Things to do in Bali with kids, ranked by age
The Bali activities that actually work with children, ranked by age, with rupiah prices, the catch on each, and the free list nobody publishes.
Photo · Alesia Kozik · Pexels
The list below is ranked by how reliably each thing works with a child, not by how it photographs. Every price is in rupiah, checked September 2026, because that is what the ticket window takes.
The short version: the water park from about two, a rice walk and a cooking class from about six, snorkelling from about eight, surfing from about ten. Below two, the villa pool is the holiday and there is nothing wrong with that.
Indonesian rupiah. Convert any figure on this page into your own currency at today's published rate.
Open the currency converter →1. Waterbom Bali, ages 2 and up
The one attraction on the island that is as good as its reputation, and it is not close.
IDR 630,000 for an adult, IDR 495,000 for a child aged 2 to 11, with a family pass for two adults and two children at IDR 2,200,000. There is an All-In pass at IDR 885,000 for adults which bundles food and a locker. Open 9am to 6pm every day.
Two practical things. It runs on a prepaid wristband rather than cash: you load credit onto it, everything inside comes off it, and the unspent balance is refunded automatically when you leave, so load more than you think rather than less. And it is in Kuta, so from Ubud you are looking at a solid ninety minutes each way in traffic. Go from a southern base or give it the whole day.
The toddler area is genuinely good, which is unusual, and the park is far greener and more shaded than the photographs suggest.
2. A rice-terrace walk, ages 6 and up
Do this first thing in the morning and it is one of the best hours of the trip. Do it at noon and it is a hot walk with a crowd.
The famous one is Tegallalang, which is now one of the sites where the tourist levy gets spot-checked, so have the QR voucher on a phone. It is beautiful and it is busy and there are people charging small unofficial fees at various points on the path.
The one we would actually send a family to is the Campuhan Ridge Walk in Ubud: free, about two kilometres each way along an open grassy spine with valleys on both sides, no traffic, and no ticket. Start by seven, be back for breakfast. It is the best free thing on this page.
Jatiluwih, in the west, is the UNESCO-listed terrace system and it is enormous, quiet and about two hours from Ubud. Worth a day if the children walk.
3. A cooking class, ages 6 and up
Most Ubud cooking classes start with a market visit at dawn, then a compound kitchen, and most of them take children happily and give them their own station. It is the activity that most reliably produces a child who talks about the trip for months afterwards, because they made something.
Ask two questions when booking: whether the market visit is included, which is the good half, and whether they will do a non-spicy version, which everyone will.
4. Bali Safari and Marine Park, ages 4 and up
A large drive-through safari park near Gianyar, open 9am to 5pm. Tickets are sold as packages rather than a single admission, with the entry-level Jungle Hopper starting around IDR 500,000 for adults and IDR 400,000 for children and rising steeply through the tiers.
Two honest caveats. The package structure changes frequently and the price list we could verify was published as valid only to the end of March 2026, so check on the day rather than budgeting from this page. And animal-welfare standards at Bali's animal attractions vary a great deal; the elephant rides and the close-contact encounters sold as add-ons are the ones we would decline. The drive-through and the aquarium are the parts worth the ticket.
5. Snorkelling in calm water, ages 8 and up
Not off the surf beaches. The water that works for a child is the reef-protected stuff: Sanur, and the crossing to Nusa Lembongan, where the mangrove and Crystal Bay areas are shallow and clear.
Take your own mask if anyone in the family has a small face, because rental masks come in adult sizes and a leaking mask ends a snorkel in four minutes.
6. The Sanur beachfront path, any age, free
A paved promenade running several kilometres along the calm eastern shore, with no cars on it. It is the single best thing on the island for a child with a scooter or a small bike, both of which can be hired along it. Warungs the whole way, sunrise over the water, and no traffic to negotiate.
This is on almost no list of things to do in Bali and it is what families actually end up doing three mornings out of seven.
7. Kite season, ages 4 and up, free
Between roughly June and August the winds come and Balinese village teams fly janggan and bebean kites the size of small cars over the fields around Sanur and Padanggalak, with gamelan orchestras on the ground. It is a competitive tradition, not a display put on for visitors, and it is extraordinary to watch.
The big organised festival dates move year to year, but the flying happens across the whole season on any windy afternoon, so you do not need to time it. Take a cheap kite and someone will show your child how to fly it properly.
8. Waterfalls, ages 8 and up
Tegenungan is the closest to Ubud and the easiest. The catch on every Bali waterfall is the same and it is worth stating: it is a lot of steps, down and then back up, often wet and uneven, and there is no lift. With a toddler in arms that is a genuinely hard climb in humidity.
And the rule from the main guide holds: children do not swim in rivers or plunge pools, whatever the photographs show.
9. A recreation club day pass, ages 3 and up
Canggu and Seminyak have several members' clubs that sell day passes covering waterslides, pools, trampolines and indoor play. They are unashamedly a convenience purchase rather than a cultural experience, and on day five of a rainy week they are worth every rupiah.
10. Surf lessons, ages 10 and up
Where the surf beaches finally become an asset. Lessons at Kuta or Batu Bolong on the small inside break, in a group, with a certified school and a soft board. Ten is a fair floor: below that the paddling out is the problem, not the standing up.
What to skip
The Ubud Monkey Forest under about six. The macaques are wild and habituated, they are quick, and they are at roughly a small child's height. Rabies is present on the island, so a bite or a scratch that breaks the skin is a hospital trip. Older children who follow instructions have a great time. Small ones holding a water bottle do not.
The Mount Batur sunrise trek with anyone under twelve. A two in the morning start and a two-hour climb on loose volcanic scree, in the dark.
Dolphin-watching boat trips at Lovina. A fleet of boats chases a pod at speed at dawn. It is stressful for the animals, frequently disappointing for the passengers, and there are better ways to see something wild.
Nusa Penida as a day trip with small children. Rough open-water crossing, poor roads, unfenced cliff viewpoints. Nusa Lembongan does the same job calmly.
Any day with three destinations in it. Bali's roads make that four hours in a car. One thing a day, in the morning, then the pool.
The rainy-afternoon list
The wet season is afternoon downpours, not all-day rain, so mostly you move the plan earlier. When it does settle in: a cooking class, a market, a recreation club, the aquarium half of the safari park, and the pool, which is still a pool in the rain and which most children under ten will point out to you.
Checked 21 Aug 2026.
Everything we check for Indonesia →Before you book
Bali with kids is the guide this list belongs to: where to base, why that is a water-safety decision, the tourist levy now being enforced, and the health rules. Bali family villas covers the accommodation and the pool-fencing question. Seven days in Bali is the adult route with the costs table and the wet-season detail. Our island anchor is the Ubud city guide, and the Indonesia country guide has the practicalities. The rest of the family guides work the same way, and when to go decides how many of these you do in the rain. Ready to look at rooms? Ubud stays are here, and the things to do shelf has what is bookable.
Prices checked September 2026 against Waterbom Bali and the operators' own pages. Bali Safari's package prices were published as valid only to the end of March 2026 and are flagged above rather than quoted as current, and the tourist levy is now checked at Tegallalang. Here is how we research and re-check guides.
