Want to know more about the sex scene in Bali?
Bali is the principle destination of choice for most tourists who visit Indonesia with 80% of the country’s 15 million visitors heading here. The island is well known for its beaches, coral reefs and well-developed holiday resorts as well as for its monkeys, rice fields and having the highest density of spas anywhere in the world. It is a spiritual paradise and, home to most of the nation’s Hindu population, there are plenty of traditional festivals, yoga retreats and iconic temples. Interestingly, it is rumored that David Bowie’s ashes were scattered on the island in a Buddhist ceremony. Bali is also home to an active volcano but this isn’t the only thing that keeps things heated on the island. The south includes the city of Kuta which is renowned for its vibrant nightlife and rich, contemporary culture.
In this guide, we explore the adult entertainment scene of Bali, focusing primarily on the Kuta and Sanur areas where you can find the majority of the island’s sex industry.
Prostitution in Bali
Technically speaking, there is no laws against prostitution in Indonesia and the Criminal Code does not include any provision for convicting people on either the sale or purchase of sex. Though you can find sex workers across Bali, prostitution is only just tolerated on the island.
Deemed by many to be a part and parcel of the tourism industry that supports 80% of Bali’s economy, it is recommended that travellers procure services discreetly. The authorities can consider prostitution as a crime against moral decency and those who do not observe discretion could be picked up and charged on this basis. Certainly, there is a change occurring across Indonesia with the current political appetite being one that is less liberal. The Government has announced plans to eradicate prostitution by 2019 and many former popular red-light districts across the country have been demolished. Though Bali has so far not seen a major clampdown on its sex industry, caution and respect for local customs is recommended.
The most popular forms of prostitution on the island are:
- Escorts
- Erotic massage
- Home prostitution
- Freelance prostitution in bars, clubs and discos
- Girly bars
- KTVs (see how KTV clubs work in our guide)
The price of sex can vary widely depending on how and where you pick up a prostitute with rates from the street sometimes being as low as 200,000 IDR ($13) but is more likely to cost 500,000 IDR ($33). Freelance prostitutes and escorts will be charging anything from an average of 500,000 IDR ($33) to 1.5 million IDR ($99). However, there are some more high-class escorts that will charge a fairly typical 2 million IDR ($131) for their services.
Bali Escorts Guide
The escort scene isn’t as big in Bali as it is in Jakarta nor is it anywhere near as prolific as in other Asian cities. Much of this is down to the fact that freelance prostitution in the clubs is far quicker and easier than using a website but also because many of these adult sites are blocked from being used by hotel internet and even censored from being accessed within Indonesia.
However, there are still some sites that have escorts listed but you may need a VPN to access them. Alternatively, a lot of local guides including taxi drivers and hotel staff can hook you up with an escort if you wish.
Bali has also found international renown for its male gigolos and there are a high number of female tourists from Asian countries like Japan and South Korea as well as Australia looking for holiday sex. You can read more about this trend from our sister site, Red Light Australia, in The Aussie Women Chasing Bali Gigolos.
Escort Directories
There are quite a lot of escorts advertising on the classifieds website, Locanto, but other than this the main international directories only have a handful of listings. The exception to this is Euro Girls Escort where you can find over 150 women offering personal services.
Rates vary quite a bit with the top VIP models costing over $300 per hour with the average being in the region of $150. Locanto is definitely one to check out if you are looking for Indonesian girls on a budget:
- Locanto – 690+ escorts
- Euro Girls Escort – 150+ escorts
- Massage Republic – 30+ escorts
- World Escort Index – 12+ escorts
- Escort Directory – 12+ escorts
Sex in Bali
Bali has an international reputation for being a prime destination for a lot of singles and the city has plenty of tourists, both male and female, who are looking for sex. In this respect, your chances of getting laid in Bali without needing to pay for it are pretty high and the clubs, bars and discos are all rich hunting grounds for anyone who is after a casual encounter. Obviously, there are no guarantees.
It is worth pointing out at this point that many of these methods of picking up can be a bit hit and miss as ownership can change frequently and the readiness of some businesses to offer personal services can vary. Always be discreet with any inquiries and remember that prostitution, though tolerated, is not a legitimate activity.
Lastly, it is worth visiting some of these websites before you travel to Bali as some hotels do block access to ISPs that have adult content. A VPN (Virtual Private Network) is useful to get around this.
