Using an eSIM in Bali

What Bali is like on a phone

Bali has no single centre; people choose a base according to what they came for — the southern beaches for surfing and cafe work, or up into the middle of the island among the rice terraces. So many people work remotely here that expectations about speed run higher than at an ordinary holiday destination. The developed south is densely served and comfortable. River gorges, the waterfalls at the bottom of them, and the roads up the volcanoes are an entirely different proposition.

When you land

Every flight lands at Ngurah Rai (DPS) in the south. Switch the line on before immigration, since you may need an electronic customs form or a pre-filled document; entry conditions are revised from time to time, so check with the Indonesian immigration and customs authorities before each trip. Traffic starts the moment you leave the gate, and the forecourt is divided into several zones, so agree the pick-up spot precisely with your driver. The other way in is by fast boat from neighbouring islands into the eastern and southern harbours, with stretches of no service on the crossing.

Where coverage changes

Across the built-up south, where accommodation, restaurants and cafes run continuously, the line is good and carries video calls. In the central town with its market and temples it behaves normally. But walk down the steps into rice terraces that sit below road level, or into a river gorge with walls on both sides, and speed collapses at once, disappearing entirely in places. The waterfalls you reach by descending hundreds of steps are the clearest example. On the roads climbing to the caldera rim in the northeast the line alternates with the angle of the ridge, and on the fast boats to the outer islands it goes mid-crossing and returns near the jetty.

What a day here costs in data

Usage here splits cleanly in two. Ordinary visitors get through about 800MB to 1.5GB a day, riding scooters with the map open and taking a lot of photos. People here to work are in another bracket entirely, because camera-on meetings and uploading finished work cost several times that. If you rent a villa down a lane where the Wi-Fi is unsteady, the mobile line you meant as a backup becomes the main one faster than you would expect.

Districts travellers ask about

• Canggu and Seminyak — The southern beach belt with the densest concentration of cafes and co-working; good and steady enough for meetings, though at sunset, when everyone comes out at once, the beachfront alone slows down.
• Ubud — Inland, with a market, temples and terraces around the edges; the town itself is normal, but a place perched over a river gorge behaves quite differently from one on the road.
• Uluwatu and the Bukit — High cliffs in the south with beaches hidden beneath them; along the clifftop it is fine, but once you take the steps down to the sand below, the line weakens enough to make calling a ride back awkward.
• Sanur — The quieter east coast with a long seafront promenade; consistent the whole way, and the departure point for boats to the outer islands, so settle everything before you board.

Day trips out of the city

• Nusa Penida — A forty-minute crossing with nothing in the middle. On the island some roads are narrow and steep; the clifftop viewpoints have service, while the paths down to the beaches beneath them go quiet.
• The Batur sunrise climb — You set off in the small hours and climb in the dark, with long stretches of no service on the way up. Fix the meeting point with your guide and driver before you leave your room, and do not count on phoning anyone from the mountain.
• The northern waterfalls — Drive across the island and then descend hundreds of steps into the ravine; the car park still has service, while the floor of the gorge, ringed by rock, does not. Tell your driver when you expect to be back before you start down.