Is Bali safe? What six governments and the volcano agency say, dated

Six governments publish travel advice that covers Bali, and the fact that goes stale first on each is its date. Australia revised its advice on 6 September 2026, Canada on 9 September, and the UK again on 10 September. We read all six side by side on 10 September. This is what each said that day.

Six advisories, read on 10 September 2026

The US row is second-hand, and we would rather say so than hide it. travel.state.gov returned 403 to every method we tried, including a browser left 60 seconds on its security check. The level and summary come from the State Department's own RSS feed, dated 7 July 2026, and from the full text the US Embassy in Jakarta reproduces, dated 10 July 2026. The feed says: "There was no change to the advisory level or risk indicators. Advisory summary was updated." What date the canonical page itself carries, we have not seen.

Australia's page and New Zealand's detail sections render only in a browser, and we read both in headless Chrome; a second reading of Australia's the same day went through a text relay.

What the table says, and what it does not

Three of the six print a number, and it is the same one. The US says "Level 2", New Zealand "level 2 of 4", Ireland "level two of four ratings". Canada's scale has four steps and no numbers. Indonesia sits on the second, and Canada's own note says only the two steps above it are "official Government of Canada Travel Advisories". Australia uses Canada's and Ireland's words, "a high degree of caution", but we did not read the Smartraveller page that explains its scale, so we give it no number. The UK has no national level at all. It advises against all travel only within set distances of six volcanoes: Lewotobi Laki-Laki, Sinabung, Marapi, Semeru, Ruang and Ibu.

Only New Zealand names Bali in its level line.

The shared rung hides different reasons. The US cites "natural disasters, unrest, and terrorism", Canada "political and social tensions" and terrorism, New Zealand terrorism alone, Australia "security risks". The scales are not interchangeable either. For Central and Highland Papua, the US and New Zealand say Do Not Travel, level 4. For the same two provinces Australia says reconsider your need to travel.

The latest revisions are not about Bali. Australia's 6 September update concerns ash from Mount Anak Krakatau: "The eruption of Mt Anak Krakatau near Lampung has caused volcanic ash clouds that have affected operations at major airports, including Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Jakarta." The UK added "Information about flight disruptions at Soekarno Hatta Airport and Halim Airport in Jakarta due to volcanic ash cloud" on 6 September, and on 10 September made a "Removal of information about closure of Jakarta airports due to volcanic ash clouds". Canada's 9 September change is labelled a health editorial change.

What the advisories name in Bali, in their words

Methanol

New Zealand covers it too. The other four split on the practical advice. Ireland: "We advise all travellers, especially in Bali, Lombok and Gili Islands, not to consume this drink", meaning arak, and "Avoid purchasing alcohol outside of licenced establishments." Australia: "As little as one shot can be fatal", with contaminated drinks that have included arak, cocktails and "brand name alcohol".

The UK describes where the cases came from: "Methanol poisoning cases have resulted from drinks purchased in licensed bars, shops and hotels in tourist areas. Criminal gangs make counterfeit replicas of well-known alcohol brands". Canada names Bali: "Poisoning incidents have happened at hotels, bars, and shops in tourist areas like Bali, Lombok, the Gili Islands and Sumatra."

These do not contradict each other. Ireland and Australia steer readers to licensed premises; the UK and Canada say poisonings happened in licensed premises, and Australia and the UK both put branded bottles among the contaminated drinks. A reader of one advisory gets half the rule.

Drink spiking and sexual assault

The UK: "There have been reports of drink spiking linked to sexual assault in Bali, Lombok and the Gili Islands", and "Reported cases of rape and sexual assault are high in Bali and Lombok." Ireland's word is different: "Reported cases of rape and sexual assault are increasing in Bali and Lombok." Australia: "Solo women are at higher risk". None of them gives a count.

Roads

Canada: "Motorcycle and scooter accidents are the main cause of death and serious injury among foreigners visiting many parts of Indonesia, including Bali." The UK reports "a large increase in moped and motorbike accidents" in Bali, "some fatal". Neither prints a figure behind the claim.

The Bali regional police do have figures, reported through the state news agency ANTARA rather than in a police document. The Kapolda Bali, quoted in ANTARA's report of 18 November 2025, gave 8,256 road accidents and 622 deaths on the island in 2024, "termasuk di dalamnya 21 WNA": including 21 foreigners. ANTARA's report of the day before adds, in its own background paragraph rather than in a quote, that Polda Bali counted 142 accidents involving foreigners in 2024, 35 per cent more than in 2023, with 21 dead, three seriously injured and 171 lightly injured.

Neither article splits the figures by vehicle type. No published number says how many of those 21 were on scooters, so none proves Canada's "main cause" either. For 2025 the directorate gave no foreigner figure at all: "warga asing ada juga, tetapi tidak terlalu signifikan", there were foreigners too, but not very significant, though he said accidents involving foreigners had fallen.

ANTARA's headline and opening sentence say the police melarang, ban, unskilled foreigners from riding. The traffic director's quoted verb is diimbau, urged: foreigners who cannot ride, "lebih khusus roda dua", particularly two-wheelers, are urged not to ride on their own. He added "Kalau sewa harus ada motorisnya": if you rent, the bike must come with a rider. Neither line cites a legal basis. The legal obligation is Pasal 77(1) of UU 22/2009, a licence matching the vehicle class, set out on the permit page, with the insurance consequence and the fine ceilings on their own pages.

