Bali Silence Day
Bali Silence Day – this year, the Balinese New Year, known as Nyepi and the Day of Silence, will fall on the 29th of March.
At 6am on Saturday, 29th March 2025, Bali will fall silent, everyone will stay at home or inside their accommodation, there will be no transportation movement, and all air traffic will come to a standstill.
The President Director of PT Angkasa Pura Indonesia (API) or InJourney Airports Faik Fahmi has confirmed that I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport will stop all operations for 24 hours over Nyepi Day, as is customary.
Fahmi told reporters, “In anticipation, we are still coordinating with stakeholders and related ministries because I think there needs to be a special policy related to this regulation.”
He told travelers, “What is clear is that during Nyepi, we will stop flights, maybe we suggest that if you really want to go to Bali, don’t do it the day before, it should be [further] before.”
Tourists wishing to be in Bali for Nyepi Day should look to arrive on the morning of 28th of March at the very latest, though landing on the 27th of March is advisable as many businesses and taxi drivers stop work from midday the day before Nyepi.
The reason why tourists and travelers must plan ahead with extra consideration for Nyepi Day this year is that the festival is closer than usual to the Islamic festival of Eid al-Fitr, which will be observed on Sunday 30th and Monday 31st March.
Though an Islamic festival, tens of thousands of Muslims travel to the majority Balinese Hindu province to celebrate the occasion.
Similarly, many Muslims living in Bali travel to their hometowns across Indonesia to celebrate Eid al-Fitr with their families. In Indonesia, the Eid al-Fitr holiday period is known as Lebaran.
There is going to be a lot of movement of people during the last week of March and tourists should take this into consideration when planning their vacations.
Consider not only that they must stay within their accommodation from 6am on 29th March until 6am on the 30th March, but that there will also be increased passenger traffic at Bali Airport that week, and therefore more vehicles on the roads throughout the holidays too.
In some villages where tourists may be staying in rental properties or private villas, there may be an expectation that residents must be at home once the ogoh-ogoh parades have been completed. The parades and community gatherings usually finish by 10 pm.
When asked if special preparations have been made for Nyepi and Lebaran, Fahmi shared “This is still in the discussion stage, later if there is a policy issued by the Ministry of Transportation, of course we will follow it.”
With just under two months to go until the dual holiday period, more updates are to be expected. Tourists in Bali over the Nyepi holiday are always well cared for and are expected to respect and observe the protocols of the Day of Silence as best they can.
Tourists staying at hotels, resorts, guesthouses, B&Bs, and hostels will be supported by their hosts and informed about how the day will be managed.
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Some hotels will deliver food to guests the night before; some offer a quiet buffet service; others request guests stay in their rooms for the full 24 hours, while others offer limited access to resort facilities.
Tourists and the public are expected to keep lights off, not use electricity, listen to music, or seek entertainment.
It is a day focused on quiet reflection, meditation, and prayer. Local pecalang will be guarding the streets, and no one is permitted to leave their properties except in the event of a serious medical emergency.
Nyepi Day is a beautiful day to be in Bali. The stillness and quiet are almost indescribable, and the deep reverence of the day can be deeply felt.
The night of Nyepi is often when the best and clearest night skies can be observed, notably since there is no light pollution and no pollution from transportation or industry.
Upgrade on Bali Airport Security Checks
Bali Airport Security management teams have confirmed that they will be upgrading facilities at the terminals to help make the passenger experience more efficient.
The President Director of PT Angkasa Pura Indonesia, the state-owned company in charge of I Gusti Ngurah Rai International, has revealed upcoming plans to the media.
Faik Fahmi, the President Director of PT Angkasa Pura Indonesia, has revealed that I Gusti Ngurah Rai International will follow in the footsteps of Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta Airport and implement automated tray return systems at security checking areas across the terminals.
At first glance, for most passengers, these upgrades are far from exciting, but they are incredibly impactful. The installation of automated tray return systems will help speed up the security checks process no end.
The added benefit is that passengers will also not be required to remove items like laptops, tablets, and toiletries from their bags. Saving time and hassle once again.
Fahmi explained “If we use the existing equipment, we can only serve 200 people in one hour, but with ATRS (automated tray return systems) we can serve 500 people in one hour. The difference is in the new technology it is no longer required for people to carry bags, take out their laptops, or mineral water.”
