The Dufresnes

We spent 17 days in Bali — June 1st to 17th, 2026 — moving between Canggu, Ubud, Sanur, and Uluwatu, and we used Holafly the entire time. Better still for a review, we ran it two ways at once: Shayna and I were on Holafly Plans, and our son Lakai used the Asia regional eSIM. That gave us a real side-by-side on one trip, in one place. Here's the honest verdict.

Code THEDUFRESNES = up to 26% off. 👉 Get it here · 📺 how we use it · New to Holafly? Our complete Holafly guide.

The test: 17 days, 4 areas, two plan types

Most eSIM "reviews" are written from an airport lounge. This one comes from actually living out of a suitcase across Bali for a bit over two weeks, in four genuinely different parts of the island:

• Canggu — the busy expat/surf strip, cafés and beach clubs, heavy on data
• Ubud — inland among the rice terraces and temples, more spread out
• Sanur — quieter east-coast beach town
• Uluwatu — the clifftop south, temples and surf breaks

Running Plans on our phones and the Asia regional eSIM on Lakai's meant we could compare both across all four — same island, same days, two products.

What actually happened, honestly

Both worked, everywhere we went. Across Canggu, Ubud, Sanur, and Uluwatu we had reliable data for the whole trip — navigation, translation, uploads, the lot. No dead stretches in the places we actually stayed.

The one real-world catch: Bali's power cuts. The island has occasional blackouts, and when the power drops, so can local Wi-Fi — which is exactly when having your own cellular data stops being a nice-to-have. During one outage our villa Wi-Fi was gone but the eSIMs kept us online. That's the honest highlight of the trip, and it's not something you'd learn from a spec sheet.

Scooters make data non-negotiable. Getting around Bali means renting a scooter, and Bali's roads don't forgive a wrong turn — Google Maps was running basically every time we were on two wheels, from Canggu's lanes to the climb up to Uluwatu.

Plans vs the regional eSIM — the difference that mattered: our Plans had unlimited hotspot, so we could tether a laptop or share freely; the regional eSIM Lakai used shares about 1 GB/day, which was plenty for a teenager's maps, messaging, and socials but wouldn't run a work setup. That's the honest line between the two: Plans for the sharers and workers, the destination/regional eSIM for a single person's own phone.

Holafly Bali pricing with THEDUFRESNES

The Indonesia (Bali) eSIM is unlimited data on the standard ladder, 5% off with the code:

Duration	Price	With THEDUFRESNES
5 days	$20.50	$19.48
7 days	$27.50	$26.13
10 days	$36.50	$34.68
15 days	$50.50	$47.98
30 days	$73.90	$70.21

Any duration from 1 to 90 days; about 1 GB/day of sharing.

For our 17 days we ran Plans rather than a destination eSIM, because we wanted unlimited hotspot and were carrying the subscription across other travel anyway:

• Monthly Unlimited: $64.90 → $58.41 (10% off)
• Quarterly Unlimited: ~$52.79/month (up to 20% off — newer option)
• Annual Unlimited: ~$595/year (up to 26% off), 160+ destinations

If Bali is your only trip, the destination eSIM (e.g. 15 days $47.98) is the cheaper pick. If you're island-hopping onward through Asia or want to tether, Plans win — see our Plans guide.

Which one should you get for Bali?

• One Bali trip, one phone, light sharing → the Indonesia destination eSIM. Cheapest, unlimited data, done.
• Family or a couple who want to share / a remote worker tethering a laptop → Plans Unlimited (unlimited hotspot). This is what we ran.
• A teen or second traveler who just needs their own data → the regional eSIM worked fine for exactly that on our trip.

Setup (do it before you fly)

1. Buy at Holafly — pick Indonesia or a Plan — and enter THEDUFRESNES.
2. Install from the QR code at home on Wi-Fi; don't activate yet.
3. Land at Denpasar (DPS), switch off airplane mode, select the Holafly line, turn on data roaming — connected in about 30 seconds.
4. Book your airport transfer or Grab straight away. Your home SIM stays active for calls and 2FA; Always On gives 1 GB/month of backup between plans — a genuinely nice safety net given the power cuts.

What other travelers say

On the forums, Bali visitors echo our 17 days: coverage in the main areas (Canggu, Ubud, Seminyak, Sanur, Uluwatu) is reliable, scooter navigation makes constant data essential, and the recurring relief is skipping the airport SIM desk and the "driver's cousin's shop" routine by installing before the flight. The blackout point comes up too — your own data is what keeps you online when the grid (and the Wi-Fi) blinks.

Bali FAQ

Did it really work across the whole island? Across the four areas we stayed in — Canggu, Ubud, Sanur, Uluwatu — yes, reliably. Very remote north/interior spots can vary, as with any network.

Does it work during Bali's power outages? That was the standout: when a blackout took out our villa Wi-Fi, the cellular eSIMs kept us connected. Worth having for exactly that.

eSIM or a local SIM in Bali? Data-only eSIMs need no passport registration and no shop visit — install at home, activate on landing. That alone sidesteps the classic Bali airport-SIM hassle.

Plans or the destination eSIM? Bali-only, one phone → destination eSIM. Sharing, tethering, or traveling onward → Plans Unlimited (what we used).

Can I tether for remote work in Canggu? On Plans Unlimited, yes — unlimited hotspot. A destination/regional eSIM only shares ~1 GB/day, which isn't enough for a full work setup.

Get Holafly for Bali

Code: THEDUFRESNES

• 1 week: $27.50 → $26.13
• 15 days (a Bali trip like ours): $50.50 → $47.98
• Sharing / tethering / onward travel: Plans from $58.41/month (up to 26% off annually)

👉 Get Holafly for Bali with THEDUFRESNES

Seventeen days, four corners of the island, one blackout, zero connectivity stress. Install it before you fly.

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