Moving to Bali as a Digital Nomad in 2022

Here’s what you need to know

I left Europe in November. Winter was kicking in, together with the “new wave” of Covid. I make money online and that morning I looked at the world map wondering where is the best place in the world right at this moment, where I can just sit in nature, go on adventures and work from my laptop?

Requirements to get into Bali

First of all, you need a Business Visa. Tourism is not allowed yet, for Covid restrictions. But it’s pretty easy to get. One of my friends sent me a WhatsApp contact and I started talking to this lady. She asked me for a list of documents and a payment of approximately 350 USD. Everything was pretty smooth. To apply for the Visa and be qualified, you mainly just need to be fully Vaccinated.

This is how the Visa looks like. It was issued in 6 days after the payment and it lasts 60 days from the moment you enter Indonesia. Then, it needs to be renewed month by month, for a maximum of 6 months.

To renew it, you just need to pay about 60 USD each month (850.000 Indonesian Rupia).

Once I got here I discovered that there are a lot of agencies providing visas to foreigners, even for cheaper prices, and it’s a real big business for locals.

Coming from the United States, I wasn’t expecting it to be so easy.

Quarantine in Jakarta

As of writing, December 30, 2021, Indonesia requires anyone entering the country to undertake a 9-night and 10-day quarantine in preselected hotels in Jakarta.

It was a very painful experience, to be honest with you. I paid about 500 USD to get locked into a room receiving food 3 times per day. The staff of my hotel was pretty awesome but being stuck is never fun.

At this link, you can find the list of the hotels in Jakarta that are organized for quarantine packages. Unfortunately no, you can’t just go on Google and pick a random one: they have to be government-approved properties.

What happened at the airport

You’ll need a negative PCR test to get on board your Jakarta flight. Then, as soon as you land, they will perform a new one at the airport and you won’t be allowed to leave the airport until the results come in. You also won’t be allowed to leave the airport on your own. The driver from the quarantine hotel will pick you up and you are only authorized to leave with him. It was a very strict procedure.

Then, on the last day of your quarantine, they’ll perform a new PCR test. If negative, you’ll be free to get on your flight to Bali.

Where to stay in Bali

Once you get here, life is pretty cheap. Canggu, which is the most west-washed area of the island, has tons of “Homestay” — this is how they call them. They are a complex of spacious rooms in Bali style with a shared pool and kitchen. I am paying 230 USD for the whole month.

Canggu is a small area on the beach, completely “gentrified”: people here are from every part of the world — mostly the UK, Europe, the US, and Russia. There are a lot of cafes and restaurants that serve western food and fancy gyms, fancy villas, bars and clubs for the nightlife, beach clubs. A lot of co-working spaces for digital nomads. Networking is pretty easy. Beaches have black sand, so the water is dark. But good for surfing!

Ubud hasn’t been taken over yet, and it still preserves the Indonesian flavor: there are so many hiking trails, waterfalls, local restaurants, and definitely a different crowd, a lot more local, also pretty resorts with jungle views and a lot of beautiful Indonesian temples.

Uluwatu is a less crowded area with pretty white-sand beaches and exceptional resorts and beach clubs with infinity pools facing the most amazing sunset every night.

The North of the Island, Singaraja town and around it, is very much less touristic than the south. Locals don’t speak well English and restaurants or hotels only serve Indonesian food. In this part of the island, there are the most beautiful nature scenaries and all of those insta-famous resorts with floating pool breakfast.

Make sure you know that to get from one area to another one is always a very long drive. From Canggu to Ubud is one hour drive. Getting to the north of the island and visiting the waterfall in this picture takes 2.5 hours. Roads are very narrow and here they drive on the opposite side of the road compared to Europe and US. It is very easy to get stuck in traffic for hours.

How to move around

I recommend renting a motorcycle to explore the island (it’s about 50 USD per month!). Uber does not exist here, but they have Go-Jek and Grab: pretty much the same, if not better, because extremely cheap. You can ask them to drive you for one hour and it will cost you about 10 USD.

There is no Amazon Prime here

If you are looking to buy things online, go on Tokopedia. Amazon delivers here with fees that go around 50/60 USD and it takes several weeks for everything to arrive.

Next week, I’ll write another article with the best spot in Bali for photography and content creators. Stay tuned!

Follow me on Instagram to watch the daily Bali life: @ yesimfabiana.