Tipping in Bali

Tipping is a foreign concept and not part of Balinese or Indonesian tradition. If you get a bill in a warung or restaurant, the staff is not expecting a tip and will no take offense if you simply pay the bill. Higher end restaurants and resort hotels, get clientele from the USA, who have a culture of tipping. I find myself tipping a bit too, when the mood takes me.

Often I will give and extra 1,000rp if the bill is 20,000rp, but never the 15% Americans are used to. Staff are appreciative of the extra and are aware that locals would probably never tip. Many restaurants add on an extra 10% tax to the bill as a service charge.

Taxi cabs do not expect tips either, but will try their best to avoid giving you change, hoping you will allow them to keep the extra. No need to tip taxi drivers. Hotel staff such as bellmen are probably hoping to get tips, so I’d just slip them 5,000rp here and there, nothing big.

If you are coming from a tipping culture, try to resist the urge to tip everyone. You’ll get used to not tipping and people are perfectly happy. A Balinese person is not going to tip another Balinese, and the idea of giving money away is alien to them. Don’t feel you need to bring Beverley Hills etiquette to Bali, because its a different scene here. The occasions where I will tip someone outside of just a 1,000rp are when someone has done something special for me, such as my pembantu’s husband pruning my garden, or at the end of a road trip with a driver.

If you are in Bali on holiday and frequent a certain restaurant / cafe / hotel pool etc. and decide you want to tip a particular member of staff, for service given during the length of your time in Bali, remember that this can have repercussions. In Bali if you overtly tip one person, you are by association, NOT TIPPING, the others. If I go into
Cafe Moka and hand 100,000rp to one of the staff, he / she will tell everyone who works there about it. They will feel they should have a chance at getting the same tip, and when that doesn’t happen, it could lead to bad feelings. Exactly the same with a gift (t-shirt, hat etc.) If you have been frequenting a place and want to give a gift to a particular staff member, its best to either make a shared gift to the whole shop, or arrange to meet the person away from work for lunch and then slip them the gift.

One of the cool things about Bali is food can be inexpensive and a hefty tip is not expected on top of it. A small tip will be met with a smile and good vibes.