Brothels (Home Prostitution)
Whilst brothels are illegal in Indonesia, you can find whorehouses in Bali, particularly in the Sanur area. There is no explicit advertisement but brothel owners have come up with the ingenious method of attracting customers by suffixing their house numbers with the letter X (sometimes ‘XX’ or ‘XXX’). Houses in Sanur that have this indicator are most likely brothels.
There are no guarantees as to the quality of the girls working at these locations as they change all the time (as do the addresses) but do they service both tourists and locals. Prices for tourists are much higher than the usual rate of 100,000 IDR ($8).
Be aware that brothels are illegal establishments in Bali.
Erotic Massage Parlours
The problem with massage salons in Bali is that there are so many of them. Most simply offer therapeutic traditional Balinese services but there are also reports from many of these legitimate establishments of masseuses offering handjobs….or, at very least, going dangerously close to the lingam area so as to indicate they are prepared to finish the job off.
Don’t expect to find handjobs and happy endings advertised on a menu at any of these massage parlors as discretion is the order of the day. Do look for Lingham, Sacred Spot, Sensual and Body to Body services.
There are some salons and spas with a good reputation for providing erotic and sensual massages with the possibility of a happy ending. Expect to pay anything from 350,000 IDR ($23) plus tip with some of the ‘plus plus’ services being more like 800,000 – 1 million IDR ($52-$66). Some luxury and VIP salons and spas will charge double this!
Some of the salons on Jl. Legian or around the Poppies will charge around 100,000 IDR ($6.50).
Tantra VIP offers an outcall system where therapists will visit you at your hotel to deliver their services. Their rates are 1.1 million IDR ($72) for 60-minutes.
We don’t need to tell you that tipping is essential and that you will pay separately for any additional services you receive on top of the price of your massage.
Girly Bars
Most of the girly bars in Bali are located on Jalan Legian Street in Kuta where you can find a few dozen bars between the Ground Zero Memorial and Jl. Benesari. This 500m long strip of road has a lot of what look to be ordinary beer bars but where, in fact, you can find an easy pick up.
They are normally pretty obvious as the girls hang around outside behaving flirtatiously and inviting men to join them inside.
Once inside, they are similar to the girly bars of Cambodia or the Philippines and you won’t find strippers like you can inside the go-go bars in Thailand. Instead, there might be erotic dancers and loud music with dark lighting and plenty of comfy areas to sit. The bar prices are more expensive than in most of the beer bars and you will, of course, have to pay the premium ‘lady drink’ prices for your hostess.
Most of the girls will happily ‘go with’ customers for short time but you will have to negotiate on a fee.
Some well-known popular girly bars in Bali are:
- Crusoe’s Island,
- Mama’s Terrace and Bar
- GB Resto
- One Tribe One Life
- Skypool Bar
- Jokers Bar
- W Sport Bar
- Legian Café Bar
- Reunion Bar
Nightclubs and Freelance Prostitutes
Working girls are also known as kupu kup malams (or ‘night butterflies’) and are known to work in many of Bali’s clubs, bars and discos.
Nightlife in Bali doesn’t really get started until after 10.00pm, if not even later. When picking up a freelancer, you will no doubt have to buy her a few drinks at the bar first before they decide whether or not to go with you.
A freelance prostitute will charge anywhere from 500,000 IDR ($33) to 1.5 million IDR ($99) for a full service.
Karaoke Bars/KTVs
KTVs are a popular Asian pastime and offer karaoke and bar action all in one place. They also provide hostesses who will join you in your private karaoke room or at the bar to help make sure you are in full voice. Most of the KTVs in Bali offer family-friendly entertainment but a few do offer adult services.
It is worth checking out these KTVs:
- Akasaka Karaoke, Jl. Teuku Umar, Denpasar
- Bintang Karaoke, Jl. Teuku Umar, Denpasar
- Blue Eyes Karaoke, Jl. Bypass Ngurai Rai, Sanur
- Grahadi Karaok, Jl. Bypass Ngurai Rai, Tuban
They are pricey way to spend an evening and a night out at a KTV, including drinks but not personal services, can cost up to 2.5 million IDR ($165).
Love Hotels
A uniquely Asian establishment, love (or ‘short-time’) hotels are basically motels that rent rooms by the hour. They became a common sight across the region as a result of overcrowding in the larger cities and were generally used by courting couples who needed privacy from their parents and extended families who they shared homes with.
