Prepaid SIM / eSIM card in Bali (Indonesia): how much does it cost? Where to buy one?
Planning to travel to Bali, Indonesia? Whatever you do, don’t use your French SIM card for internet there!
With Free Mobile, it would cost you €9.7 per MB! In other words, sending one photo via WhatsApp could cost you up to €25. I’d advise against it!
Here are the different options available to you for getting a SIM card that will give you internet access without any nasty surprises.
Buy a SIM card before you leave
It will be more economical to buy a local SIM card when you arrive in Bali. But if you’d rather not waste time on that and go straight to the beach, you can buy a SIM card before you leave, and it’ll be delivered to your home.
Our partner Holafly (see offers and get a 10% discount code) offers this type of deal.
Their rate is €32 (delivery included) for a SIM card valid for 12 days in Indonesia with 4GB of internet data.
You can also find deals on Amazon (this one, for example).
Buy an eSIM for Bali / Indonesia
If your phone is eSIM compatible, it’s even easier since Holafly also offers them (see our article on the subject).
See eSIM offers for Indonesia. Feel free to use the promo code NOMADBENTO
Getting a SIM card at Denpasar Airport
Unlike most international airports, we didn’t find any SIM card stands at Denpasar Airport in Bali.
We were in a hurry to get to our hotel, so we didn’t go upstairs in the airport – maybe it was possible up there.
Also, we arrived in the post-COVID period, so not all services may have been back yet.
If you have any info, feel free to share it in the comments!
Buying a SIM card in town
Don’t panic if you couldn’t find a SIM card at the airport – you’ll find one easily in town.
Just keep your eyes open and look out for the magic word “SIM card”.
For me, it was this little shop.
The seller offered me a Telkomsel SIM card with 35GB of internet, valid for 30 days, for 200,000 IDR (€12.95 at the current exchange rate).
He explained that activation would take about 30 minutes and gave me his WhatsApp number in case of problems.
Unlike most countries where you just pop the SIM card into your phone, in Indonesia there’s an activation procedure to go through.
You need to present your passport (since I didn’t have it on me at the time, the photo I had on my phone was enough).
But the seller also has to get your IMEI number (your phone’s unique identifier). So I imagine the SIM card won’t work if you switch devices.
So don’t buy a SIM card if the seller doesn’t offer activation!
Two hours later, the card still wasn’t activated. I contacted him and he said the activation service had closed at 6 PM… it would be active the next morning.
In the end, it got activated around midnight (I saw the carrier’s name appear at the top left of my phone). I had to restart my phone to receive the activation confirmation texts.
I then recommend installing the MyTelkomsel app, which will let you:
- Check your remaining credit
- Buy more packs (internet, calls, Netflix, etc. if needed)
Topping up (buying credit to purchase packs) isn’t possible with a foreign bank card. You’ll need to go to a store for that. I’ll update the article once I’ve done it.
The pack prices are very affordable, especially since the app regularly offers promos. For example:
- 42GB of internet valid for 30 days: 86,000 IDR (€5.5)
- 13GB of internet valid for 7 days: 30,500 IDR (€1.98)
| Internet data volume | Validity | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 1 GB | 7 days | 5,500 IDR |
| 6.5GB | 3 days | 17,000 IDR |
| 13 GB | 7 days | 32,000 IDR |
| 42 GB | 30 days | 90,000 IDR |
| 60 GB | 30 days | 125,000 IDR |
| 80 GB | 30 days | 150,000 IDR |
Fun fact, they even have roaming packages (internet in another country). For example, you can buy 10 GB to use in Japan for 300,000 IDR. That’s cheaper than what you’ll find in Japan…
In Ubud, Anh bought the same SIM card as me from a small stand outside the supermarket. She paid a bit less than me: 175,000 IDR (vs 200,000)
You can also find sidewalk stands like this one in Ubud.
Top up your SIM card at a Minimart
In Minimart convenience stores (open 24/7), there’s a tablet that lets you do various operations (pay bills, top up your Grab account, top up your SIM card), …
The process is quite simple:
- You choose the operation you want to do
- You enter your phone number
- You choose the package you want to buy
- The tablet prints out a receipt
- Which you just give to the cashier and pay (cash only)
- That’s it!
However, there’s a little trap to avoid if you want to save a few euros.
If you click on “paket data”, you can directly buy internet credit. But the rates are much higher than the deals you can find on the app.
For example, 30GB will cost me 150,000 IDR. For the same price, I get 80GB by going through the app!
So the trick is to not buy an internet package, but to buy credit. Once you’ve bought credit, you just need to purchase the internet package via the app in 3 clicks.
To buy credit, you need to click on the “Pulsa isi ulang” button, then choose how much you want to top up.
Internet vs Internet Lokal
A small nuance: internet packages distinguish between “Internet” and “Internet Lokal” data volumes.
In my case, I have 2 GB of “internet” and 23 GB of “internet lokal”.
It seems that internet lokal is the internet you use in the city where you bought your SIM card. “Internet” is what you use outside that city.
In reality, it’s more complex than that, and I don’t have the full explanation. I bought my SIM card in Canggu, I mainly used it in Ubud, and it’s mostly my “internet lokal” that got used up.
If you’re changing regions entirely within Indonesia, you might want to buy a new SIM card.
Speedtest of a SIM card in Canggu
This test was done in Canggu on June 10, 2022.
The connection is very good with 61 Mb/s download, 38 Mb/s upload, and a ping of 22 ms.
Speedtest in Ubud
This test was carried out in Ubud on June 26, 2022.
The connection is also excellent: 54 Mb/s download, 51 upload. Ping of 6 ms.
Video
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