Hi All,

I know I've read some posts on recommended drivers for hire in Bali a few years back (probably 3 before the pandemic). But I couldn't search "Bali Driver" or "Driver in Bali" & come up with any results. I'm probably doing something wrong on the search.
Our family is booked to visit Bali for 10 days (Ubud & Uluwatu) and will need to hire a good & honest driver. Anyone has recommendations? Your inputs are greatly appreciated!

We've used Bali Easy Car Rental a couple of time. Granted, we've only used their self drive but I'd imagine you'll get the same high service. The vehicles are great, pick up and drop off very convenient and prices reasonable (with no prepayment required). YMMV
http://balieasycarrental.com/

We spent a week in Bali a few weeks ago and prior to our trip I reached out to probably 10 drivers.

We ultimately went with a fellow by the name of Naya.

Out of probably of the 10 drivers I reached out to the price he quoted me was the least expensive. He also quoted me all in based on the itinerary that I created without hesitation. Most of the other drivers you will try to steer you to some pre arranged itinerary that somehow benefits them. We were not interested in seeing a coffee plantation or visiting jewelry shops. Some drivers will also try to avoid quoting you all in but Naya did not. Depending on time, Naya will also take you to wherever you want even if it's not on the original itinerary.

We also did not need to negotiate his initial quote down as it was already lower than everyone else's.

The important thing is that you use google to and make sure you have a rough idea of how much your itinerary will cost give or take a few percent. You'll find that the quotes you receive will be all over the map. Most will be over inflated and you'll have to spend time negotiating.

A driver and car for a day should run you right around 500K - 650K IDR for a 10 hr day depending on how far you travel.

As for entrance fees you can check this link to see what they are and add to the driver/car cost so you can roughly estimate how much it will be.

So my advice is to build out an itinerary of things you want to see and then estimate the price based on the information I've given you. From there you just reach out to a bunch of drivers and ask them to quote you all in on the specific itinerary you've created. eliminate any of the ones who try to steer you away from your itinerary or who don't want to quote you all in.

The main reason you want them to include entrance fees is because you don't want to deal with buying tickets.....some locations will have lots of tourists and it is a pain to constantly wait in line to purchase tickets. Let the driver handle all that giving you extra time to just look around.

https://www.baliindotour.com/bali_entrance_fee.php

Driver Contact Information (Naya Putra):

https://www.facebook.com/naya.putra.16

I also video documented our trip so check out some of our videos for ideas.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL...mKesGnzlzpul-1

Thanks for such an informative reply!! Do you mind sharing how much Naya charged you for a day (within the 500-650k range)?

Many of us on FlyerTalk have used Wayan Sueta. You can find him here: https://www.facebook.com/cozysueta.bnb

I had Naya quote me all in which included both entrance fees and lunches for 2 days worth of activities so I don't know exactly what his daily price as just a driver with vehicle is but if I were to guess it was right around 550K (each day was probably different prices since 1st day he drove a lot further out than the 2nd day) based on the itinerary created. Depending on how much time you spend in each area if there is extra time he'll be more than happy to stop by any other places you'd like....within reason of course.

Here was our 2 day itinerary:

Day 1:
Ulun Danu Beratan,
Jatiluwih rice field,
Sangeh Monkey Forest,
Tanah Lot

Day 2:
Ayung River Rafting
Uluwatu/Kecak Fire Dance

We paid 2,500,000 IDR or roughly $168 USD total for me and my wife. I had a spreadsheet built out with hypothetical costs based on research for everything and according to what I calculated it would have been right around $180 so he essentially charged us slightly cheaper than my calculated cost.

A Tripadvisor forum has a thread of "recommended drivers" 2002 (ymmv)

Looks like you already got all the information from the above replies. All I can add is welcome to Bali and due to the has started running again expect a bit crowded in some parts of the area (especially Canggu). Enjoy

I highly recommend my driver that I frequently use when I head to Bali. He is a nice chap, provides excellent service and always punctual. Speaks good English as well.
He is recommended by many in the Tripadvisor driver thread too. His website is www.joyabalidriver.com. Cheers!

My only recommendation is to avoid any temptation to drive yourself.

Absolutely agree with that.

Regards

Just to dump onto the small pile, 500-650k per day is accurate. If you just need to go from A to B, 400k is possible.