A tourist has revealed the one essential thing every holidaymaker needs to do before heading to Bali this summer after his vacation almost ended in disaster.
New Zealand television audio engineer Hamish Crocker and his partner Tiffany recently headed to the Indonesian island for a relaxing getaway.
But it wasn’t all scenic mountain sunset tours, beaches and Bintang beers by the pool for the Auckland couple.
Mr Crocker returned home bearing additional souvenirs after a hospital visit became an unexpected inclusion on the itinerary.
He was left bloodied and bruised after falling down an uncovered drainage sewer hole on the pavement while on a walk.
Mr Crocker had to be rescued from the hole and was rushed to hospital with three broken ribs and a nasty gash on his leg.
He’s grateful they had travel insurance, which meant they weren’t left with a hefty hospital bill.
‘I would have been $10,000 out of pocket,’ Mr Crocker told Daily Mail Australia.
Hamish Crocker ended up in a Bali hospital after a holiday mishap
The Kiwi tourist had to be rescued after falling down this drainage hole
‘I have had friends who have been screwed over overseas in the past because they didn’t have life insurance so I’ve already made sure I got it.’
He issued a public service announcement reiterating the need for travel insurance, documented with photos of his gruesome injuries and hospital visit.
‘Last week I posted a lovely collage of pics from Bali, but behind all that, I had days before literally fallen down a hole, and ate absolute s*** (probably) and ended up being pulled out of a drainage sewer,’ Mr Crocker said.
’26 stitches, 3 broken ribs, and not exactly how the trip intended to go.
‘Anyway thanks to travel insurance, and the brilliance of Tiffany, I’m fine and recovering back in NZ without a huge hospital bill over me that I very much can’t afford.
‘Please if you’re going travelling this summer, get travel insurance, it’s so easy and so cheap, you never know when you’ll walk around a corner and fall in a hole. The literal kind.’
New Zealand tourists Hamish and Tiffany are grateful they got travel insurance
Hamish Crocker suffered three broken robs. Pictured is the X-ray
Mr Crocker managed to fit in more sightseeing after the mishap with photos from a mountain sunset tour showing his bandaged leg.
Many recalled the dangers of uncovered holes in Bali.
‘Yikes! I remember the dodgy footpaths well,’ one woman wrote.
Another wrote: ‘Just came back from 8 weeks in Bali and saw so many of these holes around the footpaths of Ubud…crazy!’
Others reiterated the importance of travel insurance.
‘Hope you’re feeling better! I had a snowboarding accident in Canada and can’t push travel insurance enough. Saved my ass,’ another said.
Mr Crocker is still on antibiotics after his leg became infected but has since returned to work.
‘They thought I was crazy but that’s the kind of person I am,’ he said.
Many Australians and Kiwis visit Bali without purchasing travel insurance. Consequently, when they get injured, they are forced to start GoFundMe campaigns in an attempt to raise funds for their hospital bills.
The Australian government says travel insurance is just as important as a passport when heading overseas particularly if you end up needing medical assistance.
Tourists should also be aware most Bali hospitals will require upfront payment before any treatment, so getting travel insurance cover is a must.
‘Without it, you or your family could suffer financially if things go wrong. No matter who you are, where you’re going and what you’re doing, get insurance,’ Smart Traveller states.
Travel insurance meant that Hamish Crocker didn’t end up with a hefty hospital bill
Hamish required 26 stitches for the nasty gash down his leg (pictured) from the fall
‘Thanks to travel insurance, and the brilliance of Tiffany, I’m fine and recovering back in NZ,’ Hamish Crocker (pictured on his Bali holiday) wrote
‘Healthcare overseas can be very expensive. Most countries won’t give you free care, or subsidise the cost of your care. You, or your insurer, must usually pay full price.’
Most basic policies cover emergency treatment, general medical assistance, patient transport to hospital by helicopter or ambulance, medical evacuations back to Australia and injuries and accidents, unless it’s from an excluded activity.
Personal injury claims by Australian visitors to Bali have been steadily rising , according to Todd Nelson, managing director of Cover-More travel insurers.
‘As travel approaches pre-Covid levels, there has been an increase in the total number of claims and the number of claims from travellers to Bali in particular,’ Mr Nelson told Daily Mail Australia.
Mr Nelson said Bali’s proximity to Australia, along with its relatively low cost and ‘relaxed lifestyle’, made it an extremely popular choice for holidaymakers.
But this laidback attitude is also the reason some are getting seriously injured.
‘We’re most concerned about the number of Aussies who travel to Bali and jump on a moped or motorcycle without the correct licence, right level of cover, and most concerning of all, without a helmet,’ he said.
Online travel reviews of Bali are inundated with tourists’ warnings about holes on footpaths and pavements.
‘Many of the main roads and smaller roads have gaps in the pavement. These cannot be avoided by walking in the road as there is too much traffic so you will need to step over over them. I fell down a small hole last night as it was dark and got badly grazed,’ one states.
