Ngurah Rai—Canggu water taxi trial
Bali plans to trial a water taxi route from Ngurah Rai Airport to Canggu in 2026 that officials say could cut travel time to about 30 minutes and bypass heavy road congestion. (Tempo English reports the route as a proposed pilot to relieve traffic-bound transfers.) (en.tempo.co) The proposal is being positioned as a practical transport alternative for tourists and local commuters.
Bali officials are targeting a 2026 trial for a water taxi linking Ngurah Rai Airport to Canggu, with a projected trip of about 30 minutes. (en.tempo.co) The pilot route under study would run from Sekeh Beach, next to the airport, to Berawa Beach in Canggu, according to Bali Transportation Agency official I Gede Wayan Samsi Gunarta Mudarta. He said vessel design and port infrastructure studies are still being finalized. (en.tempo.co) Transport Minister Dudy Purwagandhi said on April 8 that the sea route could cut a trip that now takes one to two hours by road to roughly 30 minutes. He described the service as part of a plan to connect land, sea, and air transport in Bali, especially in Badung Regency. (en.tempo.co) (en.antaranews.com) The proposal comes as Bali keeps handling heavy visitor traffic through I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport. The airport reported 4,806,333 foreign arrivals from January through August 2025, up 12 percent from a year earlier. (bali-airport.com) Badung Regency, where Canggu sits, is one of Bali’s busiest tourism corridors, and domestic travel data shows the pressure extends beyond international arrivals. Bali’s statistics agency said Badung was the top destination for domestic tourists in July 2025 with 604,710 trips. (bali.bps.go.id) The water taxi is still a proposal, not an operating service. Officials said the project is being led by the Ministry of Transportation, and PT ASDP Indonesia Ferry has been assigned to prepare the detailed engineering design study. (jawawa.id) (en.tempo.co) Some reports in Indonesia have put the initial investment estimate at about 1.21 trillion rupiah and said construction is being targeted to start in August 2026. Those figures have appeared in local coverage, but the Tempo report on the trial said the route is still in the study stage. (kompas.com) (jawawa.id) (en.tempo.co) For travelers, the pitch is simple: skip the road bottleneck between the airport and one of Bali’s most crowded beach districts. For officials, the next test is whether studies, docks, and boats can turn a 30-minute promise into a working route. (en.tempo.co) (en.antaranews.com)
