By Air

This is definitely the fastest way to cross from one island to the other. There are several low-cost airlines departing from Surabaya, Jakarta and Yogyakarta and arriving at Denpasar airport in Bali. We recommend you look at Google Flight.

But if you are planning to visit the Bromo and Ijen volcanoes then the plane is not the best option.

By Ferry

The option to cross from Java to Bali by ferry is the option we used and is definitely the cheapest.

If you add a visit to the Bromo and Ijen volcanoes to your route, then this is the best option to cross to Bali. Bromo and Ijen volcanoes then this is the best option to cross to Bali. The Ijen volcano is an hour and a half drive from the port of Ketapang from where ferries depart to the port of Gilimanuk in Bali.

The ferry costs Rp. 6,500 (US$0.60) and takes 40 minutes to reach Bali.

Gilimanuk is located to the east of the island of Bali, so be aware that you will still have to travel around the island to reach your destination. When you get off the ferry you will be met with hundreds of Balinese people offering you transport at very high prices! Don't accept the first offer, keep looking and negotiating prices.

There are two options for getting from the port to your next point:

Private taxi

It is the most comfortable way as the buses go first to Denpasar and then you have to take a taxi to your destination. We were going to Ubud, and as we had not slept for several days and were tired, and the traffic in Bali is hell, we decided to go for this option.

Once on the ferry we started to look for other tourists who wanted to do the same route as us, so that we could split the taxi fares. We were lucky enough to meet two French people who were also going to Ubud, so we decided to share the trip.

The first offer we received was $1,000,000 rupiah ($75 USD), which seemed like a lot of money. So we kept looking until we negotiated $600,000 rupiah ($US43) with a driver to take the four of us to the centre of Ubud. Tip: don't take the first offer, and ALWAYS haggle over the price. Especially in Bali they think that because you are a tourist you can pay any ridiculous price, and they will try to take advantage of you as much as possible.

Bus

This takes you to Denpasar, it takes about 4 hours as it makes many stops along the way. The price is $40,000 rupiah ($3 USD), they will probably try to sell it to you for more, do NOT accept.

Once in Denpasar you will have to take a taxi or Grab (much cheaper) to your hotel.