wifi, honestly

Villa and hotel wifi ranges from excellent to theatrical. Fibre has reached most of the south and is genuinely fast; older villas and anything rural may still run on a mobile router. If you need to work, check the listing for a stated speed and ask for a screenshot of a speed test rather than trusting the word "fast wifi".

Power cuts happen, usually short. A phone with data is the backup for a villa with wifi, which is another reason to have a local package rather than a single roaming line.

What to do before you fly

1. Check your phone is unlocked and eSIM capable if you want that route.

2. Download offline maps for Bali.

3. Install Grab and Gojek and register them before you travel if you can.

4. Screenshot your accommodation address in Indonesian, because drivers navigate by area name and landmark, not by street number.

Which option suits which trip

A week or less, no need for an Indonesian number: an eSIM. You land connected and you never think about it again.

Two weeks or more, or you want Grab, Gojek and e-wallets to work perfectly: a local SIM from an operator store, registered to your passport, with a 30-day data package.

A month or more: a local SIM and a monthly package, topped up at any minimart. The cost of data here is so low that nobody bothers hunting for a better deal.

Island hopping to Nusa Penida, the Gilis or Lombok: Telkomsel, because the cheaper networks thin out fast once you leave the Bali mainland.

Roaming, and why it usually is not the answer

Roaming packages from home networks are convenient and cost several times a local package for a fraction of the data. The exception is a very short trip where you value the simplicity more than the money. Check whether your plan includes Indonesia at all, because many bundles that cover Europe and North America do not.