Indonesian authorities ordered a mass evacuation from a danger zone six miles around the volcano’s summit.
Around 3,000 Britons are among the 120,000 holidaymakers on the holiday island trying to get home.
But the national airport has been shut for almost three days thanks to a huge 7-mile high pillar of thick black smoke and ash which has spread across the island.
Holidaymakers were forced to abandon their idyllic beach holiday homes and have spent hours queuing at the airport as hundreds of flights have been cancelled.
The airport has supposedly opened at 3pm local time (7am GMT) today but staff have warned they are on high alert and could close again at any moment.
And some Britons say they have been left stranded on the dream destination, many without any help or information as to what they should do next.
Lifeguard Jakob Aungiers, 26, from London, told the Mial Online the situation had become “every man for himself”.
He said: “It’s been terrible. It’s another day of full cancellations and now, after a lot of confusion and no help from anybody we’ve been crammed onto buses that are too full, too hot, people standing and no word on what’s happened.
“We haven’t been given water, food or compensation. Nobody’s told us the plan.
“It’s utter chaos and every man, woman and child for themselves right now.”
Others holidaymakers say they have been stranded at the airport for days with no where else to stay after being evacuated.
Tracey Brannan, 59, from Derbyshire, is on holiday with her partner David Hawkins to celebrate his 60th birthday.
The couple are due to fly to Singapore for the second part of their holiday but currently they are worried this will not go ahead.
While Sarah Murphy, 40, and her friend Tina Lucke, 31, both from Brighton, in East Sussex, were due to leave on Monday but their Emirates flight was cancelled.
They were booked onto the next available flight on Tuesday but that plane was also grounded as the airport remained closed for its second day.
Ms Murphy said: “I have spoken with quite a few tourists today who are in similar positions.
“Some people staying here now were in Ubud and were apparently told to get over this side of the island because if it (the volcano) blows, then Ubud will be impossible to get out of because it’s so busy with traffic.
“Some other tourists I spoke to couldn’t get hold of their airlines so had no idea what was happening or when.”
Other Britons have had to radically change their holiday plans last minute to avoid getting caught up in the Bali travel disaster.
Adam Ryland Hall, a 28-year-old communications consultant from Brixton, south London, was due to take a boat from the Indonesian island of Gili Air to Bali with his wife yesterday.
But the couple had to scrap their plan as fears of a volcanic eruption continue.