Six Governments Keep Bali Under Cautionary, Not Do-Not-Travel, Advisories

Denpasar — Six governments surveyed in mid-September 2026 place Indonesia, including Bali, on cautionary travel tiers rather than issuing general advice to avoid the island, according to a comparison compiled by Datumbali and corroborated by official advisories. The United States, New Zealand and Ireland classify Indonesia at their second level, while Australia and Canada advise travellers to exercise a high degree of caution.

The United Kingdom does not assign Indonesia an overall numerical risk level. Its strongest warnings focus on exclusion zones around several active volcanoes elsewhere in the country and do not include any volcano in Bali, according to the Datumbali review of UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) advice and subsequent update summaries from UK-focused travel monitoring services.

The classifications are not directly interchangeable. Each government uses its own four-step or unnumbered scale and defines risks in different terms, so a shared description such as a “second level” or “high degree of caution” does not equate to identical guidance.

How the six advisories compare

According to Datumbali’s 10 September 2026 side-by-side reading, the US Department of State rates Indonesia “Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution” due to natural disasters, unrest and terrorism, with a higher “Do Not Travel” level for Central Papua and Highland Papua. That summary aligns with the language in the State Department’s advisory feed and public travel advisory page, which both describe Level 2 for Indonesia overall and Level 4 for those two Papuan provinces.

New Zealand’s SafeTravel advice places Indonesia at level two out of four, a tier that explicitly includes Bali and cites an ongoing threat of terrorism. Datumbali notes that the advisory level was dated December 2024, with further page updates in August 2026; New Zealand’s wording highlights terrorism risk and cautions travellers throughout Indonesia rather than issuing a blanket warning against travel.

Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs labels Indonesia a “High Degree of Caution” destination, identifying this as the second of four ratings. Datumbali records an April 2026 update date, and the advisory remains current in September 2026 in other international comparison tools that mirror Ireland’s four-step scale and level-two placement for Indonesia.

Australia’s Smartraveller service advises travellers to “exercise a high degree of caution in Indonesia overall due to security risks”. Its advisory page, updated in early September 2026, also tells travellers to reconsider their need to travel to Papua Pegunungan and Papua Tengah, but that stronger warning is directed at parts of Papua and not at Bali.

Canada’s official travel advice likewise urges travellers to maintain a “high degree of caution” in Indonesia, citing political and social tensions as well as terrorism. Datumbali notes that Canada uses an unnumbered four-step scale, with Indonesia occupying the second step; independent travel-risk aggregators echo that placement, describing Indonesia as a moderate-risk destination with a Canadian advisory at its second caution level.

The UK FCDO advice warns against all travel within specified distances of Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki, Mount Sinabung, Mount Marapi, Mount Semeru, Mount Ruang and Mount Ibu. Datumbali’s comparison and later FCDO update summaries both confirm that none of those volcanoes is in Bali and that recent UK changes have focused on refining volcano-related warnings and removing earlier references to Jakarta airport closures linked to ash clouds.

Data at a glance

• Second-tier advisories: United States, New Zealand and Ireland
• “High degree of caution” wording: Australia and Canada
• No single national level: United Kingdom, which instead highlights specific hazards and exclusion zones
• Bali volcanoes named in UK no-travel zones: none

Warnings that matter to Bali visitors

The headline ratings are only part of the guidance. The governments differ in the hazards they prioritise: US advisories emphasise natural disasters, unrest and terrorism; Canada highlights political and social tensions as well as terrorism; New Zealand focuses mainly on terrorism in its Indonesia summary; and Australia uses the broader term “security risks” to encompass crime, unrest and other threats.

Methanol contamination in alcoholic drinks is a recurring concern in several advisories. Datumbali reports that Ireland warns travellers, particularly in Bali, Lombok and the Gili Islands, against drinking arak and against consuming alcohol purchased outside licensed establishments. Australia similarly cautions that even a single shot of contaminated alcohol can be fatal and notes incidents involving arak, cocktails and branded spirits.

UK and Canadian guidance, as summarised in Datumbali’s comparison, add that poisoning incidents have occurred in tourist-area hotels, bars and shops, including licensed premises, and that counterfeit versions of well-known brands have been involved. The practical implication is that risk cannot be reduced merely to avoiding informal vendors; travellers are advised to treat all alcohol with caution and to seek trustworthy sources.

Personal safety warnings also have Bali-specific references. UK advisories report drink-spiking linked to sexual assault in Bali, Lombok and the Gili Islands, and state that reported rape and sexual-assault cases are high in Bali and Lombok. Ireland describes reported sexual-assault cases in Bali and Lombok as increasing, while Australia notes that solo women face elevated risk and encourages heightened vigilance in nightlife settings.

Road safety is another common theme. According to Datumbali’s synthesis of Canadian and UK advice, Canada states that motorcycle and scooter crashes are a leading cause of death and serious injury among foreign visitors in many parts of Indonesia, including Bali. UK guidance reports a large increase in moped and motorbike accidents in Bali, some of them fatal, and urges visitors to consider their experience and insurance coverage before renting two-wheel vehicles.

Volcanic disruption and recent changes

The most recent advisory updates noted in the comparison were not focused primarily on Bali. Australia’s early September 2026 update discussed ash from Mount Anak Krakatau near Lampung, which disrupted operations at major airports including Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta. UK update summaries for mid-September likewise refer to new information about volcanoes across Indonesia and the removal of earlier text about Jakarta airport closures due to ash clouds.

A travel-insurance alert from PassportCard dated 8 September 2026 warned that ongoing Anak Krakatau activity could cause further ash-related disruption and advised passengers to check flight status with their airline before departure. These changes address potential transport disruption for itineraries transiting western Indonesia, rather than signalling any new Bali-wide instruction to avoid travel.

Datumbali’s comparison underscores that travel advisories evolve on different timetables. Australia’s page was revised on 6 September, Canada’s on 9 September and the UK’s around 10 September, while New Zealand and Ireland relied on earlier level settings with more recent minor content updates.

For travellers, the practical takeaway is that a country can remain on a general caution tier while specific provinces, volcanoes, routes or activities carry substantially different and sometimes stricter guidance, making it essential to read the detailed notes beneath the headline rating.

Sources

• Datumbali – “Is Bali safe? What six governments and the volcano agency say ...”
• U.S. Department of State – Indonesia Travel Advisory (destination.idn)
• Wego Travel Blog – “Is It Safe to Travel to Indonesia Now?”
• Advisory Atlas – “Travel Advisory for Republic of Indonesia – Level 3 Safety Guide”
• Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Smartraveller, “Bali Travel Advice & Safety”
• PassportCard, “Travel Insurance Advisory”