Bali has many love hotels where you can pick up a cheap room for a couple of hours. They vary in quality with some offering basic accommodation and others being a more high-end, luxury boutique guesthouse. The price reflects what you are getting but, generally speaking, most are perfectly serviceable. If you are only using the room for one purpose then clean sheets, an en-suite and fresh towels are pretty much all you need.
Staff at the love hotels are used to the sight of tourists arriving with an Indonesian girl in tow and do not ask any questions. They are identifiable by their hourly rates and are open 24/7.
Expect to pay anything from $10-$15 for a short time rental. Luxury love hotels can be double this rate.
If you pick up a prostitute on the streets or in a club then they will often have a preferred hotel to use but if you are discerning then it is recommended that you do some research during the day so you will know where to go in advance.
Swinging Clubs
Swinging is a very popular activity in Bali though is mainly restricted to tourists who come to the island specifically for this purpose. There are a few getaways, resorts and retreats that you can book in advance as well as plenty of couples and singles who use popular adult websites to hook up with lifestyle members whilst abroad.
If you are looking for a larger group activity then organised parties are held across Bali, generally at the weekends, and getting a ticket is not difficult. However, the location and address of most of these groups are not advertised to ensure the privacy of their guests.
You can contact one of the following groups for more information about swinging events and parties in Bali:
It is worth remembering that several international swingers’ groups organize annual getaways to Bali for their members with groups like Inner Circle and Couples International (Australian swingers’ organisations) arranging swingers parties in Bali.
For more intimate meets with one or two couples then your best options are provided via:
A last word of advice on swinging in Bali which also relates to most sexual activities and that is, discretion is an absolute must. Although these kinds of events are known to take place, the Indonesian authorities will take a dim view of anyone explicitly advertising, taking part in or running such events.
Strip Clubs
There are no strip clubs in Bali as getting naked in public is prohibited by Indonesian law. There are however erotic dancing shows and performances that you can find at the girly bars and even some KTVs. However, these are not places where you can find full nudity unlike in some of the go-go bars of Thailand.
Fetish Clubs & BDSM
There are no fetish or BDSM clubs in Bali but you can find escorts that offer some of these services including FemDom, bondage and role-play.
See Bali Escorts Guide, above.
Ladyboys
Ladyboys in Indonesia are not generally as popular as they are in Thailand but it would seem that they are more prevalent here than in Western communities, particularly in the sex industry. Bali doesn’t have a big ladyboy scene compared to that in Jakarta but you can often find shemales in the city’s clubs and discos as well as in Puputan Park, Denpasar and on Seminyak Beach.
It is also worth checking out the gay bars such as Bali Joe’s as there are often ladyboys in these kinds of establishment.
Street Prostitutes & Red-Light Districts
There are no official or central red-light districts in Bali like those you might find in Hong Kong, Thailand or Europe. However, much of the sex industry on the island operates from the Sanur area. Here you can find many of the brothel-style domestic residences from where home prostitutes operate as well as massage parlors and street hookers.
Legian Street in Kuta is also a popular area for prostitution as it is here where you will find most of the island’s nightclubs and discos. Both are popular places to pick up bar girls as well as being a generally fruitful spot to pick up a one-night stand.
The ‘night butterflies’ start hitting the streets from about 8.00pm onwards and tend to stand in the doorways along Poppies Lane II (one of Bali’s ‘Walking Streets’). After midnight, you can also expect the working girls to be riding mopeds around the city on the lookout for suitable single guys (or groups) to approach.
These ladies are easy enough to spot in Bali and typically wear the standard international ‘uniform’ of short skirts, skimpy tops, high heels with the giveaway provocative stance and overly heavy makeup.
Sex on the streets around Kuta and Sanpur will cost you between 200,000 IDR and 500,000 IDR ($13-$33) but you will need to have somewhere to take her (see Love Hotels, above).
Your best bet whilst staying in Kuta to find a suitable massage parlor, KTV or brothel is to ask around and most taxi drivers will know the best places in Sanur, Kuta and Denpasar.
Sex Shops
Sex toys and bedroom accessories are not easy to come by in Bali and you will struggle to find anything more than the bare essentials such as lube, condoms and possibly lingerie. There are some street vendors that may sell illegal porn DVDs which can be quite cheap but are of notoriously bad quality.
Pharmacies can supply supplements and products such as Kamagra, Viagra and Cialis but you will need a prescription. Again, street vendors can and do try to sell fake versions of these but it is not recommended to buy them as they are not safe.
Featured image via PxHere.