Grab, Gojek or a private driver in Bali: which one, when?

What the apps are good at

Grab and Gojek work well in the south and around Ubud: a car or a motorbike taxi, the price fixed in the app before you get in, paid by card or in cash. For ten minutes to dinner, the beach or a café across town, nothing beats them — and nobody should hire a driver for that. Bluebird's metered taxis, with their own app, are a reliable third option in the south.

Where they stop working

• Pickups in some areas. In parts of Ubud, Canggu and Uluwatu, and at several sights, local transport groups don't allow app cars to pick up. You'll see "no online taxi" signs. Being dropped off is usually fine; getting a ride back is the problem.
• The north and the east. An app can take you to Sekumpul or Lempuyang. Finding a car to bring you back from there often doesn't work, and the local driver who offers knows it.
• Waiting. An app ride ends at the drop-off. A day with five stops is five bookings, five waits and five rounds with the pickup rules — while a driver waits at every stop as part of the day.
• Space. The standard app car takes four with little luggage. A family with bags and a pushchair needs the bigger class, if one is nearby.

The point where the maths flips

A rule of thumb: once a day has more than two legs or leaves the south, a driver is cheaper than it looks and the apps are dearer than they look.

A mix that works

Most of our guests use both. Apps for evenings and short hops around where they are staying; a driver for the two or three days that cross the island — Ubud and its terraces, the highlands and Jatiluwih, the temples of the east. If you'd rather not plan those days at all, our set day tours cover the same car and driver on a fixed route, with the entrance tickets already in the price.

What a driver gives you that an app can't

• Someone who knows the order of the day. Tegalalang before the coaches, the lake temple while the mist is on the water, the waterfall after lunch when the crowd has gone.
• A plan B. Rain in the hills, a temple closed for a ceremony, a road blocked by a procession — your driver swaps the stops without a second booking.
• A car that is yours all day. Leave a bag, a wet swimsuit, the shopping. Nobody else gets in.

And scooters?

The cheapest way around, and fine for confident riders on short, familiar roads. You need an international driving permit that covers motorcycles, the police do check, and travel insurance often excludes riding without one. Don't plan an island crossing on one: the roads to the north are steep, busy and wet in the afternoon.

The airport

Apps pick up from a separate point, not the arrivals exit — a walk with your bags after a long flight. Our airport transfer guide compares the options.