Is Bali Worth the Trip? Visiting the Island of the Gods in the Era of Overtourism

Last Updated on August 12, 2025 by Charlotte

Bali holds a special place in my heart for the high-quality surf, tasty warungs, and warm and friendly locals. However, the influx of visitors inspired by Eat, Pray, Love has significantly altered the “authentic” experience of this small Indonesian island. Online, we see secluded exotic temples, serene pools decorated with flowers, and ladies in flowy dresses walking through isolated rice terraces. In person, Bali’s thronging crowds, overtourism, traffic, and plastic pollution can severely mismatch with your expectations of a tropical paradise.

Whenever traveling, I try to set realistic expectations for a trip. If a place is popular with good tourist infrastructure, it is likely to be busy and popular for a reason. However, overtourism can certainly sully an experience. In this travel review, we share what we loved and did not love about Bali. While Bali has changed a lot in the past ten years, the opportunities for adventure and warm local people make this place one of our favorites.

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What We Loved About Bali

Fantastic Surfing

Due to Bali’s unique position along the Indian Ocean, this Indonesian island is a year-round magnet for epic waves. On the Balinese peninsula of Uluwatu, surfers enjoy a diverse variety of surf breaks for beginners to experts alike. Uluwatu has an established surf culture, with numerous surf schools and surf guides. We hired a fantastic surf guide in Uluwatu through Olas de Bali Surf School who guided us through new breaks that fit our skill levels.

Pristine Coral Reefs

The eastern side of Bali, as well as the offshore islands of Lembongan and Nusa Penida, have some of the best quality and most easily accessible diving in Southeast Asia. Bali is at the heart of the “Pacific Coral Triangle“, an area that is estimated to host the greatest coral diversity in the world. Here, coral reefs are teeming with fish, anemones, and octopi. As someone who frequently snorkels and free dives at home in Hawai’i, nothing could have prepared me for the excitement and wonder of seeing a menagerie of new species of corals and fish. We even found Nemo!

Majestic Waterfalls

Bali’s tropical climate nourishes lush rainforests and feeds the rivers and streams that make waterfalls. In the North of Bali, waterfalls are abundant. We spent one exciting day at Sekumpul Waterfalls, floating around in the cold pools. Sekumpul had been on my bucket list for quite some time, and seeing it in real life was truly amazing.

Balinese Cuisine

I had not expected to love Balinese cuisine as much as I did. During our stay, we mostly frequented Warungs or local homestyle cooking restaurants. My friend from Jakarta advised us to primarily eat cooked or fried foods, which included tasty dishes like Nasi Goreng (fried rice), Mie Goreng (Fried noodles). Because we could not read or understand a lot of Indonesian, we’d impulse order any dish that sounded interesting. I liked every dish that I tried. For those looking for something more familiar, Bali also has an excellent variety of Western and health food options.

Intriguing Temples

As the only predominately Hindu Indonesian island, Bali has over 10,000 temples. Balinese Hinduism has a unique style of architecture that is characterized by spiritual gates (Candi Bentar), pagodas, and courtyards. Many gates are carved with intricate dragon and demon motifs. Some of the most popular temples to visit include Ulun Danu Beratan Temple, Pura Tirta Empul in Ubud, and Pura Luhur Uluwatu.

What We Didn’t Love

Bali Belly

We were lucky to avoid getting Traveller’s Diarrhoea, otherwise known as Bali Belly. Bali Belly comes from eating contaminated food or drinking contaminated water. During our stay, we were very prudent with our handwashing, only drank treated water, and did not eat much pre-cut fruit or veg. However, I heard numerous Bali Belly horror stories in conversations with other visitors.

Hassling and Fees

One thing that took some adjustment was the constant hassling by vendors, and having to pay a fee for every little thing. On the beaches, ladies with wares were very persistent in their attempts to sell us Bintang T-shirts and sarongs. At some temples and waterfalls, it was required to pay a local to be your guide into the natural areas or religious sites. This was a bit of an adjustment from Hawaii where most of our natural sites are free to visit. However, most of our guides were truly lovely people who made sure to keep us safe when visiting waterfalls, or who could share the history behind a temple.

Traffic

Traffic in Bali was something else and required a lot of patience, especially in the more populated areas. Most of the attractions we visited required driving, and the crazy concoction of scooters, mini buses, taxis, and dump trucks was a bit overwhelming. I was thankful for our local driver Irlam, who kept us safe throughout our adventures across Bali.

Taxi Mafias

While Bali has the popular rideshare apps Grab and GoJet in many areas, some towns in Bali have collectively banned these apps and require you to book with the local taxi company. These taxi companies can have overpriced rates or incredibly high flat fares. For example, I was quoted a taxi fare to go one mile in Uluwatu, which was more than I would pay for a similar distance in Hawaii. One of our private drivers told us that the taxi mafias would beat up drivers who infringed on their turf.

Plastic Pollution

Due to the lack of potable water on much of the island coupled with the surge in tourism from 13+ million annual visitors, Bali has suffered an overwhelming amount of plastic pollution. Some areas of Bali have made an effort to provide free treated reusable water bottle refill centers. Even so, seeing all the plastic waste detracted from our expectations of a tropical island getaway.

Was it worth the trip?

For us avid surfers and adventure travelers, 100% yes! We hope to return to Bali at some point in the future to do more surfing and diving. Nevertheless, if you are traveling to Bali from the mainland of North America, the cost of flights and travel time required to Southeast Asia might be better spent on destinations in Central and South America, unless you plan on creating a larger Southeast Asia itinerary. After all, Bali is to Australians what Cancun is to Americans.

Have you had a chance to visit Bali? We’d love to hear about your experiences in the comments below~