Traveling to Bali with a 6-Year-Old: A Family Travel Guide

📍 Bali · 👁 2448 reads · ❤️ 3 likes

After the pandemic restrictions were lifted, I felt an urge to travel. Thinking back, it had been about five years since I last went abroad. Sunshine and beaches were definitely my top choice—I just wanted to lazily lie on a beach chair, basking in the sun, feeling the sea breeze, and drinking coconut water.

Bali has been famous for a long time, but I never had the chance to visit this beautiful island, so I decided to make it my first travel destination.

I started looking at flights on Ctrip in April. Major airlines were gradually resuming international routes, but there were very few direct flights to Bali. I guessed that most direct flights were chartered by tour groups, all being red-eye flights, which weren't suitable for a family with a child. So we chose to transit through Singapore instead.

A word of caution: if you choose to transit, it's advisable to buy a connecting flight from the same airline. If you book China-Singapore with Airline A and Singapore-Bali with Airline B, and Airline A's flight is delayed, you might miss the second flight, causing a lot of trouble.

Since we were traveling with a child, we wanted a more comfortable journey. In the end, we chose the five-star airline Singapore Airlines. Round trip including tax was about 3,500 RMB per person, which was a great price. We also managed to travel slightly off-peak, before the summer vacation; by July and August, ticket prices would double.

After booking the flights, the next step was to look into visas. Bali currently offers visa on arrival. You can fly there and apply for the visa upon arrival, or you can apply for an e-visa in advance on the website before your trip.

The application requires an email address and a photo, as well as your address in Indonesia—just fill in the hotel address. The visa fee is about 245 RMB per person, issued immediately. However, later I searched online and found an Indonesian visa service for only 149 RMB per person, which takes 6 working days and goes through the embassy visa process, possibly requiring you to mail your passport. Everyone can arrange according to their own schedule.

For hotels, we chose Marriott's Bali Nusa Dua Terrace and Marriott's Bali Nusa Dua Garden. Nusa Dua is a cluster of high-end hotels in Bali, somewhat like Haitang Bay in Sanya. Novotel, Westin, and Grand Hyatt are all along the Nusa Dua beach. These two Marriott hotels have two-bedroom suites with two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living room, and an open kitchen, perfect for two families traveling together.

Since it had been only a short time since the pandemic restrictions were lifted, tour groups from China to Bali had not yet resumed, so there weren't many Chinese tourists in Bali. It was mostly European and American tourists. At both hotels we stayed at, we hardly encountered any Chinese. Locals said the overall tourist volume was about one-tenth of normal years. With fewer people, the experience naturally improved—no crowds anywhere.

We departed from Shanghai at 0:35 AM, and even a five-star airline like Singapore Airlines can be delayed. Fortunately, we had booked a connecting flight, so when we checked in, the ground staff helped us change to a later connecting flight; otherwise, we would have definitely missed it.

The two six-year-old girls were extremely excited at the airport and lined up early at the boarding gate. Actually, according to our tickets, we should have been in boarding group 5, but the staff saw we had two little kids and automatically let us board first in economy class—face recognition success! Thumbs up for Singapore Airlines. A crew member noticed the girls fidgeting around and came over to give them stickers, seriously communicating with them in his not-so-fluent Chinese. It was really nice.

I also want to give a huge shout-out to Singapore Airlines' in-flight meals, especially the Singaporean dishes—they were delicious. They currently rank as my number one in-flight meal ever. They put real effort into it, and the five-star airline really has something different. The crew service was also great; they communicated in both Chinese and English, gave small gifts to the kids, and even let the kids eat first. It's worth mentioning that they offer alcoholic beverages, so you can experience the joy of being tipsy on the plane, haha.

We landed in Bali around 11 AM. With passports and visas, we cleared customs smoothly without needing any vaccination certificate (although official documents say it's required, they didn't actually check). We switched to a local SIM card, exchanged some Indonesian rupiah, found the hotel's airport pickup driver, and our Bali trip officially began.

