West Bali National Park film permit: how SIMAKSI works

By Film Permit Bali Editorial Desk

Sourced figures: prices in the table carry their source and check month. Fees change, and they are official or third-party figures, not our offers.

The West Bali National Park film permit is a SIMAKSI, an entry permit you must obtain from the park before filming. It lasts up to three months, requires park officers or local guides at your cost, and obliges film makers to hand back a report or a copy within a year. The park shows no film charge amount, so ask it directly.

What is the West Bali National Park film permit?

It is a SIMAKSI, the entry permit Indonesia uses for conservation areas. The park's visitor page says film or video makers must explain their plans and obtain one before starting. The Embassy in Washington says the same permit is required for filming inside any conservation area, with the forestry ministry's conservation directorate issuing it through whichever office manages the area. Any protected area filming permit in Bali would follow that route on the embassy's wording, and for West Bali it makes the park office your counterpart.

This is a separate route from the film permit Bali productions get through the culture ministry. A foreign production should expect to hold both, with the park entry treated as one of the location steps described in the location permit guide.

Distance shapes the plan. The park lies in Jembrana and Buleleng regencies, and the park page puts its office about 135 km, or three to four hours, from Denpasar. On size, the sources disagree. The park page says it covers 77,000 hectares, or about ten percent of Bali's land area, while Wikipedia gives about 190 square kilometres, which is 19,000 hectares. Neither figure changes your paperwork, but describe your shooting points by name rather than assuming a boundary from a map.

What does a SIMAKSI cover?

A Sulawesi conservation office summarises Regulation 36 of 2024 and lists research, education, commercial and non-commercial film, documentary film, expeditions and journalism as SIMAKSI activities. So the permit is not limited to big commercial shoots: a documentary or a non-commercial film is on that list too. That summary comes from another province's office and describes a national regulation, so confirm how West Bali applies it.

Some activities carry extra steps that a crew should raise when explaining its plans:

• Drones. The same national table sets a separate charge for using or flying drones in national parks and similar areas. Aviation rules still apply, and commercial drone filming covers those.
• Underwater work. The Embassy in Washington sends underwater filming to the Indonesian Navy for a separate permit application. A diving sequence therefore adds an office outside both the park and the culture ministry.
• Menjangan Island. The park page describes the island as reached by small boat, with a crossing of about 45 minutes. Name it in your request so that the permit and the boat plan match, and ask the office directly whether your dates work for a crew and its cases.

We know of no special rule for wildlife filming. Describe the subject, the time of day and any hides or lights when you explain your plans, and ask the park what it needs from a wildlife shoot.

How long does it last?

The park gives a SIMAKSI a life of up to three months, with extensions on request. That is long for a commercial shoot and short for a wildlife documentary waiting on a season, so long-form projects should plan on an extension from the outset.

The extension wording needs care. The park page says requests must go in "paling lama 15 hari kerja sebelum izin berakhir", which translates literally as at most fifteen working days before the permit ends. That can be read as a window that opens fifteen working days before expiry, or as a deadline. Ask the park office which it means, in writing, once you have a start date. The wrong assumption leaves a crew in the field with an expired permit.

Ask for the processing time of the first permit at first contact, and build it into your schedule alongside the national permit timing.

Who has to accompany the crew?

The park says holders must take along park officers or local guides, at the holder's cost. Treat this as a line in the budget and a seat in the vehicle or boat, not an afterthought. Ask at the planning stage:

• How many officers or guides does a crew of your size need?
• Is there a daily rate, and who sets it?
• Do they stay with a second unit if the crew splits between land and sea?
• Does the accompanying person need meals, transport or a boat seat for each day?

The obligation is published. Get the head count and rate from the office rather than from a third party.

What must a film maker hand back?

This clause is easy to overlook. Film makers must give the park a report and or a copy of the film, copied to the KSDAE Directorate General secretariat, within a year of finishing. The page text drops the numeral but reads "(satu) tahun", meaning one year.

It can touch your contracts. If a client's confidentiality terms or an embargo restrict who sees the cut before release, sort out early what you will deliver and when, and ask the park whether a report satisfies the requirement in place of a full copy. Put a named person and a date in your post-production schedule, because the deadline falls long after the crew has left and the permit file has gone quiet.

What charges apply?

Two things are known, and they should not be blended. The park page says every visitor and vehicle entering pays an entry levy, and that the park has a separate film and video charge category, but it shows no amount. The national table is published by a Sulawesi conservation office, and it charges commercial image-making per package per location, at one rate for foreign nationals and another for Indonesians, plus a drone charge per unit per day.

The price table on this page shows those national figures and the park's boat fare. They are not West Bali's own published film rate, so use them to size the budget and then ask the park to confirm what it will charge your production.

Read "per package per location" carefully before you add it up. A shoot with several distinct points could count as more than one location, and only the office can tell you how it divides yours. The wider budget, including visas and the national permit, is on the film permit cost page.

What else do crews ask about filming in the park?

Who issues SIMAKSI in Bali?

The Embassy in Washington says the forestry ministry's conservation directorate issues it through the office managing the area. For West Bali National Park, start with the park office, whose page sets out the requirement.

How long is a SIMAKSI valid?

The West Bali page says up to three months, extendable on request. Read this as the West Bali position rather than a national rule.

Can I film at Menjangan Island?

Filming there would need to be cleared with the park. Its page describes small boats and a crossing of about 45 minutes, so name the island in your SIMAKSI request. Underwater work adds a Navy application.

Do I need a guide to film in a national park in Bali?

At West Bali, permit holders must take along park officers or local guides at their own cost. Ask the office how many your crew needs and what the daily cost is.

Can I fly a drone in West Bali National Park?

The park page does not say. A national table lists a drone charge, which is not permission, so ask the park first and clear aviation rules separately.

Which sources support this page?

• West Bali National Park: visitor information
• Embassy in Washington: journalistic and film production
• BBKSDA South Sulawesi: conservation area charges and SIMAKSI, February 2025
• Wikipedia: West Bali National Park

How do I reach the desk?

Planning a shoot in the park? Send the shooting points, dates, crew size and whether you need a drone or divers to WhatsApp +62 811-3941-4563 or bd@juaraholding.com. The park office decides on every SIMAKSI, and we cannot speak for it. Requests can lead to a paid booking, a commercial interest explained in the disclaimer; only a written offer sets out what anyone will do.