Fahmi added “Even if there are goods that must be checked by Avsec, the line will be separated so as not to obstruct those behind, if example, if [a bag] is checked again, it will immediately move into a special line, which is normally straight. This has started to be implemented at Soekarno-Hatta Airport and has greatly helped the processing time.”
There is hope that the rollout of this new system throughout 2025 will help improve passenger experience, reduce stress levels, and offer passengers more time to relax, explore, and enjoy I Gusti Ngurah Rai International before taking off.
Fahmi confirmed that there are three main areas of focus that Angkasa Pura is focusing on at I Gusti Ngurah Rai International: the first is upscaling infrastructure, the second is digitalization, and the third is improving human resources to help oversee the whole operation.
Bali is on a mission to welcome at least 6.5 million international tourists in 2025, with a reasonable upper expectation of welcoming 7 million tourists to the province. There has been much discussion over the last six months around the need for a second international airport, which would be located in North Bali.
Dialogue about the development hit the headlines shortly after the inauguration of President Prabowo Subianto, who this week marked 100 days in office. As part of his election promises he committed to seeing the development of North Bali Airport finally getting off the ground.
In the meantime, there have been a huge amount of upgrades to I Gusti Ngurah Rai International and an increasing number of stakeholders who want to see Bali’s only international airport developed to its maximum potential before looking to develop a second airport elsewhere.
In late 2024, Bali Airport saw the launch of new autogate technology, which reduced immigration processing times to just a few seconds for arrivals who have e-visas.
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The promotion of Indonesian e-visas has also been hugely impactful for Bali Airport since it’s easier than ever for tourists to acquire their 30-day tourist visa prior to touching down in the province, saving yet more time on arrival.
More changes could be on the horizon still at Bali Airport. Earlier this week the Chairman of the Association of the Indonesian Tours and Travel Agencies (ASITA), Bali Putu Winastra, explained how he and his teams want to see a single managing authority in charge of all operations at Bali Airport.
Winastra shared “Immigration, (authority of the Directorate General of) Immigration. Customs, (Directorate General of) Customs and Excise. Air Force Base, TNI AU. Airport Police, Polri. So many heads there, automatically there are many conflicts of interest.”
He noted that Bali Airport should be inspired by Singapore Changi Airport, which is managed by a single central authority that oversees all elements of the airport operation.
Bali to Hike Tourism Tax to Rp. 750,000?
The Bali Regional Legislative Council (DPRD-Bali) proposes increasing the foreign tourist tax from Rp. 150,000 (+/- US$10) to Rp. 750,000 (+/- US$50).
This move is seen as necessary to enhance the overall quality of visitors to the Island and address issues of poor behavior and public order disruption.
In recent months, local and national media reports have surged, highlighting the challenges posed by the unruly and outrageous behavior of some foreign tourists, who are seen as disrupting public order.
This situation underscores the need for a comprehensive solution, such as the proposed increase in the tourism tax.
NusaBali.com quotes the chairman of Commission II of the DPRD-Bali, I Gede Komang Kresna Budi, who said the Rp. 150,000 tax imposed on foreign tourists has yet to prove effective in eliminating unruly incidents of poor behavior by international visitors to Bali.
Commenting further, Kresna Budi said that while speaking after a plenary session of DPRD-Bali on Wednesday, 19 June, the new tourism tax is too low to end Bali’s reputation as a cheap tourism destination.
Seeing “cheap tourists” as the source of bad behavior, Kresna Budi said: “I think Rp 150,000 tax is too low, so Bali seems like a cheap tourist destination. That’s why we plan to increase it by 50 dollars. Why should Bali be sold cheaply?”
With the proposed increase in the tourism tax, Kresna Budi envisions a significant enhancement in the quality of tourist visitors. He also believes that the additional revenues generated by a higher tourist tax rate can be a game-changer for Bali’s education and health sectors.
The law maker is hopeful that the immigration service at Bali’s airport will take on the responsibility of collecting the tourism tax, ensuring a more efficient process.
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To date, the collection of the new tourism tax, introduced on 14 February 2024, has been plagued by inefficiency, with only a minority of foreign visitors actually paying the Rp. 150,000.
Kresna Budi also suggests that a part of the tax revenues should be allocated to improve security and public order by creating a tourism police force. Adding: “We are communicating with the police to form a tourism police that specifically handles tourism issues. Some of the funds can be allocated to support police preparedness.”
Provincial Regulation No. 6 of 2023 must first be revised after being reviewed by the DPRD-Bali to collect the proposed higher tax rate of Rp. 750,000.
