Any foreigner that seeks to buy empty land, or land with an existing property, in Sanur or Bali at large – must take Bali Land Zoning regulations seriously. Because the Zoning category that applies to land dictates what can legally be built on the land.

As a foreign national you risk losing a lot of money if you build a dream villa on land that is in the “Green Zone” — AKA for agricultural use / or on protected land / or on conservation land.

This article explains how a foreigner can quickly check the Land Zoning that applies to any plot of land / property in Sanur or Bali.

Foreign Buyer – When Should You Check the Land Zone Status?

Buying land or property in Sanur or Bali is typically very time consuming, involves countless hours of research & effort & a huge number of quick viewings. To find “the one” is not easy.

Therefore, it would be pointless to check the land zoning status for each and every piece of land or property that you wish to view, before viewing it…

But then you finally narrow down your search to a particular piece of land or property that is a great match for your needs – hooray!

You are thinking about making a financial offer and you are excited to move forward with the purchase process.

This is the perfect time to take 2 minutes to check the Land Zoning status that applies to the land or property.

You can now check the Land Zoning status online & it takes no time.

Do this BEFORE you start negotiating with the seller, BEFORE you put down a “holding deposit” to take the property off-market and BEFORE you involve a Notary to handle the paperwork and due diligence checks.

That way, if the land or property turns out to be in the wrong Land Zone for your needs, you haven’t invested any $’s, not invested much time and can quickly move forward, recommencing your search.

I know it sucks to find the perfect plot of land or property & then have to walk away due to land zoning regulations but as a foreign national you must play by the rules, don’t take any chances… whatever the sales agent or seller may say.

How to check Land Zoning in Sanur / Bali in just Two Minutes

I will be honest, for a long time I thought that the only way to check land zoning status was via a Notary or at the Land Agency office (BPN) in the area where the land or property is located.

Both of which involve time & some money.

But then I started seeing sales agents confidently proclaim “this land is located in the Pink Zone (Tourism)” and they would show me an online zoning map.

I was curious!

Basically, from what I understand, since 2023 Bali’s land zoning map has been available online — but this is not readily advertised & the site is a bit complex to navigate for those who do not speak Bahasa Indonesia.

The website is called GISTARU (Geographic Information System for Spatial Planning).

The GISTARU site is run by the Ministry of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning. Its aim is to provide quick, easy access for the general public to spatial zoning information. Wonderful news!

But again, it is not advertised by sales agents (they like to keep this sort of information power… to themselves) & its a bit hard to find.
It took me some time to finally locate the correct website address, I had to experiment a bit & then boom… suddenly I had free access to all the key Bali Land Zoning information.

Step 1 – Use Desktop & Go to the Correct GISTARU website for Bali

From my experience, accessing the website via mobile browser is more cumbersome.

Instead, I recommend accessing the website via your laptop or desktop. Much easier.

Also, lots of websites & blogs will direct you to the wrong GISTARU interactive map for Bali & the land zoning data doesn’t appear…

It was only through trial & error that I finally found the correct site and the data loaded nice and easy.

Go to this website url: https://gistarubali.id/

And when the page loads it should look like this:

Step 2 – Load the Land Zoning Data

Everything on the website is in Bahasa Indonesia – but don’t worry, just follow these steps, its easy.

Scroll down the left side menu until you see the section “Rencana Pola Ruang”. Like this:

Under the “Rencana Pola Ruang” section Turn ON the buttons for “Daratan” and “Perairan”.

Then wait a second and all the Land Zoning data for Bali will appear.

The map of Bali will now look like this:

Step 3 – Zoom into the Area where the Land or Property is Located

Bali’s land territory is split across 1 City & 8 Regencies, they are:

Denpasar City
Badung Regency
Gianyar Regency
Bangli Regency
Karangasem Regency
Buleleng Regency
Klungkung Regency
Tabanan Regency
Jembrana Regency

To zoom into the Land Zoning for the land or property that you are interested in buying, simply hover your mouse over the map image and use your mouse to zoom in on the location of interest.

In this example I am zooming into a particular area of Sanur (within the Denpasar City territory):

Step 4 – Find out what Colour is what Land Zone

At this point you can see various colours representing the different land zones.

To find out what each colour means in terms of land zone, in the “Rencana Pola Ruang” section click on this little icon:

Once you have clicked on this little icon, a pop-out menu will appear telling you what each colour on the map means in terms of Land Zoning:

Hover your mouse on top of this Menu and scroll up and down the menu until you find the exact colour that applies to the land or property that you wish to buy.

Main Colours / Types of Land Zone in Sanur or Bali

Pink – Pariwisata = Tourism Zone

Orange – Permukiman = Residential / Commercial Zone

Dark Brown – Peruntukan Industri = Industrial Zone

Light Brown – Transportasi = Transportation Zone

Light Green – Pertanian = Agriculture Zone

Dark Green – Perlindugan = Protected Zone

Blue – Perikanan = Fishery Zone

Dark Green – Hutan = Forest Zone

Dark Purple – Konservasi = Conservation Zone

Light Purple – Pertahanan dan Keamanan = Defence & Security Zone