Currency?

[buddhasummer]

I'm off to Indo for a months diving next week and am wondering what currency to take. I've heard USD is more preferred than local currency can someone confirm this. I don't really wanna take Indo cash if USD is preferred. I'll be traveling around Indo so will at times be away from bigger cities. I was gonna pay live aboards with CC but day boat diving, accommodation, meals etc was gonna use cash. Any advise would be greatly appreciated. Cheers

 

[Centrals]

Euro was preferred in Lembeh(Two Fish) couple of yrs ago.

 

[ocdiver1]

I've traveled pretty extensively in Indonesia and I wouldnt say that was the case regarding USD. Dive resorts might accept payment in it and you might find it otherwise accepted here and there, but I'd say convert your money and have plenty of rupiah on hand

 

[jcclink]

Hit the ATM's for rupiah when in town. Stock up if you'll be in less populated areas for any period of time. Dive guides, crew, etc prefer local currency. Resorts, live-aboards, etc take c/c or cash (USD, Euro, rupiah, etc) I've been doing a long Indo trip each year, so I try to come home with lots of extra rupiah for next time.

 

[CajunDiva]

Totally agree...ATM's are readily available and convenient to use. Indonesian Rupiah are a must for day to day expenses. What I found very strange was that credit cards are not used much at all in Indonesia...at least compared with other areas. Even if you do find a place that will accept your credit card there will be a fee attached for using it.

You should be fine if you use USD for dive operations, but most of the other day to day things are going to require IDR, so an ATM card will come in handy

 

[sffrenchman]

I you bring USD bills, you better make sure that they are absolutely unblemished and unmarked (i.e. you need brand new bills), as you will have difficulty changing them for rupiah (lower exchange rate) or being accepted by merchants, including dive shops. Also, notify your bank that you are traveling to Indonesia so that your ATM and CC go through when trying to use them.

 

[buddhasummer]

Thanks for all your replies, I'll take rupiahs and my card and will notify bank. Cheers

 

[ocdiver1]

Great point on the condition of the bills, i forgot to mention that. You'll only be able to exchange "clean," recently minted bills. I usually have handpicked them at my bank before I go. One thing about use of atms, which several people mentioned...you'll find many where you'll only be able to take out a max of the equivalent of $100 USD at a time...so considering your own bank fees on this might be another $10 on top of that, trips to the atm add up really quickly. I usually just bring cash with me and charge if no fee with credit cards or via bank transfer for dive resort/liveaboard stays

 

[divewench1]

Be careful with the ATM's too, our old village has two ATM's which are often broken or empty (especially at weekends), meaning that you need to travel 30 minutes by car to the next nearest one (Padang Bai). They can also have a nasty habit of 'eating' your credit card, which can be quite disconcerting! Maybe bring USD and change up at the money changers.

Money changers are also to be watched; make sure you count out the money again before you leave the shop, also, please note that the exchange rate listed outside the shops are just for the larger denomination notes.

As said before, use your credit card to pay if there is no extra bank changes and carry small denomination notes in IDR for daily use in shops, restaurants etc

 

[jcclink]

Only use bank ATM's. You can run your debit card multiple times until you reach your withdrawal limit in USD. Some ATM's may only give IDR 1,000,000 (about $100 US) so run your card again.
Also, no US $100 bills that have serial # beginning with "C". Counterfeit issues in the past with these.
Compared to cost of trip I wouldn't worry about a few $$ for transaction fees. Cost of doing business. (Like overweight charges.)