Buying a local SIM card is cheaper. You can get one on Taobao for about 20 RMB for 6 days, with basically unlimited data since the whole of Indonesia only has 4G, so it's hard to exceed. For convenience, you can activate international roaming, which seems to be 25 RMB per day, totaling 150 RMB for 6 days. It depends on your budget.

Since we were travel-weary and had been on the plane for nearly 10 hours, we didn't arrange any activities on the first day. We checked into the hotel with the kids, played in the hotel pool, got familiar with the surroundings, and went to bed early to prepare for the next day's visit to Bali Safari & Marine Park.

For a family trip, a zoo is a must—kids love it. We hired a local driver for the day, 350 RMB for 10 hours. For the five of us, it was quite cost-effective. The drive from Nusa Dua to the zoo took about an hour. The distance isn't that far, but Bali's roads are narrow with lots of traffic, and there's no separation between motorized and non-motorized lanes—cars and motorcycles share the same lane, so you can't drive fast.

The zoo offers individual tickets and package deals. We bought the Rhino Package, which includes zoo admission, tram ride, lunch at the Lion Restaurant, elephant riding, VIP seats for animal shows, water park, fun world, jungle trek, and welcome drinks. It was about 700+ RMB for adults and 600+ for kids—pretty much the top-tier package. The Rhino Package needs to be booked one day in advance (according to the official website); others can be bought on the day or at the door. Currently, there's a 10% discount for online purchases, but not for on-site purchases.

Bali Safari & Marine Park is a private zoo, small but refined, full of tropical vibes. Animal shows include elephant shows, tiger shows, and small animal shows. There are also regular activities like feeding elephants, giraffes, crocodiles, and meerkats, as well as photo opportunities with elephants and golden pythons. You can also see the Komodo dragon, unique to Indonesia. The petting zoo is the most popular with kids—children from all over love feeding rabbits, hahaha.

Riding an elephant was quite an interesting experience, my first time. Once on top, I realized how high it was—I was so nervous my palms were sweating, afraid of falling off. The elephant took us for a ride around the area where zebras and rhinos roam freely. Sitting on the elephant's back, bouncing along, I could see up close that elephant skin actually has many black, stiff hairs. The handler controlled the elephant's direction by its ears.

On holidays and weekends, the zoo also features the Agung performance showcasing Balinese culture, which requires an additional fee or you can buy a package that includes it. I heard it's good, but we went on a Monday, so we missed it.

The place to see dolphins is in Lovina, on the north coast of Bali, while we stayed in Nusa Dua, at the southernmost tip. That meant crossing the entire island to reach Lovina, a drive of about 3.5 hours. So we set off at 2 AM, carrying the kids from their beds to the car where they continued sleeping.

The dolphin-watching trip was booked on Ctrip, 195 RMB per person, including round-trip transfers and a private boat. A particularly cool female driver took us through the central mountains in the dark night, heading straight north to Lovina.

At 6 AM, we arrived at the coast of Lovina. The sky was still pitch black. May is autumn in Bali, with short days and long nights. I remember one day I video-called my mom at 7 PM; Bali was already completely dark, but where she was, it was still bright.

After just over ten minutes, the sky began to lighten, and a faint golden glow appeared on the distant horizon—it was dawn. The kids gradually woke up and got out of the car to freshen up. In less than half an hour, it was fully bright, and we boarded the boat to set off in search of dolphins.

The traditional outrigger boats for dolphin watching set off one after another. Along the way, we enjoyed the sunrise at sea—truly a rare experience. When we reached the area where dolphins often appear, many boats were already gathered together, indicating dolphins were there. Our captain immediately sped up. It was a huge 'Wow!'—a large pod of dolphins was leaping out of the water right next to our boat to breathe, accompanied by their melodic calls. You couldn't help but marvel at the wonders of nature.

