Originally Posted by
francophile
I just came back from Bali and used Dewa Marco for three days of driving. Our driver was Pedro for all three days. He was an excellent driver. He spoke English very well.
For the first two days, Pedro took my parents around the island while I stayed behind at the Grand Hyatt Nusa Dua. My parents told me that Pedro was very kind and courteous. They also said Pedro never made an attempt to pressure them to go shopping, which is all too common in Thailand.
On the third day, he drove me from the Four Seasons Sayan to the airport. I also found him very friendly and courteous. I asked him if it was ok to stop somewhere for lunch and he happily agreed. I of course paid for his lunch with was came to only Rp 6,000 for both of us at a roadside warung.
Pedro told me that he speaks a little bit of Japanese and he is starting to learn French. Bon courage to him!
We recently used Dewa Marco and Co. as well for several days and would recommend his company as well. We had the opportunity to meet both Pedro and Marco on separate days, and both of them are very good. Neither of them were pushy and both were accommodating to our flexible, spontaneous agendas for the day.
As for Pedro, he is awesome - a young, married man who shared quite a few cultural stories as well as invaluable tourist tips on how to avoid getting scammed by local hiking guides. Bali is a beautiful island but since 80% of its income is based on tourism (per the drivers), it's easy to get nickel and dimed by local guides trying to make an extra buck on travelers. Pedro fortunately knew all of these traps ahead of time and informed us of when it was and was not appropriate to tip or leave a "donation". He also thought ahead for finding ways to make it as convenient as possible with little preparation on our end. If we ever came back to Bali, we'd definitely work with Pedro (or Marco) again.
Please PM me privately if you ever want more detailed recommendations of Bali. <redacted>