Bali is one of the easier places in Asia for a woman traveling alone to learn to dive, or to pick diving back up after a few years off. Dive shops are used to solo guests, and the east coast is calm both in the water and on land. Still, arriving alone changes a few practical things. Your buddy arrangements and your insurance both deserve some thought before the trip.
The notes below focus on the questions solo women ask most often.
It’s worth knowing that the underwater side of the island gets far less attention than the famous sights. Bali is usually introduced through its temples and rice terraces, but beneath that familiar image lies another side of the island, one that Neptunescubadiving.com helps visitors explore through scuba diving in Bali and its diverse marine environments. Most of that diving is concentrated on a handful of coasts, and the east coast is where solo travelers tend to feel most at home.
How the Buddy System Works When You Arrive Alone
Every recreational dive is done in pairs, and turning up alone doesn’t mean you’ll be left out. Shops either pair you with another guest of similar experience or assign a guide as your buddy. It’s a normal part of the booking, though it’s worth checking how a shop handles it.
- Ask whether you’ll be paired with a guest or a guide.
- Find out the maximum group size per guide.
- If you’d feel more comfortable with a dedicated guide, ask for a private guide quote, since many shops offer one for a modest extra charge.
Choosing a Dive Shop
Reviews are useful, but read them with a specific filter. Look for comments from other solo travelers, and especially other women, about how they were treated on the boat and in the classroom.
- Is the shop listed with a recognized training agency?
- Are there female instructors or guides on staff?
- Does gear look well maintained in recent photos?
- Can the shop arrange airport transfers?
- Will it put the safety briefing and group sizes in writing before you pay, so there’s no confusion on the first morning?
It’s hard to say whether a smaller shop or a larger resort-based one suits solo women better. Smaller places are often friendlier. But bigger ones usually have more staff and more buddy options, which helps on quiet weeks when few other guests are booked.
Getting to the East Coast
Amed and Tulamben are a long drive from the airport—usually two and a half to three hours. Most shops and guesthouses can book a driver at a fixed price, which is the simplest choice after a long-haul flight. Ride-hailing apps work in parts of Bali, but some areas restrict pickups, so a pre-arranged driver avoids late-night negotiation at the curb.
The Scooter Mistake
On a Saturday in August 2025, a solo traveler from Austin, Texas, rented a scooter in Amed to ride to a viewpoint for sunset. She’d ridden a little at home and assumed her car license would do. Around six in the evening, on the way back, she took a gravel-covered bend too fast on the hilly coast road and went down. She came away with grazes on one arm and a twisted ankle, and the borrowed helmet with its cracked visor did its job. The clinic visit in Amlapura cost 1,840,000 rupiah. When she filed the claim at home, her insurer refused it because she didn’t hold a motorcycle license or an International Driving Permit with a motorcycle endorsement. She missed three days of diving while the ankle recovered.
The rule is straightforward. Ride only if you’re licensed for a motorcycle, your policy covers it, and avoid the coast road after dark.
Where to Stay
Plenty of dive shops in Amed and Tulamben have on-site rooms or a partner guesthouse a short walk away, so a solo traveler can get from her room to the morning briefing and back for lunch without arranging a single ride on the narrow coast road. For solo women, that setup has two advantages. You don’t need transport early in the morning, and staff are usually around in the evening. Ask whether rooms have a working lock and a safe. Hostels are rare on the east coast (most accommodation is small family-run guesthouses), so budget a little more than you would in Canggu.
Health and Gear Notes
- Bring your own mask, because rental masks often don’t fit smaller faces well and a leaking mask makes every dive harder.
- Ask for women’s-size wetsuits, which many shops stock but don’t always hand out first.
You’ll fill in a diver medical questionnaire before training, and it asks about pregnancy, since diving isn’t recommended while pregnant. Menstruation isn’t a reason to skip a dive, and despite a stubborn myth, there’s no good evidence that it attracts sharks. Travel insurance should cover scuba diving up to your certified depth, and Indonesia’s emergency number is 112.
Culture and Clothing
Bali is mostly Hindu, and village life on the east coast is more traditional than in the south. Swimwear is fine on the beach and at the dive shop, though a sarong or shorts and a T-shirt are better for walking through the village. And temples require covered shoulders and a sarong, which most temples lend at the entrance. One quiet pleasure of Amed is watching the morning offerings being placed on doorsteps and dashboards, small woven trays of flowers and rice that appear everywhere before eight.
When You’re Ready for More
Once you’re comfortable with scuba diving Bali Indonesia style, the rest of the archipelago opens up. Indonesia liveaboard and scuba diving trips to Komodo or Raja Ampat suit solo travelers well. Meals are shared, and groups are small, so they’re sociable by default. Many boats also offer shared cabins matched by gender, or a single supplement for a private one. Most of Indonesia’s best scuba diving requires more experience than Bali’s east coast, so log a dozen or more dives first.
Before booking any scuba diving in Bali, email two shops and ask how they pair solo divers, then book the one with the most specific answer.
