Do you tip in Bali?

Tipping is not built into Indonesian wages the way it is in North America, and it is not resented the way it is in parts of Europe. It sits in between: a normal gesture, genuinely appreciated, and never demanded.

The bill first

Many restaurants and hotels add 10 per cent government tax and a service charge, often another 5 to 11 per cent. Where a service charge has been added, an extra tip is optional and rounding up is plenty.

Check the bottom of the menu. It should say whether prices include tax and service. Cheap warungs almost never charge either.

What is normal

Restaurants. Round up, or 5 to 10 per cent for good service where no service charge applies. In warungs, leaving the coins is fine and normal.

Drivers, day hire. 50,000 to 100,000 rupiah after a good day, more for a long one. Buying their lunch is also a normal gesture.

Airport transfers and app rides. Rounding up, or 10,000 to 20,000 rupiah.

Spa and massage. 20,000 to 50,000 rupiah for an hour's treatment at a local spa, more at a resort. This is one of the most genuinely appreciated tips because the therapist's share of the price is small.

Guides. 100,000 to 200,000 rupiah per group for a half day, more for a trek. On a Batur or Rinjani trek, tip guides and porters separately and generously; the porters do the hard work.

Dive guides. 100,000 to 200,000 rupiah a day is normal.

Villa staff. For a stay of several days with a cook, housekeeper and gardener, leave a lump sum at the end and ask that it be shared, or hand individual envelopes. Roughly 50,000 to 100,000 per staff member per day of stay is generous and normal.

Hotel housekeeping. 20,000 to 50,000 rupiah a day, left in the room, reaches the person who did the work better than a lump at the end.

Porters and doormen. 10,000 to 20,000 rupiah.

How to do it well

Cash, in rupiah, in hand or in an envelope. Adding a tip on a card machine often does not reach the staff.

Small notes. Carry 10,000, 20,000 and 50,000 notes for this.

Directly to the person where possible.

Quietly. Making a display of it is awkward for everyone.

What not to do

Do not tip in foreign currency. Coins in particular are worthless here; nobody can change them.

Do not over-tip theatrically. Handing someone a month's wage for carrying a bag distorts local expectations and does the next visitor no favours. Generous and proportionate is the aim.

Do not feel obliged. Nobody will chase you, and service does not depend on it.

The wider context

Wages in tourism here are low by the standards of the people spending money in it, and a driver who has given you a genuinely good day for 700,000 rupiah has earned the 100,000. At the same time, tipping is not a fix for structural pay, and the better lever is choosing operators who pay and equip their staff properly, especially for treks and dive trips.

Bargaining is not tipping

Two different customs, often confused. At a market you negotiate, cheerfully, and settle somewhere fair. In a restaurant, a spa or a car, the price is the price and the tip is discretionary on top.

What does not work is grinding a market seller down over 20,000 rupiah and then tipping the driver 200,000 to feel generous. Pay fairly at the point of sale and tip where the work was done.

Tipping on the islands and in the mountains

On Nusa Penida, the Gilis and the trekking routes, wages are lower and the work harder than in the southern tourist strip. Guides and porters on Batur and Rinjani carry loads for a fraction of what the trip costs you, and the portion of your package fee that reaches them is small. Tip them directly, in cash, at the end.