Senggigi Travel Guide – Visit Senggigi – Budget Travel In Indonesia

Visit Senggigi in Lombok, Indonesia, to experience many stunning beaches and great viewpoints. It also serves as a hub for the popular Gili Islands.

Senggigi has had a difficult time since the earthquake that struck the island in 2018. Not only did this devastate entire communities, but the progress to rebuild homes has been slowed by the lack of tourism. People have simply stopped coming to the island.

During our visit, the areas you would expect to be busy, such as the shops next to the beach, were deserted. The people of Senggigi are having to cope with the aftershock of the earthquake and its effect on their lives and I suspect this is going to last for a few more years.

How To Get To Senggigi From Lombok Airport

Senggigi is located on the island’s west coast, approximately an hour drive from the airport. There are buses that leave from the airport. As you depart the airport, look for the DAMRI bus on the left hand side. More information can be found here. The driver will drop you off anywhere on the main road that runs alongside the coast in Senggigi.

CLICK HERE FOR THE BEST HOSTELS IN SENGGIGI

Things To Do In Senggigi

As we had 3 nights in Senggigi, we decided to spend one full day exploring the town itself and then another on the Gili Islands.

Willy’s Bar & Grill

On our first full day, we decided to get a taxi to Senggigi centre for some breakfast then continue further north to ‘Malimbu Hill’. We took a bemo for only 10,000 IDR per person (he asked for 20,000). The coffee shop we wanted to visit was closed, but there was a place called ‘Willy’s Bar’ (map) open and selling coffee and breakfast. Despite it being barely 11 am, there were people in here that were already drunk. I’m presuming they were still going from the night before; this place had that kind of vibe. The coffee and breakfast did the job and we phoned a Grab taxi to take us on to ‘Malimbu Hill’.

Malimbu Hill

The taxi journey took around 15 minutes and made us realise just how far the journey back would be as we had planned to walk. The driver offered to wait for us to take us back and seemed shocked when we said we were walking!

We expected to get out of the taxi and have to start climbing but there was no hill to climb, just a view point as you get out on top of the hill. However, the views are very good (providing it is not too cloudy). You can even see the Gili Islands from here.

We set off on our journey back to where we’d just come from. Walking non-stop back to our hotel would take approximately 3 hours and we had plans to make various stops along the way so this was definitely a whole-day activity.

Senggigi Haunted Villa

The first stop, which was just south of Malimbu Hill, was ‘Villa Hantu’ (map). There is nothing haunted about this place (obviously) but it was abandoned halfway through its construction as the builder (an Australian) did not get a permit to continue as it was considered too dangerous. Ironically, it survived the earthquake and is now a popular place for graffiti artists and instagrammers.

We continued our journey, taking in some incredible views.

Lombok Earthquake

Along the journey, we passed many communities that had been devastated by the earthquake in 2018. Over 560 people were killed and 417,000 lost their homes. The most severe damage was around the north and Senggigi did not escape the destruction. As we made our journey down the coastal road, we could see how entire communities had built makeshift homes out of corrugated steel and wood, next to the piles of rubble that once were their homes. A local taxi driver told us it had taken him 10 years to build his home and 30 seconds to destroy it. The government had given him just enough money to lay the foundations for a new house but that is all. For him, as with many others, it is going to be a long time before he can rebuild his home to what it once was.

Senggigi Beach

The second factor that is making it difficult to rebuild lives after the earthquake is the drop in tourism. We made our way back to Senggigi centre and headed for the beach. It was a ghost town. Many of the tourist shops were closed and the ones that remained open were doing next to no business as there was literally no-one around. It was sad to witness people opening their businesses hoping that they might make just one sale.

Honky Tonks Blues Bar & Grill

We left the beach and headed back into the town. We found an area where there was lots of bars and some of them were open, including ‘Honky Tonks Blues Bar & Grill’ (map), a Rolling Stones themed bar. There were a few Aussie ex-pats in here enjoying a few afternoon beers. We stayed for a beer before continuing our journey.

Pasta Pojok

We hadn’t been back on our journey long when the lure of Italian pasta proved too hard to resist. Pasta Pojok (map) had lots of positive online reviews so we thought we’d skip Indonesian food for one night. The food was good, not amazing, and the portion wasn’t huge. Maybe nasi goreng was on the cards again, after all.

Batu Bolong Temple

Our journey continued and our next stop was ‘Batu Bolong Temple’ (map), an ocean-side temple with many statues and pagodas. After paying a small ‘donation’ to enter, we discovered a very serene place with just a few people enjoying the calmness of the temple and the soft sounds of the waves. We were just a little early for the sunset which was a shame but, nevertheless, we enjoyed a short, relaxing moment here before heading back to our accommodation.

Trying To Find Beer In Senggigi!

It had been a long day and a hot one. We were not planning to go out again so I decided to get some beers to enjoy on our terrace. As our accommodation was located in a Muslim area, this proved more difficult than I had hoped.

Our hotel sold us their last 2 bottles on our arrival and they had not restocked since. One of the staff told me about a bar hidden off the main road. I tried this place but it was obviously closed, even though I was able to enter and wander around the place for a minute or so before, finally, a locked door confirmed it was not going to provide me with beer.

Luckily, a local ‘warung’ owner had spotted me and must have recognised the look of beer desperation as he shouted me and mimed drinking. I entered his cafe and, sure enough, he had big bottles of local beer to sell me at a reasonable price. When I said I wanted 3 bottles, his face lit up. It was probably the biggest sale he’d made all week. We were both happy men.

Gili Islands

The next day, we headed to the Gili Islands. See ‘Gili Islands‘ post. That concluded our time in Senggigi.

Is Senggigi Worth Visiting?

Personally, I would only recommend visiting Senggigi in combination with a visit to the Gili Islands. It just felt like a bit of a ghost town and is clearly still in recovery after the earthquake. The beaches are not the greatest we’ve seen and there is a big litter problem. However, there are some amazing views over the ocean and plenty of opportunities to eat cheap, Indonesian food.