But travelers will have to take a PCR or rapid test and submit extra paperwork before departure.
Tanah Lot temple at sunset. (Photo: Harry Kessell/Unsplash)
Can’t wait to return to Indonesia’s Island of the Gods? Provincial governor I Wayan Koster has set out a three-stage reopening plan for a “new normal” era that will allow domestic travelers to visit Bali at the end of this month. International tourists will follow suit on September 11, an auspicious date according to the traditional Balinese calendar.
Apart from holding valid ID—specifically a KTP for Indonesian citizens or a passport for foreign residents—travelers will need to prepare several documents ahead of the trip. A must-have is a health certificate confirming a negative result from a PCR test or a non-reactive result from a rapid test; it should be valid for no more than 14 days from the date of issue.
Before entering Bali, vacationers are required to fill in an online “self-check” form at cekdiri.baliprov.go.id, giving personal details such as their occupation and mobile phone number, as well as stating their purpose of travel and the address of their accommodation. They will then be asked to go through a yes/no checklist of Covid-19 symptoms and put down their travel history within the past 14 days. Once the completed form has been submitted, a QR code will be sent to a supplied email address; this code will need to be shown to a health official on duty at the airport.
One extra hurdle is the need for a guarantor in Bali who will be responsible for any risks taken by the traveler during his or her stay on the island. Both the guarantor’s and traveler’s declarations (available in Word format at cekdiri.baliprov.go.id) must be completed, scanned, and attached to the aforementioned online form. Passengers must also fill out a health declaration card on arrival; an electronic version can be completed here. Bali-bound vacationers should then download and activate the government-backed Peduli Lindungi contact-tracing app (available from Google Play Store and Apple App Store) on their mobile device.
Bali will be open to all domestic visitors who have the right documentation, regardless of whether or not they are arriving from “red zones” such as Jakarta and East Java. Both of these provinces have recorded more than 12,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19 so far.
