Bali Q&A

Which SIM card or eSIM should I get in Bali?

Answered by Alex M., our Bali-based editor · July 28, 2026 · Updated October 18, 2026

Short answerGet a Telkomsel plan - it has the widest, most reliable coverage across Bali and the neighbouring islands. A tourist SIM or eSIM with 20-45GB for 30 days costs roughly 12-25 USD. If your phone supports eSIM, buy one online before you fly and it works the moment you land; otherwise buy a physical SIM from a Telkomsel shop or a proper phone kiosk in town, where they register it for you. Skip the airport SIM counters - they charge a heavy premium.

The wifi fallback: the coworking spaces we rank, with day rates

Mobile data is the plan; a desk with fibre is the backup when it drops, and in Bali the two are not evenly spread. All six coworking spaces in our rankings are in Canggu (Berawa and Tibubeneng): BWork 299k for 24 hours, SETTER 299k, PUCO Rooftop 200k, SOKKOOL 180k, with Tropical Nomad and Nebula publishing no day rate (n/a). Outside Canggu we rank no dedicated coworking yet, so the fallback is a cafe table: our Ubud healthy-cafe list runs 75-125k for a breakfast, and we do not track wifi speed, so ask before you order.

What that means for the SIM decision: working from Canggu, a modest data plan plus one coworking day a week is cheaper than the largest package; working from Ubud, Uluwatu or Sanur, buy the bigger data plan, because there is no desk to fall back on in our lists.

Source: our own rankings on this site (data/venues.csv, 303 entries), prices as published by each venue, re-checked 16-18 October 2026.

Why Telkomsel, and the numbers

Telkomsel simply reaches more of the island than the alternatives. Tourist eSIMs start around 12-15 USD, with 20-45GB for 30 days the usual sweet spot; a physical 45GB tourist SIM runs about 14 USD (Balisim, Cellesim, BaliEasy). Tourist eSIMs are for foreign passports only, give you a local +62 number, and run on 3G/4G/5G.

eSIM vs physical SIM

eSIM: install it before your flight, no airport queue, and you can keep your home number active alongside it - the catch is your phone must support eSIM. Physical SIM: works on any phone, bought with cash in town, and the shop handles registration (Indonesia legally ties every SIM to a passport, so let a real Telkomsel or Erafone store do it rather than a random beach stall). Both get you online within minutes; the choice is just about your handset and whether you want to queue.

How much data you really need

Villa and cafe wifi exists but is patchy, so your own data is what keeps Grab, Gojek and Google Maps dependable - and 20GB comfortably covers a one-to-two-week trip of maps, messaging and some streaming. Do not overbuy. Coverage is strong across the south and Ubud and thinner on the remote north and east coasts and parts of Nusa Penida, so download offline maps before heading off-grid (see is Nusa Penida worth visiting).

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.