Hamish (pictured on his recent Bali holiday) is now recovering back home
Dangers that Aussies need to be aware of when travelling to Bali
Mopeds and the law in Bali
Helmets are legally required in Bali, but the fine for not wearing one is not particularly high at about $25, or 250,000 Indonesian Rupiah, so seeing people not wearing one is somewhat common.
Driving scooters drunk, unlicensed or speeding is also obviously illegal but still happens, despite being enforced with much higher fines or even jail.
Other lesser-known rules include that smoking and wearing flip-flops while driving mopeds in Bali is also illegal.
Travel insurance cover can be voided if the holder is doing anything illegal while riding a moped, such as not wearing a helmet.
Driving mopeds without a helmet is illegal though it is still a common sight in Bali (file image)
Bali Governor Wayan Koster recently claimed he was considering banning tourists from hiring mopeds entirely.
The ban would need to be written into legislation, but an intermediate step has already been announced in which visitors can only hire mopeds or motorbikes from licensed businesses.
Guest house owners and other locals were frequently renting scooters to tourists on an informal basis.
Water transport
Another less obvious, but just as serious, danger is Bali’s massive water transport industry.
While the four Aussie surfers – Elliot Foote, Steph Weisse, Will Teagle and Jordan Short – were rescued, there are others that haven’t been so fortunate.
Thousands of small wooden boats transport locals and tourists around the islands in the Indonesian archipelago.
In August four young Aussies -Elliot Foote, 30, his partner Steph Weisse, 31, and mates Will Teagle and Jordan Short, 28 – were rescued after spending 36 hours at sea clinging to surfboards when their boat sank off the island’s west coast.
Four Australians who went missing when a small wooden boat sank between Nias Island and Pinang Island were found after 38 hours. (Pictured: Elliot Foote and Steph Weisse)
The moment Aussies are rescued from the water near Bali after 36 hours (pictured)
The four rescued Aussies were trying to reach renowned surfing spots in the remote Banyak Islands in the province of Aceh, which are only accessible by boat and draw thousands of tourists a year.
The industry is largely unregulated and the boats can be unsafe and overloaded – especially dangerous in wild weather conditions.
In August, another passenger boat capsized off the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, killing 15 people.
Methanol in drinks
One of the other biggest dangers in Bali is alcoholic drinks laced with methanol.
While in other parts of Indonesia drinking alcohol is frowned upon, in Bali it is big business with the tax revenue pouring billions into the economy.
According to the Australian government’s Smartraveller website: ‘People have been poisoned by alcoholic drinks contaminated with harmful substances, including methanol.’
‘Locals and foreigners, including Australians, have died or become seriously ill from poisoned drinks,’ the official advice states.
A British woman, Kristy McKie, who was living in Bali, consumed a methanol-tainted drink in 2022 and died.
Charlie Bradley, 28, died outside the Bhakti Vendanta health clinic in north Kuta, three and a half hours after leaving Finns Beach Club (pictured in Sydney with his girlfriend)
Some bars have been known to serve bootleg alcohol laced with methanol (file image)
The coroner said in her findings that Ms McKie ‘had inadvertently consumed methanol believing she had consumed alcohol.
‘The methanol had been sold as being alcohol fit for human consumption when it was not.’
Methanol is related to ethanol, which is the type alcohol usually found in beer, wine and liquor, but is much more toxic.
It is filtered out of commercially made alcoholic drinks, but homemade liquor can leave some methanol in.
Some sketchier bars in Bali have been known to use homemade liquor, particularly Arak, disguised as other drinks to save on costs – which can be laced with methanol.
Tourists are advised to stick to sealed bottles of well-known brands, to reputable bars and restaurants, and alcohol bought duty-free.
The symptoms of methanol poisoning are similar to intoxication but more severe. They can include vision problems, and will worsen rather than improve after a few hours. Anyone who suspects methanol poisoning should seek medical help.
The recent cases of Australian tourists collapsing in Bali could be linked to methanol poisoning; however, this has not been confirmed and could be unconnected.
Charlie Bradley’s family believe he likely died from methanol poisoning, though his cause of death remains unclear.
A recent study published in journal Travel Medicine and Infectious Disease looked at health and safety hazards throughout Bali’s tourist hotspots and found there was a gap in preventative safety measures.
‘The first stage of the project included mapping and geo-tagging of health hazards and risks as well as travel health facilities, involving 197 tourist attractions in eight regencies and one city in Bali,’ the authors wrote.
They concluded there was an ‘opportunity of providing site-specific preventive measures to travellers highlighted in this study’.
The authors suggested an ‘integrated travel health surveillance and information system’ that can be accessed through mobile phones which could map hazards and provide advice on how to avoid them as they happen.
Perhaps the Indonesian authorities should consider this and other safety initiatives in addition to their push to improve rude tourist behaviour.