Bali Currency Exchange 2026: Airport, Ubud & Avoiding Scams

When traveling in Indonesia, especially Bali, they say there are many currency exchange scams.

It seems like it's partly because the currency units are so large, which can be confusing for us, though if we're talking about large units, Vietnam's are even bigger. Anyway, it's something to be careful about.

If you don't want to bother worrying about things like this, it doesn't make a huge difference, so just exchanging at the airport is one way to go.

And surprisingly, knowing how to distinguish between legitimate and dodgy places when exchanging currency in Indonesia is simple.

I'll go over these points quickly.

Bali Airport Currency Exchange

The left shows the airport exchange rate. The exchange office rate on the same day is on the right.

225 Rupiah (roughly ~$0)

Initially, I wondered which of the many places in the airport to go to, but the exchange rates were all the same. You can go to any of them, LOL.

I exchanged the US dollars I had prepared beforehand for Rupiah.

And once you've confirmed, they count out the bills one by one for you to verify. There's no room for any tricks. I re-checked, and the amount was correct.

Of course, I didn't exchange all my money here; I only did $100 for this post, LOL.

Currency Exchange in Bali's Tourist Spots

Our first destination was Sanur.

If you don't want to worry about this kind of thing, just go to a money changer where the exchange rate isn't the best, but it's large, indoors (or has parking), and generally reputable.

They'll count the money with a machine and then show you the bills one by one, just like at the airport, so you can easily verify.

You can head into a Money Changer that looks like this.

This is the difference.

The one on the left is safe; the one on the right gives off a fishy vibe.

Something that seemed specific to Sanur (it wasn't the case in our next destination, Ubud) is that places with "AUTHORIZED" MONEY CHANGER written on them are mostly suspicious.

They're small, offer a good rate, and look shabby.

To test Bali's exchange practices, I deliberately chose one of these places, but I failed to catch one in the act...

I went in to exchange money...

"How much?"

"100 dollars."

(This was one reason I failed; it's relatively easy to count. It's easier to pull a scam with a larger amount, LOL.)

"Okay. But where's your hotel?"

(My travel buddy) "That's a trick, asking about your hotel."

(Damn, they caught on...) "Oh, but we don't have the banknotes right now. Try somewhere else."

"Huh? You just pulled out money, but now you say you don't have it? LOL."

I don't think they understood Korean, but they seemed to pick up on our vibe... It was like they sensed our slight tension and our firm resolve to catch them out.

I didn't take a photo then because I was afraid of getting caught, but I passed by later that night when it was closed and took one.

This was the place.

That's not a mosaic I added; it's a pattern on the door, and it just happened to look like that when I took the photo up close, haha.

From then on, my friend said it was draining his energy, so we decided to stick to larger, more established places... LOL.

Doing it at one of those places is like in the video above.

I exchanged dollars for Rupiah in Ubud, and they first counted it with a machine, then separated the bills by denomination to make it easy to check.

Actually... that video is a bit fast because I requested they do it again for the recording.

It seemed about twice as fast as the original speed.

So, they initially did it slowly like that, but I thought it would be great for a post, so I politely asked if they could do it just one more time. Hehe.

That's why the speed picked up a bit the second time around.

They even give you a receipt, an envelope, and water, LOL.

My Bali currency exchange tip is this: if you don't want to spoil your mood, exchange money at the airport or a large, reputable place. But if you enjoy the thrill of spotting suspicious places, then go to a small, shady-looking place that offers a surprisingly good rate!

Honestly, just knowing about these things makes it much easier to deal with. Don't let it ruin the start of your trip; handle your Bali currency exchange wisely and kick off your adventure on a high note!