I live here. I see it every single day: the traffic in Canggu that did not exist 8 years ago, the villas going up on land that used to be rice fields, the scooters weaving around tourists who clearly should not be driving them at all. Bali overtourism is not a headline to me. It is my commute.
So when I read through the coverage on this topic, I am not reading it as an outsider. I am reading it as someone who watches it happen from my front door.
The Numbers Behind the Chaos
Bali pulled in over six million international visitors in a recent year, a figure that beat the pre-pandemic peak and represents nearly half of all visitors to Indonesia, according to Time. The provincial tourism office actually set a target to push that number even higher, while admitting the rules meant to manage tourist behaviour were not being enforced properly. That admission tells you everything. This island is not struggling because too many people want to visit. It is struggling because nobody built the systems to handle them once they arrive.
The Conversation broke this down well too, pointing out that limited public transport options push tourists onto rented scooters and cars, and weak traffic enforcement lets people drive without helmets, without shirts, and without licenses. I see this constantly. It is not a rare occurrence; it is a Tuesday.
When Disrespect Goes Viral
The stories that actually make headlines outside of Bali are usually the ones involving sacred sites, and there have been plenty. Hey Bali News covered a group of foreign tourists who camped overnight inside a temple compound on Nusa Penida, treating one of the island’s most spiritually significant locations like a campsite. The report noted something important: that ignoring local customary law is increasingly being viewed not as innocent ignorance but as willful disregard, and that shift in attitude is pushing villages to start policing their own sacred spaces.
Then there are the incidents involving nudity at holy sites, which happen with uncomfortable regularity. One recent case reported by The Independent involved a woman detained after posing naked beside a sacred banyan tree, following a nearly identical incident years earlier involving a different tourist at another ancient tree. Vice also covered a tourist who was deported after hiking the sacred Mount Agung volcano without a required guide, ignoring warnings from local hiking authorities before doing it anyway.
Not every case involves malice. Parade reported on an American tourist detained in March after accidentally stepping outside during Nyepi, the island’s sacred Day of Silence, when the entire island effectively shuts down for 24 hours. He was searching for a new hotel after his previous stay ended and had no idea what he had walked into. That one is a good reminder that even honest mistakes carry real consequences here, because the rules exist for a reason that goes far deeper than tourism policy.
My Take, Living Through It
Here is where I land on all of this. The vast majority of visitors to Bali are respectful, curious, and genuinely appreciate what this island offers. But it only takes a small percentage behaving badly to create the impression that the whole system is broken, and honestly, the system kind of is.
The infrastructure was never built for the volume of people arriving now. The traffic, the water strain, the land disappearing under villas, none of that is the tourists’ fault directly. That falls on planning and enforcement. But the disrespect at sacred sites, the nudity, the ignoring of guides and warnings, that part is absolutely on the individuals doing it. There is no infrastructure excuse for stripping naked at a temple.
If you are planning to visit Bali, do the bare minimum of research before you land. Learn what Nyepi is. Learn which sites are sacred and dress accordingly. Hire the guide when a guide is required, every time, no exceptions. None of this is difficult, and all of it is the difference between being a welcome guest and becoming the next headline.
I talk to expats and long-term visitors here all the time, and the ones who last, the ones who actually get invited into ceremonies and welcomed into neighbourhoods, are always the same type. They ask questions before they act. They watch how locals behave before they assume they know the rules themselves. It really is that simple, and yet so many people skip that step entirely and then act surprised when there are consequences.
Bali has given the world an incredible amount of beauty and culture for decades. The least anyone visiting can do is treat it like the home it actually is for millions of people, not a backdrop for a viral moment.
Time, “Can Bali Ever Solve Its Overtourism Conundrum?” The Conversation, “Bali gives a snapshot of what overtourism looks like in the developing world” Hey Bali News, Nusa Penida temple camping story The Independent (via AOL), naked tourist at sacred tree Vice, Mount Agung deportation story Parade (via Yahoo), Nyepi detention story
