Your surf trip budget needs one more number
The camp price is the easy part. This is the honest surf trip budget for what actually gets spent once you land, in Bali and in Sri Lanka.
Working out a realistic surf trip budget is easy on paper and messy in practice. Book an all-inclusive camp and the big number is settled before you fly: bed, board, lessons, most meals. What catches people out is everything sitting outside that number. The coffee between sessions. The scooter into town on a rest day. The extra dinner you didn't plan for. This isn't a guide to camp pricing (we've covered that separately for Bali and Sri Lanka). It's the spending money you should actually pack.
I've done this trip broke and done it comfortably, and the difference was never the flight or the camp fee. It was always the small stuff nobody warns you about: five separate ATM withdrawals eating fees, a last-day taxi you hadn't accounted for, insurance you skipped to save forty quid. None of it is complicated. It just needs a number attached before you land, not discovered at the cash machine on day four.
01 First things first
Why the extras still matter on an all-inclusive trip
An all-inclusive week or two takes the biggest expenses off the table. You know what your bed, your board and most of your meals cost before you've even packed. But nobody spends fourteen days only doing what's included. You'll want a coffee between sessions. A tuk-tuk or scooter into town on a rest day. A round of drinks that goes past what's poured at dinner. Probably a gift for whoever's feeding your cat.
None of that needs to wreck a budget. It just needs planning for, rather than finding out the hard way. The numbers below are rounded and conservative, built from real day-to-day pricing in both places. Not a luxury estimate, not a scrape-by backpacker one either.
The real gap in most budgets
It's never the camp fee that blows the budget. It's the small stuff: the coffees, the tuk-tuks, the last-day taxi nobody planned for.
02 Destination one
Bali: day-to-day costs for your surf trip budget
Food beyond what's included
A warung plate of rice, chicken and vegetables runs about £1 to £3, and it's genuinely good. Step into a Western café or restaurant and you're closer to £8 to £15 before drinks. A beer from a shop is under £2; order it at a bar and double that. If your package covers breakfast and dinner, budget mainly for lunches out and the odd night away from camp.
Getting around
Scooter rental is roughly £3 to £5 a day, or £40 to £50 for a month if you're staying longer, plus a couple of pounds a week in fuel. Don't fancy riding? A bike-taxi app is the cheapest way around Canggu, often under £2 for a short hop, and a metered taxi for something longer, Canggu to Kuta say, usually runs £6 to £8.
Extras that add up
- SIM and data: a few pounds for a generous tourist SIM, worth sorting the day you land.
- Day trips: a boat trip or excursion beyond camp is typically £35 to £70 depending on distance.
- Laundry: cheap and everywhere. Budget a few pounds every few days instead of packing for a fortnight.
- Tipping: not required, but small tips for coaches, drivers and restaurant staff land well.
03 Destination two
Sri Lanka: day-to-day costs for your surf trip budget
Food beyond what's included
Sri Lanka is noticeably cheaper day to day than Bali's tourist strips. A rice-and-curry plate at a local spot is often under £2. Even a sit-down meal aimed at travellers rarely clears £6 to £10. Weligama's market runs twice a week, and fruit picked up there costs a fraction of what the same bag goes for in a shop built for tourists.
Getting around
Tuk-tuks are the default down the south coast. Short hops between Weligama and Mirissa or Ahangama are inexpensive, and it's worth agreeing the fare before you climb in, or just asking your camp what a fair local price looks like. Public buses cost next to nothing if you don't mind the slower pace.
Extras that add up
- SIM and data: cheap, easy to grab on arrival or at the airport.
- Day trips: Galle Fort, tea country, or whale watching out of Mirissa (roughly November to April) are the classic add-ons. Price depends on the operator and group size.
- Laundry: inexpensive but slower to dry in humid stretches. Worth knowing if you're travelling light.
- Tipping: appreciated, not expected. Small notes for coaches and drivers go a long way.
Already know your all-inclusive number? Elsewhere's Bali camp sits in the heart of Canggu, with once-daily coached lessons at 2:1, never worse than 3:1.
See the Bali camp04 The comparison
Bali or Sri Lanka: which is cheaper day to day?
