When you arrive in Bali for the first time, it MAY be expierienced quite overwhelming. Arriving about 3.5 million tourists a year, the airport seems quite chaotic. So it’s good to be a little prepared. Most tourist need not visas from home but get visas on arrival (VoA). This costs 35 USD / person, and it facilitates the process, and reduces the cost, if you have this amount ready in cash USD.
Be aware, that these rules apply only to some foreigners, and may differ from other countries. Be very aware if you are an Australian, that due to political reasons, rules may change over night.
Once through passport and customs control, which since 2004 has been quite effective, with more checks. When at last you reach out, to the waiting throng of taxi-drivers, all of which will drive you to your hotel, you MAY find this violently, and thus, it is a good idea to have an agreement in advance, especially the first time. Make an appointment with Balitur, and the whole process is automatic.
It is not the major problem, in addition to the usual checkin queues. Traditionally you should have about 200,000 rupees in departure tax on hand, but this changed in February 2015 when it was included in the airplane-ticket. This has reduced the queues in the departure hall considerably.
Currency can be exchanged at many stores. It is wise to look for the licensed dealers who have in common, that they count the money out on the counter desk, in orderly stacks. The many zeros can easily make a tourist confused, and it is not uncommon in random stores to get cash with a few zeros missing, mixed with the major labels.
