Leaders in Bali are preparing for one of the busiest times of the year. In 2025, both the Balinese Hindu festival of Nyepi and the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Fitr will fall on the weekend.
With millions of Indonesian families on the move and international tourists in Bali, authorities must coordinate a lot.
The Indonesian Government has forecast that the busiest day of travel over the Eid al-Fitr holiday, known in Indonesia as Lebaran, will fall on Friday 28th March.
This will mark the peak of the outgoing holiday traffic and travel movement. The incoming, or return flow of travelers is most likely going to be at its busiest on Sunday 6th April 2025. Eid al-Fitr will be formally observed on the 30th or 31st of March following the sighting of the moon.
With all this in mind, tourists heading to Bali must be prepared for additional traffic jams, queues at the airport and for top attractions to be extra busy. Though on Nyepi Day, the Balinese Day of Silence, which will fall on the 29th March 2025, the island will fall still and silent, in the days that will follow the province will be buzzing with festival magic.
The President Director of Jasa Marga, Subakti Syukur told reporters “The peak of the homecoming flow during the Lebaran and Nyepi holiday period is predicted to occur on Friday, March 28, 2025, or [three days before] of Lebaran. Meanwhile, the peak of the return flow is estimated to be on Sunday, April 6, 2025, or [five days after Eid].“ Jasa Marga is the state-owned company responsible for the country’s toll road infrastructure.
Syukur continued “Traffic volume has increased by 50 percent from normal conditions, but because there are arrangements, hopefully it will decrease by 9 percent compared to last year. However, the increase is still significant.”
He added “We hope this prediction is accurate because the preparations have been carried out for quite a long time. With good coordination, we are optimistic that we can overcome the traffic surge.” Syukur concluded, “We hope that travelers can choose the right travel time and obey traffic rules to avoid congestion.”
Officials in Bali have confirmed that changes to traffic management will start in the province from as early s the 17th March, especially in the busiest tourism resort areas.
Tourists, whether traveling by taxi, with a private driver, or driving themselves on motorcycles, must be aware that there will be a range of road closures and diversions to help keep traffic moving efficiently during the peak holiday season.
In Kuta, tourists can expect to see changes in traffic flow along Jalan Majapahit, Jalan Pudak Sari, Jalan Tuan Lange, and Jalan Kendedes.
The Head of Kuta Traditional Village, Putu Adnyana, spoke to reporters about the traffic flow changes. He shared that “On Jalan Pudak Sari, the flow of vehicles will be directed to enter from Jalan Kartika Plaza and exit via Jalan Kubu Anyar.”
“Previously, this road was said to often experience congestion due to the narrow two-way lane, especially during long holidays and New Year. In light of this, Jalan Pudak Sari will become one-way from Kartika Plaza to Pudak Sari and exit at Pudak Anyar.
Adnyana confirmed that since Simpang Karang Semaja often experiences congestion, the traffic flow will be reversed. This means that, vehicles exiting Jalan Kendedes will be directed to the Ngurah Rai Bypass.
However, vehicles from the Ngurah Rai Bypass will not be permitted to directly enter Jalan Kendedes, and so must go through Jalan Tuan Lange. With this system, the road will become one-way. In terms of Jalan Majapahit, changes to the traffic flow are still under review and will be announced soon.
For tourists visiting Bali all of these road names and traffic flow changes may seem a little confusing. The biggest takeaway from all these updates from officials in Bali is that between 17th March and 6th April, the roads around the tourism resorts of the central south of Bali are likely to be more congested than usual.
Tourists are advised to leave more above and beyond the time expected to get from one destination to another, and where possible avoid traveling at peak traffic hours; between 7-10 am and between 4-8 pm.
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