The sea

Australia says rip currents "cause the drownings of several Australians each year", a count for all of Indonesia, and that "Australians have drowned due to rough seas and strong rip currents at popular beaches, including in Bali". Ireland: "Many beaches in particular on the south coast of Java and Bali, are unsuitable for swimming." The UK, New Zealand and Canada advisories and the US summary contain no mention of rips, drowning or undertow.

Terrorism

The UK: "Terrorists are likely to try to carry out attacks in Indonesia." Australia: "Indonesian authorities continue to investigate and disrupt terrorist groups in Indonesia, including in Bali." New Zealand: "Terrorist cells exist and have the capacity to carry out attacks anywhere in the country, including Jakarta, Bali, and Sulawesi". Ireland lists places "frequented by expatriates and foreign travellers: beach resorts, bars and restaurants, hotels".

Pages that call the 2002 bombings the last attack in Bali are wrong. The UN Security Council's sanctions summary for Jemaah Islamiyah, last updated 3 March 2021, says the group "was also responsible for the bombings in Bali in 2005".

Kidnapping

Australia alone: "Kidnappings sometimes occur in Bali. An increasing number of victims have links to the cryptocurrency industry."

Rabies

Australia and Canada disagree in emphasis. Australia: "Rabies treatment may be limited. The rabies vaccine is not available everywhere. If you're bitten, you may need to return to Australia or travel to another country for immediate treatment." Canada: "Treatment to prevent rabies is often available in this destination." What to do after a bite in Bali, and the provincial figures, are on the rabies page.

Bali's volcanoes: the level no advisory prints

PVMBG, Indonesia's volcanology agency, publishes a daily report for each volcano it monitors on MAGMA Indonesia. The reports for Wednesday 9 September 2026 put the two Bali volcanoes on its list, Agung and Batur, at Level I (Normal), the lowest of four. Across the country, 69 volcanoes sit on the list: none at Level IV, 5 at Level III, 22 at Level II and 42 at Level I.

None of the six advisories prints either level. The UK still carries a "Mount Agung, Bali" section built on 2018, saying the volcano "continues to show signs of volcanic activity and the possibility of volcanic eruptions remains". Australia lists Agung under "Recent and frequent volcanic activity", beside volcanoes at Level III. New Zealand says Agung "has erupted sporadically since September 2017".

Agung went from Level II (Waspada) down to Level I (Normal) on 13 September 2021, announced by Devy Kamil Syahbana of PVMBG. That date comes from the Bali Post of the same day. We found no PVMBG release for it, so treat it as press-sourced. For Batur we found no date for its last level change.

Level I does not mean no rules. The Agung report of 9 September 2026, observer I Nengah Wardana, recommends that climbers and visitors limit activity around the crater and stay away from it when it is overcast or raining, then goes further:

dilarang bermalam disekitar kawah dan dilarang turun ke kawah.

Staying overnight around the crater, and descending into it, are prohibited. The same report tells residents and miners to watch for lahar along rivers that rise at the summit.

The Batur report of the same day, observer I Gede Bagiarta, asks visitors to limit their time in the active crater area, "tidak berlama-lama", not to stay overnight there, and not to approach the gas vents around the crater, to avoid toxic gas. Its seismic record for the day: "1 kali gempa Vulkanik Dalam", one deep volcanic earthquake.

Dilarang carries weight in Indonesian, but neither report attaches a sanction, cites an article or sets a radius. They are standing operational recommendations.

The UK's no-go zones do not track MAGMA either. The FCDO advises against all travel within 7 km of Ruang, which MAGMA lists at Level I, and still describes Lewotobi Laki-Laki as raised "to the highest level (level 4)" in June 2025; MAGMA now lists it at Level III. Neither is in Bali. Lewotobi matters here because the FCDO itself says its eruption disrupted flights to Bali.

The one crime figure, and why it is not Bali's

The only official crime statistic in anything we read is the UNODC homicide rate, published through the World Bank: 0.30 per 100,000 people, for 2022, the only year with a value between 2011 and 2025 in a series last updated on 13 July 2026. It covers Indonesia, not Bali. A figure of 0.4 for 2017 also circulates; it is not in the current series.

What we could not establish

• The State Department's page itself. It returned 403 to curl, to WebFetch
• and to a browser. So did the US country information page, which is where
• its Bali road, methanol and swimming detail sits. The embassy copy is
• dated three days after the RSS item, and the canonical page date is
• unseen.
• A PVMBG primary for Agung's 2021 downgrade. Only press reports were
• found. Batur's last level change was not found at all.
• Any official count of methanol cases, drink-spiking cases, rip-current
• drownings or sexual assaults on tourists in Bali. None of the six
• advisories gives one, and we found no Indonesian source that does. The
• advisories' wording is the only evidence there is.
• Road deaths by vehicle type, and any 2025 figure for foreigners. The
• police gave foreigner totals for 2024 only, without a scooter split.
• The Bali provincial health office directly. Its site, diskes.baliprov.go.id,
• did not resolve on 10 September 2026.
• Where Australia's "high degree of caution" sits on its own scale. The
• four-level scale was not in the page we captured, and the Smartraveller
• page explaining its levels was not read.
• Why the volcano counts differ. MAGMA monitors 69; Australia says "76 of
• them are active" and Canada "129 active volcanoes". The definitions were
• not reconciled.