We followed the dolphins' path, keeping our eyes and ears open—dolphins could appear right next to you or far ahead; it all depended on luck. Around 7 AM, the sun was getting strong, and the captain said it was getting too hot and the dolphins were leaving. He took us to a shallow area closer to shore, where the water was turquoise and crystal clear. The kids fed bread to the little fish there. The coral on the seabed was clearly visible, only about 2 meters deep. When we tossed some bread, tropical fish from the coral clusters all came out. Seeing tourists on another boat snorkeling, I suddenly thought how smart they were—why didn't I think of that? Haha.

Going out to sea (snorkeling at Lembongan Island + island tour)

Being by the sea, snorkeling is a must. The local guide advised me not to go snorkeling in open waters, as the two kids were too young and the waves in Bali had been a bit rough lately. It would be safer to go to their designated snorkeling spot. Safety first when traveling, and indeed it was the kids' first time snorkeling, so it's better to start with the basics.

Following the guide's advice, we booked a package for Lembongan Island water activities (snorkeling, banana boat, and doughnut) plus an island tour, with a full-day private car for 485 RMB per person. If you're a snorkeling enthusiast and want to see manta rays, you can choose to go snorkeling at Nusa Penida. It's said the chance of seeing manta rays is quite high, but the trip is more tiring and not suitable for the elderly and children.

We departed from Sanur Harbor in Bali and took a speedboat about 30 minutes to Lembongan Island. I don't know who came up with the Chinese name 'Lanmeng Island' (Dreamy Island), but it's really fitting—the seawater here is a dreamy blue, and any casual shot looks like a professional photo. After changing into swimsuits, we took a boat to a water platform near the shore (actually a non-motorized boat). There we could play water activities like banana boat and doughnut, or choose to snorkel beside the platform. The staff cordoned off an area for tourists to snorkel; if you snorkeled freely, you could unconsciously drift away with the currents.

Although it was inshore, the water was about 2 meters deep. A staff member dived and brought up a starfish from the seabed. Haha, at first I thought it was fake—it felt as hard as a stone. But then I saw him throw it back and when he picked it up again, one of its arms had curled up.

The coral on the seabed was beautiful. The staff guided the kids one-on-one while snorkeling, feeding fish food in the water, and all the tropical fish gathered around. If you were quick, you could even touch one or two. One of our kids was remarkably talented—she stayed calm the whole time and had a great time. My daughter, on the other hand, was a little scaredy-cat. She was terrified by a fish with a triangular head and long body, cried loudly, and then refused to go back into the water. Later, I looked it up; it's called the Chinese trumpetfish. Well, I'll remember you!

The afternoon itinerary was an island tour, basically visiting Devil's Tear and Dream Beach. Both spots were great. Devil's Tear is a semicircular rocky area carved by waves. The waves here are particularly strong; when seawater crashes against the rocks, the spray is spectacular. If you accidentally fall in, you're almost certainly done for. So earlier this year, local authorities built railings around the area to remind tourists not to stand too close, but still, people die here every year.

Dream Beach—the color of the sea is truly dreamlike, living up to its name. The waves were also huge, but many foreigners loved the big waves and stood on the beach chasing them. My shoes almost got swept away by a wave, but luckily a kind foreign guy jumped into the sea to retrieve them for me. The beach here isn't very suitable for kids to go into the water, but it's fine to play on the shore.

If you have plenty of time, you can stay on Lembongan Island for a few days. The beaches and seawater here are even better than on the main island of Bali.

It's been a long time since I wrote a travel guide. I feel like I've rambled on a lot. If any of this information helps you, I'd be honored. I hope my next trip brings even more wonderful experiences. Looking forward to it!

Travel Guide Index:

1. Pre-trip Preparation (Visa + Flights + Hotels)

2. Bali Safari & Marine Park

3. Dolphin Watching in Lovina

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