Bali Q&A

Do they speak English in Bali?

Answered by Alex M., our Bali-based editor · July 28, 2026

Short answerYes. English is widely spoken across Bali's tourist areas - Canggu, Seminyak, Ubud, Kuta, Uluwatu, Nusa Dua - where most hotel staff, drivers, restaurant workers and shopkeepers handle conversational English with ease. You can navigate almost any everyday situation without a word of Indonesian. English recedes the further you get from the tourist corridors: village markets, rural warungs and small towns may have little or none.

Where English is easy

In the main tourist zones, English is genuinely the working language of tourism. Most Balinese who deal with visitors speak three - Balinese, Indonesian and English - and menus, signs, booking apps and ride apps are commonly in English (bali.com, Nomadicated). For a standard beach-and-cafe trip you will rarely hit a language wall.

Where it thins out

Head into rural villages, local-only markets, the remote north and east, or sites that draw mostly domestic tourists, and English can drop away fast. A translation app with the offline Indonesian pack (Google Translate) covers the gap nicely. Worth knowing: Balinese is a distinct local language, while Bahasa Indonesia is the national one - the useful one to pick up a few words of.

Phrases that earn goodwill

You do not need them, but they land well: terima kasih (thank you), tolong (please), permisi (excuse me), berapa (how much), enak (delicious). Locals warm up quickly when a visitor makes the effort. So the honest answer is that language is not a barrier to a Bali trip - claims that you "must" learn Indonesian to get by are n/a - but a little courtesy goes a long way, especially once you leave the tourist strip.

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