Face masks are reportedly sold out in many places, up to 500 earth tremors are being felt each day, but still they stay.
Australians living in Bali are refusing to evacuate and, instead, nervously waiting for the eruption of Mount Agung that experts warn is imminent.
When Mount Agung last erupted in 1963, more than 1500 people were killed and 1700 houses destroyed.
Still, only the 62,000 locals living within the six-kilometre exclusion zone had been advised to evacuate. By Monday night, warnings applied to only within 12 kilometres of the volcano's crater.
In Ubud, about 50 kilometres away, Carla Cosgrove watches the volcano with uneasy anticipation.
Ms Cosgrove, from Brisbane, is in Bali alone after her husband returned to Australia for three weeks' work.
Despite repeated urging from family and friends, and growing anxiety about the earth tremors, she has decided to stay.
"[The locals have] looked after me and invited me into their lives," she told Fairfax Media.
"I don't feel it would be right for me to just enjoy the good times and then abandon them when they are most in need."
Ms Cosgrove said face masks were sold out in most places but locals remained calm.
"They're very relaxed about it and seem to find our worrying and prepping mildly amusing," she said.
Ms Cosgrove said she had also topped up her phone data but outside the exclusion zone, basic preparation was enough.
Most expats would buy face masks and stockpile some extra food and water ahead of possible electricity blackouts. They would also cover windows with plastic to stop ash entering their homes, she said..
"Once that kind of safety stuff is in place, I think it's time to just focus on the Balinese people and animals that need our help," she said.
Stu Bevan from McMahons Point in NSW has been working in Sydney but left early on Sunday night to be with his wife and seven-year-old child in Bali.
He stopped at Bunnings on the way to buy respirator masks and sealed safety goggles for his family and coworkers.
"We watched a few years ago when Rinjani [another active volcano] shut the airport for weeks at a time," he said.
"It makes me nervous but the bigger picture is more daunting. The entire Ring of Fire is acting. Something ominous is going on down there."
Retired WA police sergeant Graeme Johnson is living with his 15-year-old son in Sanur, about 45 kilometres away.
He's taken similar basic precautions, adding car and motorbike covers, and said advice had been very good, "albeit mostly in Indonesian, which is a bit of a concern for tourists".
Karen Geaney, from Bowral in NSW, echoed his concern.
Ms Geaney said Indonesian authorities were at times "playing down" the possible danger and not advising people of potential for ash fallout.
"People including tourists need to be prepared and having an appropriate mask should be encouraged albeit [they are] near impossible to get," she said.
Indonesian Red Cross (Palang Merah Indonesia) volunteer Michele Yoga is in Amed, a small village on the northeast of Bali, collecting supplies for evacuees and assisting with emergency relief.
Ms Yoga, who moved to Indonesia from Sydney nine years ago, said many expats had evacuated to Ubud.
"Some are leaving the country altogether but there are others who have decided to stay and are now desperately trying to find masks to filter out the volcanic ash."
"It's an eerie feeling right now. We're in pre-disaster mode because it's not about if the volcano blows, it's when it will happen, so we're just waiting, and everybody is doing what they can."
Expats who had chosen to stay in Amed were assisting with the emergency relief, with almost 50,000 evacuees seeking shelter in more than 300 camps.
Carloads of supplies including toiletries, clothing, toys, pillows, blankets, medical and sanitary supplies were transported to the camps on Monday.
"There is an old Balinese man who is 100 years old in one of the camps," Ms Yoga said.
"There others with various ailments and pregnant women so we are making sure they get the medical supplies they need."
Members of the Melbourne Football Club were in Bali for a post-season party over the weekend, despite the volcano's threat.
Max Gawn and Jesse Hogan were shown in two videos posted on Facebook by 20FourSports.
The posts did not say where the players were staying and Melbourne Football Club would not comment. A source said Gawn was back home.
In Australia, airlines are closely monitoring Bali but said on Tuesday night that flights were planned to operate as scheduled.
Jetstar and Virgin were allowing customers to cancel or change their bookings, in return for flight vouchers.
In statement, Virgin said as a precautionary measure, some Bali bound flights will be making fuel stops in Darwin.
"This ensures that if an eruption occurs while the aircraft is en route, we will be able to get guests back to their originating port safely and quickly," the statement said.
A Jetstar spokeswoman said "a handful" of customers have requested to change their dates, which the airline had accommodated with no fee.
