Rides in Bali split by surface. ATV tours in Bali are the mud ones: two hours through rice paddies, river crossings and a tunnel cut through rock near Ubud, and you will finish covered to the shoulders — the operators hose you down afterwards for a reason. Single or tandem machines, automatic, no licence needed, and the guide leads at a pace that suits whoever is slowest.

Jeep safaris in Bali go up instead of through. Restored Volkswagen Safaris and Land Rovers climb the Kintamani ridge for the Batur caldera view at sunrise, then drop into the lava field on the volcano's flank — black rock from the 1963 eruption with nothing growing on it yet. Four hours, open-sided, and cold enough at that altitude before dawn that a jacket is not optional.

Two quieter options round it out. Cycling tours in Bali start at Kintamani and run downhill for twenty-five kilometres through villages to Ubud, which means almost no pedalling and a lot of stopping — family compounds, a coffee plantation, rice terraces. Horse riding on the black sand at Saba and Keramas beach runs at dawn and dusk. Off-road tours in Bali operate year-round, but between November and March the tracks turn to deep mud; that is either the point or the problem, depending on you.