The poorly organized introduction of the new tourism tax collected only Rp. 117 billion from 14 February until 12 June 2024.
Bali Hotels Must Manage Their Own Trash
Indonesia’s Minister of the Environment, Hanif Faisol Nurofiq, wants to require hotels and restaurants in Bali to process and manage the trash and garbage they produce.
The Minister made the pronouncement at a beach cleaning campaign event underway on Pantai Kedonganan in Kuta on Sunday, 19 January 2025.
“There is an obligation mandated in government regulations regarding waste management. Therefore, hotel and cafe managers must manage their waste,” said Hanif.
Minister Nurofiq has predicted that 70% of floating ocean trash will be eliminated in 2025.
“There is an obligation mandated in government regulations regarding waste management. Therefore, hotel and cafe managers must manage their waste,” said Hanif.
The Minister hopes the new mandate will reduce garbage and trash in Bali’s rivers and the surrounding seas. Hanif says he has assigned dozens of top Ministry of Environment officials in Bali to help tackle the trash pollution.
This team is targeted to handle the waste pollution in the sea and rivers over the coming year. He said the team focuses on 14 rivers in Bali, including the Tukad Mati River in Kuta and the Tukad Badung River, which transects the Denpasar and Badung areas.
Meanwhile, the Deputy Minister of Tourism Ni Luh Puspa said that her Ministry also has a Clean Tourism Movement Program to reduce pollution in tourist destinations such as Bali. She said the program’s primary mission is to create clean tourist destinations and toilet facilities.
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The Minister of Environment says cleaning the two South Bali rivers is this year’s focus of Waste Management Programs.
“There is a program called the Clean Tourism Movement. It is a community-based program on creating tourist destinations free from waste and clean toilets,” said Puspa.
The program is not only targeted at cafe and hotel entrepreneurs but also targets local communities and domestic and foreign tourists.
Puspa said that the Ministry of Tourism plans to issue regulations to make the movement successful.
“So that the responsibility for environmental cleanliness is not only for the local community. But also for the tourist visitor,” she said.
New Low-Cost Online Taxi Service Launches In Bali
Tourists in Bali now have more choice than ever before in terms of navigating between the island’s biggest attractions.
Over the last few years, tensions have been rising between local taxi drivers and online taxi app providers.
As new policies are introduced to help level the playing field in the taxi driving marketplace, a new provider has just launched on the island, offering tourists low-cost fares and transparency for drivers.
inDrive, a global ride-hailing service provider, has just expanded its services in Bali Province. The new kid on the block is set to offer passengers, both local and foreign, exceptional service and great rates. Offering passengers an alternative to local drivers, local brands like Bluebird, as well as ride hailing giants like Grab and GoJek, tourists would be wise to download the inDrive app as soon as possible.
Ryan Rwanda, a representative of inDrive, formally launched the service in the province on Monday 3rd February. He explained how inDrive is the only ride-hailing platform where every request is based on an agreement between the passenger and the driver.
He shared “Here, the price and pick-up location are agreed upon by both parties, creating a trip that everyone agrees on. There is great potential here, and since 2019 we have seen this potential proven by the excellent market in five cities in Indonesia.”
Rwanda noted “Bali is a challenging area in terms of characteristics, but it also has great potential for the development of our services.”
One of the big draws to inDrive, for Bali based taxi drivers, is the ease of the registration process. Many Grab and GoJek drivers are already registered with both platforms and take bookings on either platform as the notifications appear.
With inDrive the driver registration process has been designed to be one of the simplest, making it easy for thousands of drivers, both two-wheeled and four-wheeled, to join.
Leaders at inDrive explained that the business model has great potential to provide a more equitable transportation alternative, where users can negotiate directly with drivers without algorithms that determine prices unilaterally.
inDrive also has a lower commission rate than other ride-hailing platforms, meaning drivers take home more of the money they make from each ride.
For passenger safety, inDrive has a photo and video-based registration system to facilitate the driver verification process.
Rwanda also noted that the platform’s sign-up process supports provincial legislation that is designed to help ensure local Bali-based drivers are prioritized in the marketplace.
He shared “For cars with DK plates [Denpasar], there are separate license or monitoring card requirements, but we provide additional options for those who want to join.”
Speaking to the press, Afanasy Petrov from inDrive, explained that the freedom and transparency for both drivers and passengers is a top priority.
