City guides Indonesia
Bali (Canggu)
Still the most famous remote-work address in Asia, and still beautiful. What has changed is enforcement: immigration now patrols Canggu for people working on tourist visas, and deports them. Come on the right visa, ride carefully, and it is a very good year. Come on the wrong one and it can end with a five-year ban.
Every figure checked 2 Oct 2026
- USD 179 Coworking, monthly
- About IDR 1.2 million a month Scooter hire
- IDR 150,000 Bali tourist levy
- Country Indonesia
- Time zone UTC+8 09:25 there now
- Language Indonesian (Bahasa Indonesia)
- Currency Indonesian rupiah (IDR)
- Plugs Type C and F, 230V
How far English gets you Fine in Canggu, Ubud and anywhere that serves visitors, and very thin beyond. Indonesia sits in the Low band of the EF English Proficiency Index. It stops at the immigration office, the banjar and the mechanic, and a little Bahasa Indonesia is both easy to learn and noticed.
Honestly
Is this your kind of place?
It suits you if
Remote employees of foreign companies earning USD 60,000 a year or more, who can get the E33G remote worker visa and want a big community of other remote workers. People who ride a scooter confidently and hold the licence for it, and who want surf, rice fields and yoga around a working week.
It does not suit you if
Anyone planning to freelance for Indonesian clients, sell anything locally, or make paid content on a tourist visa: immigration is patrolling Canggu, uses face recognition on social media, and deports. Anyone counting on a tax exemption no official source confirms. Anyone who will not ride but expects a Grab everywhere, because village councils run no-pickup zones in Canggu. And anyone who hates traffic: 622 people died on Bali's roads in 2024, most of them on motorbikes.
Money
What everything else costs
| Coworking day pass | USD 15 | Outpost Ubud |
|---|---|---|
| Coworking in Canggu | About IDR 1.5 to 2 million a month | Tropical Nomad and Puco Rooftop, August 2026 |
| Nasi campur | IDR 30,000 | A full plate at a well-known warung, 2023 price |
| Coffee | IDR 15,000 to 18,000 | At the Kopi Kenangan chain. Canggu cafes charge far more |
| Visa on arrival | IDR 500,000 | Thirty days, extendable once by thirty |
Paperwork
Can you legally stay?
| Savings | A personal bank statement showing at least USD 2,000 across the last three months |
|---|---|
| Official name | E33G, for employees of companies abroad who work remotely in Indonesia |
| Who it is for | You need an employment contract with a company established outside Indonesia |
| Cost | 7,000,000, as shown on the official e-visa portal, which does not state the currency |
| How long | Up to one year, renewable for another. You must enter within 90 days of issue |
| What you cannot do | Sell goods or services in Indonesia, or take any payment from Indonesian individuals or companies. One local client breaks it |
| Without a visa | British and American passports need a visa: thirty days on arrival or by e-visa, extendable once by thirty |
| Overstay | IDR 1,000,000 a day |
| Tax residency | More than 183 days in any twelve months, or living there with the intention to stay. Whether E33G holders are exempt on foreign income is not confirmed by any official source |
Where to live
Where to base yourself
-
Canggu and Berawa
No checked figure yetWhere the coworking, cafes and community are concentrated
The catch Grab and Gojek drivers will often not pick up here, because the village councils run no-go zones
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Pererenan
No checked figure yetThe quieter rice-field edge of Canggu, ten minutes from the same cafes
The catch You still ride Canggu's congested lanes for everything
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Ubud
No checked figure yetJungle, culture, cooler nights and the only operator-checked coworking price on this page
The catch Over an hour from the surf coast, and you need a scooter or a driver
-
Sanur
No checked figure yetCalmer, older, flatter, with a beach path and an easy pace
The catch It is close to the Suwung landfill, where 2026 restrictions led to illegal dumping and burning
Timing
The best time to come
- Jan Wettest month, 388mm
- Feb Still very wet
- Mar Easing; Nyepi 8 March 2027
- Apr Drying out, quieter
- May Dry and warm
- Jun Dry, cooler nights
- Jul Dry, but peak arrivals
- Aug Driest month, busiest
- Sep Dry, crowds leaving
- Oct Dry, 31C highs
- Nov Rains return
- Dec Wet and holiday-crowded
Come now Fine Avoid
The temperature hardly changes all year; the rain does. April to October is the dry season, and July and August are when everybody else comes too. On Nyepi, the Day of Silence, the whole island shuts for 24 hours, airport included. In 2027 that is 8 March.
Connectivity
The internet, honestly
That is Indonesia's national median fixed download, from Ookla in August 2026. Fibre is available in Canggu and Ubud, but villa connections vary enormously, so ask for a speed test before you pay.
Cafes in Canggu are built for laptops, and that is half the appeal. For calls, take a coworking desk: the Canggu spaces have backup connections that a villa usually does not. And note that several famous names, Dojo Bali among them, have closed.
Work
Remote roles open to someone in Indonesia
A remote job is not in any one city. These are roles whose employer will hire someone living here, pulled from the board as you load the page.
Eating
What to eat, and what it costs
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Nasi campur
IDR 30,000Rice with a little of everything: betutu chicken, sate lilit, sambal matah. The everyday lunch
-
Babi guling
From IDR 35,000Spit-roast pork with crackling and lawar. Bali is Hindu, so pork is everywhere
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Kopi Kenangan
IDR 18,000Indonesia's biggest coffee chain and its iced milk coffee. A quarter of the Canggu cafe price
Days off
Worth a Saturday
-
Uluwatu Temple and the Kecak dance
IDR 60,000The clifftop temple, then the fire dance at sunset for IDR 150,000 more. Foreigners pay more than Indonesians
-
Tegallalang rice terraces
IDR 25,000The terraces north of Ubud. Some farmers charge their own small tolls on the paths
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Tanah Lot at sunset
Not checkedThe sea temple, with a Kecak performance you can book through the SatuSatu app
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Mount Batur sunrise
Not checkedThe volcano trek. Bali now requires foreign visitors on it to be accompanied by a licensed guide
The rest
Things the other guides leave out
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Dojo Bali is closed
Its own site now says so. Several other well-known coworking spaces have also closed but still appear in directories
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Rabies is active
45,365 bites from rabies-carrying animals and seven deaths in the first eight months of 2026. Talk to your doctor about the pre-exposure vaccine, and treat any bite as urgent
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Pay in rupiah
Bali's 2025 rules for foreign tourists require payment in rupiah or by QRIS, staying only in licensed accommodation, and a valid licence and helmet on a scooter
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No small water bottles
Bali has banned producing single-use bottled water under one litre. Bring a refillable one. Tap water is not safe to drink
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The building freeze
Since 2025 the province has stopped issuing permits for tourist developments on productive farmland, and a 2026 regulation bans nominee ownership
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The airport shuts for Nyepi
24 hours, every flight. Plan around 8 March 2027
Work out whether you can actually afford to go
Every role on the board says which countries you can live in and still take it, so remote means remote.
Every figure on this page was checked on 2 Oct 2026. Prices move and rules change; tell us when something is wrong and we will fix it.