Bali Q&A

How much cash should I bring to Bali?

Answered by Alex M., our Bali-based editor · July 25, 2026 · Updated October 16, 2026

Short answerDo not fly in with a wad for the whole trip. Bring or withdraw enough for your first 2-3 days - roughly 1-2 million IDR (about 60-125 USD) - then top up from bank ATMs as you go. Card and QRIS acceptance in tourist areas is wide in 2026, but warungs, small shops, parking and village vendors still run on cash.

Adjacent question: Is Bali expensive in 2026? That page answers whether Bali is expensive and what a day costs; this one is only about how much cash to physically carry and how ATMs behave.

The bill sizes behind the number, from our own rankings

The 1-2 million IDR landing figure is not a guess; it is two days of the prices our Top-10 pages publish:

Yoga drop-in 140k-185k. Intuitive Flow in Penestanan (Ubud) is cash only at 150k; most other studios take cards.
Massage, 60 min 220-310k at the Canggu spas we rank (Chillax, Tonic, AMO), 173k for a Balinese hour at Yogi Spa in Nelayan.
Gym day pass 150k-500k island-wide; Bali Fitness Seminyak 150k, TOPGYM 400k plus 13% tax.
Cooking class in Ubud 350k-600k, usually paid on the day.
Warung and market meals are cash territory; Sindhu Night Market and Warung Mak Beng in Sanur publish no prices on a site of their own, so we print none.

One class, one massage, two warung meals and a few scooter rides is about 500-700k a day. Two days of that is the 1-2 million we say to land with, and the rest comes out of a bank ATM in the 2.5-3 million steps the machines allow.

Source: our own rankings on this site (data/venues.csv, 302 venues), prices as published by each venue; gym prices re-checked 16 October 2026.

Daily numbers that hold up

Budget travellers get by on 300,000-600,000 IDR a day for food and local transport; a comfortable mid-range day (cafe meals, a massage, rides, a beach club) runs 1-1.5 million IDR per person, which matches 2026 budget guides (Cafe del Mar, bali.com). Of that, the part that must be physical cash is small: usually 200,000-500,000 IDR a day unless you are deliberately eating only at warungs.

ATMs: limits and the one rule

Bank ATMs (BCA, Mandiri, BNI, CIMB) dispense 1.25 million IDR per withdrawal on 50k-note machines and up to 3 million on 100k-note machines, with daily caps around 6 million (bali.com). The one rule: use ATMs attached to real bank branches or inside minimarts, not free-standing street machines, and always decline the ATM's own conversion offer - your card's rate is better.

Cards and QRIS in 2026

Visa and Mastercard work in most cafes, spas, gyms and supermarkets, often with a 2-3 percent surcharge. The bigger 2026 shift is QRIS, Indonesia's universal QR payment standard - nearly every counter has the sticker (Short Stay Bali). It only helps if you have an Indonesian bank or e-wallet app, so for a 1-3 week holiday the practical answer stays: card where possible, modest cash for the rest. For what things actually cost once you are here, our guides publish verified prices in IDR - see is Bali expensive?

Related guides

Ask your own question

Real questions from readers get researched and answered on this site, marked "asked by a reader". Leave an email if you want a ping when your answer is published - it is optional and never shown publicly.