Health in Bali: vaccinations, Bali belly, dengue and rabies

No vaccinations are required for Bali, except yellow fever if you arrive from a country where it occurs. Most health services advise hepatitis A and an up-to-date tetanus, diphtheria and polio vaccine; the rest depends on your trip. Most travellers have at most a few days of stomach trouble. The risks to take seriously are dengue, rabies, the sun and the traffic. For traffic, the sea and theft, see Is Bali safe?

Which vaccinations do you need for Bali?

The advice differs a little from country to country, but for Indonesia it usually comes down to this (2026):

• Most travellers: tetanus, diphtheria and polio up to date, hepatitis A, and your routine vaccines such as measles (MMR).
• Some travellers, depending on your trip and health: hepatitis B, rabies, typhoid, Japanese encephalitis and dengue.
• Yellow fever: a certificate is only needed if you arrive from a country with yellow fever.

Check with a travel clinic or your doctor six to eight weeks before you leave. They look at your route, how long you are away and what you plan to do. For current advice, see the Indonesia page of TravelHealthPro, the UK's official travel health service, or your own country's travel health service.

Malaria is not a big risk in Bali. For a normal holiday, tablets are usually not needed.

Bali belly: what helps?

Bali belly is diarrhoea and stomach cramps in the first days of your trip, usually from bacteria in food or water. To lower the chance:

• Don't drink tap water. Bottled water and refill points are everywhere, and many places to stay keep a large bottle in the room.
• Ice: in restaurants and cafés it is usually factory ice made from purified water, recognisable by the tubes with a hole in the middle. At roadside stalls you can't tell, so skip it there.
• Eat where it is busy. That is where the food is fresh (see Food and drink).
• Wash your hands before eating, or use hand gel.

If you get it anyway, drink plenty and take oral rehydration salts (ORS), dissolved in bottled water. Eat plain food: rice, bananas, crackers. Loperamide can help for a long drive, but not if you have a fever or blood in your stool. Go to a clinic if you have a high fever, see blood, can't keep anything down, or aren't better after two days. With children or older people, go sooner.

Dengue and other mosquito-borne diseases

Dengue fever occurs in Bali all year round, most of all during and after the rainy season. The mosquito that carries it bites during the day. You get a high fever, a headache behind the eyes and aching muscles, sometimes with a rash. With a fever, see a clinic and take paracetamol, not ibuprofen or aspirin. There is a dengue vaccine, but it is not useful for everyone. Ask about it at your travel clinic.

Since 2025, more cases of Zika have also been reported in travellers returning from Bali. If you are pregnant or planning a pregnancy, discuss the trip with your doctor or a travel clinic first.

Protect yourself day and night:

• insect repellent with DEET (30 to 50 per cent), during the day as well;
• long sleeves and long trousers around dusk;
• a room with air conditioning or a mosquito net.

Repellent is on the packing list too.

Rabies: dogs and monkeys

Rabies occurs in Bali and has been rising since 2025. From January to August 2026, Bali's provincial health office counted more than 45,000 bites from animals that can carry rabies, mostly dogs. Don't stroke stray dogs, cats or monkeys, and don't feed monkeys. At the monkey forests in Ubud and at Uluwatu, keep your bags closed and don't bring food.

If you are bitten, scratched or licked on broken skin:

1. Wash the wound straight away for 15 minutes with running water and soap.
2. Disinfect it with iodine (Betadine), if you have some.
3. Go to a clinic or hospital the same day for a rabies vaccination.
4. Call your travel insurer's emergency line.
5. Finish the course of injections, even once you are back home.

If you were not vaccinated beforehand, you also need rabies immunoglobulin after a bite. It is not available everywhere in Bali; the private hospitals in the south usually have it. That is why many travellers get the rabies vaccine before they go: after a bite you then need fewer injections and no immunoglobulin.

Sun and heat

Bali lies just south of the equator. The sun is much stronger than you may be used to, even when it is cloudy.

• Use factor 30 to 50 and put more on after swimming.
• Wear a shirt when snorkelling; your back burns quickly in the water.
• Stay in the shade between 11am and 3pm.
• Drink two to three litres a day. If you sweat a lot, ORS helps too.

In the mountains it is cooler, but the sun is just as strong.

Pharmacies, clinics and hospitals

A pharmacy in Bali is an apotek. You find them in the south, in Ubud and in every town, including chains such as Kimia Farma and Guardian. Many medicines are sold without a prescription. Buy them at a proper apotek, not at a shop.

The big hospitals are in the south: in Denpasar, Kuta and Nusa Dua. There you find international private hospitals such as BIMC and Siloam, and Bali's largest public hospital, RSUP Prof. Ngoerah in Denpasar. Private hospitals often ask for a payment guarantee from your insurer or a deposit before they treat you.

In the east and north, care is basic. There are regional hospitals, for example in Amlapura and Singaraja, and small clinics and health centres (puskesmas). They are fine for a cut or an upset stomach. For anything serious you go to the south: from Amed or Lovina that is a two to three hour drive. Sometimes patients have to be flown to Singapore or Australia.

Bring your own medicines in their original packaging, with a prescription or a letter from your doctor in English. Some medicines are banned in Indonesia, even with a prescription. Check the rules with the Indonesian embassy before you go; TravelHealthPro also has advice on travelling with medicines.

Emergency number: 112. For an ambulance you can also call 118.

What travel insurance do you need?

Take out travel insurance that covers medical treatment abroad, medical evacuation and repatriation. Private hospitals in Bali are not cheap, and an evacuation flight can cost tens of thousands of pounds, euros or dollars. Your national health insurance usually covers little or nothing in Indonesia.

• If you ride a scooter yourself, many policies only cover an accident if you hold a valid motorcycle licence.
• If you plan to dive, check that it is covered.
• Save your insurer's emergency number in your phone and write it down on paper too.