Sri Lanka, honestly. Local food, tuk-tuks and day trips all cost less on the ground than Bali's tourist-facing areas, Canggu especially, where the sheer density of Western cafés and bars makes it easy to overspend without noticing. That's not a knock on Bali. It's a more built-out, more geared-up-for-tourism economy, and the extra spend buys a wider spread of food and nightlife if that's what you're after.
The honest bit: your day-to-day spend is mostly a choice, not a fixed number. Stick to warungs and rice-and-curry spots and either destination stays genuinely affordable. Lean into Western restaurants and constant day trips and either one can get expensive fast.
Canggu · Uluwatu · Bali
Bali
More developed, more choice, more tourist pricing. Easy to spend without noticing it.
Weligama · South coast
Sri Lanka
Cheaper across the board: food, transport, day trips. My pick if the budget's tight.
05 The actual number
How much spending money to actually bring
As a rough, conservative guide for a one- to two-week all-inclusive trip, where accommodation, lessons and most meals are already sorted:
| Destination | Daily spend | Covers | Add for day trips |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bali | £15–25/day scooter zone | Scooter, a couple of meals out, drinks, small extras | £150–250 |
| Sri Lanka | £10–20/day | Tuk-tuks, meals out, drinks | £100–200 |
Bring a mix of cash and a card with low or no foreign transaction fees. ATMs are everywhere in Canggu and Weligama, but keep a small cash buffer for markets, tuk-tuks and tipping. None of those reliably take a card. Travelling solo? This is the bit worth double-checking before you go. Nobody's splitting the taxi or reminding you to budget for the last lunch, so a rough daily figure in your head does a lot of the work.
06 Learn from others
Budgeting mistakes worth avoiding
A handful of small habits separate a trip that stays comfortably on budget from one that quietly overspends by the last day.
Withdrawing cash in dribs and drabs
Plenty of ATMs charge a flat fee no matter the amount, so five small withdrawals across a week cost more in fees than two larger ones would. Check your card provider's foreign ATM fee before you fly, then pull a sensible lump sum instead of topping up daily.
Assuming "all-inclusive" means everything
Easy trap. Your bed, board and most meals are handled, so it's tempting to treat every other spend as an afterthought too. A coffee here, a cocktail there, a taxi instead of a tuk-tuk because it's raining. None of that is a mistake on its own. But small unplanned spends add up faster than one big purchase would.
Not budgeting for the last 24 hours
The final day, a last lunch, transport to the airport, a last-minute gift, is where people most often run short. Not because the day is expensive. Because they stopped tracking spend a day early. Keep a small reserve just for departure day.
Skipping travel insurance to save money upfront
This is the one place where cutting cost genuinely isn't worth it. A minor injury without cover can cost more in a single hospital visit than a week's spending money would have. Sort proper insurance with surf and water sports included before you budget for anything else.
Small daily spends, in Canggu and Weligama.
Weighing up Bali against Sri Lanka? Sri Lanka's Weligama camp is genuinely beachfront, with two surf sessions a day, sunrise and sunset water time, and daily gym and yoga.
See the Sri Lanka camp07 Good to know
Frequently asked questions
Is a surf camp cheaper than planning a trip yourself?
Usually. Once you price lessons, board rental, transport to breaks and daily meals separately, an all-inclusive package tends to work out similar or better value, and it removes almost all the planning. This guide covers what's left: the day-to-day spending an all-inclusive price doesn't touch.
How much daily spending money should I bring on a surf trip?
As a rough guide, £15 to £25 a day in Bali and £10 to £20 a day in Sri Lanka covers local transport, a meal or two out, and drinks, on top of an all-inclusive camp package. Add £100 to £250 across the trip if you're planning one or two excursions.
Do I need to rent a scooter in Bali or a tuk-tuk in Sri Lanka?
Not necessarily. Most surf camps handle transport to and from surf spots as part of the package. Renting your own is really only worth it if you want to explore independently on rest days.
Is Bali or Sri Lanka cheaper day to day?
Sri Lanka generally runs cheaper on the ground. Local food, tuk-tuks and day trips all cost less than Bali's more developed, more tourist-facing areas like Canggu. Both stay genuinely affordable if you lean on local food over Western restaurants.
Is tipping expected in Bali or Sri Lanka?
Not obligatory in either place, but small tips for surf coaches, drivers and restaurant staff are appreciated and increasingly common, especially in areas with a lot of international visitors.
