Traveling with kids in Bali is an easy task. The weather is usually warm, people are friendly and there seems always an endless selection of places to drop into and have a snack or a drink. Balinese people love kids and believe they come straight from God. Balinese kids are not allowed to touch the floor for the first year of their life and you will find many willing hands to hold your child.
People are often scared by reports of disease and this can put them off of a holiday in Bali. The thing is that many expats live here with kids and are perfectly okay. A lot of the stuff you hear on the news about tropical countries and what terrible things will happen if a mosquito bites you, are way over the top. If you got all the shots that the Centers for Disease Control suggested your body would be a pin cushion.
When I go out with Jevon I get asked 10 times a day if he is a boy or girl, how old he is and how heavy he is. Be prepared to reply by learning numbers and some simple terms (cowok, pronounced 'chowok' = boy) (cewek, pronounced 'chewek' = girl), tahun = year, bulan = month.
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Hi nick! hi u doing its Rista,right now iam in oz,i cant stand to live in bali mate! its dead there’s noting going on,so i would not take my chance there anymore.so good luck for you all in kuta beach iam off here.my next destination is i’ve no idea yet! nick keep me update with all my mate in kuta beach.thanks cya!!
I believe that the inherent goodness of the Balinese comes from the fact that they consider their children a gift from god & still part of god/spirit until the big ceremoney welcoming them into the community. It is the constant reassuring loving touch that makes the entire society so different from our own western, more “advanced” society. Very few women there are unable to nurse their babies whereas here a high percentage “can’t”. The Balinese sense of play & acceptance all stems from that basic early human touch.
Hi Nick,
We are two ’slightly’ paranoid parents of a 2.5 year old blonde boy who would appreciate any feedback on risk of kidnap in Bali. We are planning to stay in a quiet house on the north coast at the end of this month.
Regards,
Peter
Hi Peter-If this will be your first time to Bali-you will find it very safe. Get to know your neighbors & they will look out for you. Nothing goes on in the little towns that the locals are not aware of. Also there are the tourist police who will make sure that you are not in danger. They really want to protect us, the tourists so that we will go home & tell others how wonderful Bali is. We are planning to take our grandson, so that he can take surfing lessons & experience Bali.
Hello all. I live in Jakarta and we love going to Bali.
Traveling with children is no problem at all. I travel with my 3 yr old (she was a little over 1 year old when we first went) 3 times already.
I find staying in the Intercontinental very nice, they have children activities, big garden and pool, provides sand/beach toys (so you don’t need to pack your own). Generally all hotels have very helpful and friendly staff.
Nusa Dua area is very clean and the waves are minimal, try and stay away from Kuta beach, it’s not so nice, there are too many locals trying to sell you stuff (massage, mani/pedicure, henna tattoo, sarong, etc) and sometimes over crowded with novice surfers. If you have small children and are concerned with smoking, the restaurants are mostly open-air and I didn’t have many problem with smokers.
Stroller problem - the sidewalks are very narrow and bumpy everywhere, I never bring one.
Nick,
thanks for the article!
This kind of article is very important of us.
Could you please be more spesific in terms of family friendly hotel from budget until resort style. And activities, babysitter, transportation (rent or cab), restaurant with kids menus, not too smoky area (if you’ve been living in CA with no smoking pretty much everywhere.. you know how it is), etc.
thanks again.