Indonesia forum

January is the high season for places that Australians go to and that is mainly in the south. The north is still quite light on in Dec/Jan because it's geared toward European visitors that come in large numbers in June/July/August. So if you want the beach and you want it cheap, stay away from Kuta/Legian/Sanur and do your beach time in the Gilis and the rest of the time in the North of Bali such as Amed and to a lesser extent Lovina.

Rooms prices in low season around Bali for a step above the most basic is about 150,000 rupiah per night and that sometimes gets you hot water. Food is a difficult one because it largely depends if you eat where locals eat or where tourists eat. If you try to get your brekky included in the room rate, eat one local meal per day and one tourist meal, your food bill per day will likely come out at around the 150,000 rupiah mark per day. Of course you can do it cheaper if you go really basic or spend more if you chug back the beers.

You also have to factor in transport. Car hire is 80-100k per day, bike hire is 30-50k. I'd go for the car with 2 people -- it's safer, you don't get wet and there's somewhere to put your luggage.

Activities need to go on top of that such as snorkelling, temple entries, hiking. Some of this is cheap, some is not. I just hiked Mount Batur and that was around the 300,000 mark but well worth it.

If you budget 600,000 rupiah per day for the 2 of you, I think you'd have a great time.