He confirmed, “Unlike other ride-hailing platforms, inDrive does not set prices unilaterally and has the lowest commission in the ride-hailing market, so drivers can enjoy more optimal income. In addition, inDrive gives drivers full flexibility to choose trips that suit their preferences.”
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inDrive has currently been downloaded over 200 million times and is available in 700 cities across 45 countries. It is the second largest ridesharing app service in the world, based on downloads, and in September 2024 the service clocked 5 billion rides.
Founded in Yakutsk in Russia in 2013 inDrive is now headquartered in Mountain View, California in the United States. The app is available for download in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store and is available for iPhone and Android devices.
It has been a turbulent few years for the taxi industry in Bali, and at the beginning of January 2025, hundreds of members of the Bali Tourism Driver Struggle Forum (FPDP) marched to the Regional People’s Representative Council of Bali (Bali DPRD) to demand that existing legislation be implemented fully and more policies be introduced to help improve passenger safety, and ensure local taxi drivers were not pushed out of the marketplace by online taxi service providers.
Bali Deploys New Traffic Jam Team
Bali has confirmed that it will be deploying a new Traffic Jam Team, which will be tasked with reducing traffic congestion in the province’s worst-affected areas and, perhaps more importantly, improving road safety.
Bali has one of the worst road safety records in all of Indonesia, with dozens of traffic collision-related deaths and hundreds more injuries reported every year.
The Bali Police Chief Inspector General Danial Adityajaya confirmed that the new Traffic Jam Team, locally named Team Jam Urai, will be initially deployed in areas like Canggu, where traffic congestion is worsening by the day. He called for officers in the Traffic Jam Team to work to prioritize serving the community to the best of their ability while ensuring security order and supporting the positive public image of Bali’s tourism sector.
Inspector General Adityajaya shared “We are all aware that the traffic jams in Bali, especially in Canggu are increasingly a concern. Therefore, we will send a special team formed by the Traffic Directorate to overcome this so that the public and tourists can feel comfortable.”
He emphasized the importance of collaboration and cooperation between the police authorities, local communities, and road users, including tourists, to help tackle the region’s seemingly ever-present traffic congestion woes.
For the uninitiated, Bali’s traffic congestion issues are serious and worsening. Rapid tourism and commercial development across the central south of the island has outweighed the amount of investment and strategic attention given to the region’s infrastructural support systems, such as roads.
Roads that were previously only designed to cope with occasional village traffic are now contending with city-level volumes of vehicles, ranging from everyday commuter traffic to tourism taxi drivers, construction and delivery vehicles, and residential traffic movement.
In areas like Canggu, it is not uncommon for journeys that should take a matter of minutes on a clear road or in free-flowing traffic to take upwards of 45 minutes to an hour. Around sunset, the Canggu shortcuts and major roadways reach a state of gridlock.
Speaking to the media in January 2025, the Acting Regional Secretary of Badung, Ida Bagus Surya Suamba, confirmed that the authorities are looking into developing a new highway through Canggu to help tackle and support the increased number of road users in the area.
A feasibility study will be completed next year, and the road, set to be called West Gatsu Street, is anticipated to help reduce traffic congestion not only in Canggu but through to Kuta, Legian, and Seminyak to the east and to the west, towards Tanah Lot.
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Suamba told reporters, “The construction of West Gatsu Road through Canggu as a continuation of the primary arterial road, which is currently not properly connected. This condition causes a narrowing which causes traffic jams on the Canggu-Tanah Lot road.”
Road safety is a huge problem that needs to be resolved in Bali. As traffic congestion increases so does the risk-potential of driver’s behaviour.
As the volume of traffic on Bali’s roads, in villages, towns, cities, and on highways, both day and night, increases, so does the number of reported collisions and fatalities.
Causalities and fatalities are reported on a daily basis in Bali and are impacting both foreign and local drivers, those in cars, trucks, buses, and motorcycles.
On Saturday, 1st February, a 30-year-old Russian woman, known by her initials IB, died after a collision with a construction truck in front of Goa Lawah Temple in Klungkung Regency. Speaking to reporters the Head of Klungkung Police AKP Untung Laksono, confirmed the events of the collision to the media.
ID, who was driving a Honda Scoopy, is reported to have collided with the on-coming construction truck at around 6 pm on Saturday evening. Though she made it to hospital, she passed away at Klungkung Hospital later that night.
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