The Australian Travel Advice Authority, Smartraveller, has issued essential updates on travel safety in Indonesia.
Smartraveler regularly revises and reissues travel advice for Australian tourists, travellers, international workers, and expatriates, and the most recent update on travel to Indonesia is important reading.
Smartraveller serves as the main communication channel for Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The most recent travel update explains “We’ve reviewed our advice for Indonesia and continue to advise exercise a high degree of caution.”
Adding “Australians have drowned in coastal areas, due to rough seas and strong rip currents at popular tourist beaches including in Bali. Many beaches are unpatrolled.”
We've reviewed our advice for #Indonesia and continue to advise exercise a high degree of caution. Australians have drowned due to rough seas and strong rip currents, including in Bali. Many beaches are unpatrolled. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/fXNdV7Z7kt
— Smartraveller (@Smartraveller) May 30, 2025
The update reiterates existing advice regarding checking the condition of passports and travel documents prior to beginning the journey to Indonesia, following the dos and don’ts of Bali Travel, and warnings about methanol poisoning.
The latest travel warning from the Australian government regarding travel to Indonesia, specifically Bali, focuses on beach and water safety.
Smartraveler further explains “Australians have drowned in coastal areas, due to rough seas and strong rip currents at popular tourist beaches in Bali, Lombok, the Gili Islands, Labuan Bajo, and Raja Ampat. Many beaches are unpatrolled and local beach rescue services may not be of the same standard as in Australia.”
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade advises tourists to exercise a high degree of caution in Indonesia overall. The advice further calls for tourists and travelers to reconsider any need to travel to Papua, including the Papua Highlands, Central Papua, and South Papua.
The fresh travel advice regarding a high degree of caution in coastal areas is important to observe. Only last week Bali’s Search and Rescue Teams were deployed off the coast of Nusa Penida after a tourist from Medan was swept out to sea after being crushed by high waves at the world famous Diamond Beach.
As Smartraveler reminds tourists many beaches are unpatrolled, and further to this, many of Bali’s most picturesque coastal areas are never safe to swim.
There are a series of no-swim zones in place across Bali’s most famous coastal landmarks, including Kelingking Beach, Diamond Beach, and Angel’s Billabong, yet every month tourists flout the rules, and the consequences are often tragic.
Tourists traveling to Bali during this peak travel season are advised to regularly check in with travel guidance issued by travel advice authorities such as Smartraveler and other consular communication channels.
It is not only dangerous coastal conditions that tourists must be aware of in Bali, but the risks of methanol poisoning are another top topic of concern. Earlier this year Smartraveler launched an educational awareness campaign aimed at young Australian backpackers traveling Southeast Asia, including to destinations like Bali, warning of the dangers of methanol poisoning.
Speaking at the launch of the campaign the Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Penny Wong told the media “We want our children to be curious and explore the world – but above all else, we want them to be safe.”
Smartraveler now advises, “Drinks may be spiked or mixed with toxic substances. Be alert to the potential risks around drink spiking and methanol poisoning through consuming alcoholic drinks. Don’t leave food or drinks unattended.”
Australian holidaymakers are consistently the most frequent international arrivals in Bali. Leaders from both countries regularly cite the relationship between Australia and Indonesia as one of the most important diplomatic relationships each holds.
While Australian tourists are urged to exercise caution while visiting Bali, holidaymakers are also being encouraged to make renewed efforts to respect local law and cultural customs while on vacation.
Following comments from Bali’s Governor Koster calling for Australian tourists to behave respectfully while on the island, Australian Consul General Jo Stevens shared, “1.5 million Australian tourists visited Bali in 2024, and that is the highest number in history, so I think our people are very happy and really enjoying Bali.”
Adding “Bali is a special place for our people.” Stevens concluded, “We always emphasize to our residents what they can and what they cannot do…There are rules that we show and emphasize to them to behave well, respect local culture, and not cause problems for a pleasant holiday.”
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Oliver
Thursday 12th of June 2025
Australians are like kids, iper protected by a Psychopatic society of crooks and drunkards. When they go abroad they die like flies.
Randy
Wednesday 4th of June 2025
Another repeated fear mongering travel advisory that most Aussies hear each year. How about an etiquette pamphlets for them all when visiting Bali. Obviously they are the biggest arrivals in Bali among other travelers from around the world. American friends were quite shocked as they walked along with other travelers and among the crowd out of customs to see Aussies (obvious accent) with beer Bintang in their hands drinking openly in public. There is also a law in Australia about public drinking then why in Bali. Is Bali a free for all place to do as you please...The locals are too polite to say anything about public drinking. There is also a law about public drinking in Bali or in the rest of Indonesia for that matter.
There are already gossips among the locals that Bali is being colonized by outsiders. The meaning of Bali will soon disappear and replace by Westernized culture. The gentrification of Bali where the transformation of a neighborhood from low value to high value is increasingly visible. There is also a big YouTube story recently about that and how Indonesian netizens are raising deep concerns. Bali is overrun by mass tourism and the local government is looking the other way. The dilapidated infrastructure in some areas, disorganized waste management, foreign investors leasing lands in questionable zoning area with impunity, and horrific traffic situation during peak hours, and the list goes on. It’s a real mess!!
And influencers from the Gen Z and Millennials generation of the digital age posting travel stuffs sometimes without cross checking resources but instead recording what they see. If they had a bad day, that would be the worse thing you could ever read. Influencers are not licensed journalists but gathering likes, earning points and earning money online are all what it takes to be recognized online.
And back in April 2025, there was a story out of smh traveler about how Jakarta airport is humid, dated and underwhelming. First of all Jakarta International airport inside is not hot and humid and for some reasons it is a very quiet airport. The interior structure absorbs the sounds. The Indonesian airport staff with their excellent customer service ready to help passengers in the terminal. It is a nice airport to be begin with and easy to find your way around with clear signs to direct passengers. The airport could have more shops but it is not Changi after all where it is massive and tiresome to get to the boarding gates. So if the Aussie writer thinks that it is hot and humid inside Jakarta International airport, then that writer could be having hot flashes. Who knows right...anyway 3 comments and one of them disagreed with the writer. Sigh...
Jimmy
Wednesday 4th of June 2025
“ Many beaches are unpatrolled and local beach rescue services may not be of the same standard as in Australia.”
Nobody ever drowns on Australian beaches :/
Viktor Z
Friday 6th of June 2025
@Jimmy,
No, they just get caught by Great Whites…
Dumb comment by a cheap beer seeking creature that Bali doesn’t need..
Randy
Thursday 5th of June 2025
@Jimmy, don’t say never... Aussies spend more time on the beach. Furthermore, poisonous stuffs and shark bites are all too common in the waters of Australia. Sigh...