2.82/5
335 reviews
Photo by Ern Gan via Unsplash

Seminyak, Bali

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canggu

traffic

western

prices

east

village

infrastructure

tourists

nomads

good

cafes

avoid

easy

dig

pretty

typical

surprised

town

Seminyak is a popular destination in Bali that offers a contrasting alternative to places like Canggu. While it is definitely commercialized and caters heavily to tourists, it’s generally safe and has better infrastructure, such as sidewalks and more polished roads, which makes getting around easier. It's a busy area, often compared to destinations like Cancun, and can feel overstimulating, especially for those looking for a more authentic Balinese experience.

The area stands out for its vibrant nightlife, beachfront cafes, and pool bars that overlook the sea. Great for travelers who enjoy parties and social venues. You’ll also find good coffee spots, vegan cafes, and solid co-working spaces. Seminyak is slightly pricier in places, but with some effort you can still find reasonably priced gems.

While preferable to Canggu in terms of traffic and mosquito management, Seminyak is still tourist-heavy. Some users reported scam attempts and pickpocketing, especially toward Westerners, so it’s important to stay alert. It’s not a place for those seeking peace and quiet but can be a good base if you’re interested in a more urban, polished beach town with solid amenities and nightlife.

AI-generated summary of reviews

Semiyak was my refuge from the crazy traffic, massive western crowds, mosquito attacks, and inflated prices of Canggu. Seminyak is not 'Balifornia' (Canguu), some will like it for that reason alone.

Traffic can get clogged in Seminyak but it's still far better than Canggu. Seminyak is just as commercialized as Canggu, but in a different way. If you're familiar with NY, Canggu has east village or lower east side vibes, while Seminyak is more soho.

Of course neither comes close to the actual NY neighborhoods. You could say Seminyak is more polished with better infrastructure, so you'll find more sidewalks and high end artisan shops, while Canggu is like a super westernized village. Both areas are full of tourists, expats, and nomads, so you'll find plenty of good co working spaces, vegan cafes, and good coffee in Seminyak.
If you're trying to avoid mosquitos (and the gekkos they bring), there are definitely less in some parts of Seminyak, due to the infrastructure being more built up, although you still need to use repellent.
Be alert to Seminyak scammers, they will spot you from a mile if you're western. Thankfully my NY skills made it easy to avoid and/or get rid of them.
Seminyak has some of the best beachfront bars and cafes, with pools overlooking the sea, better than what you find in Canggu. Don't get me wrong, I still love Canggu, just not thrilled with what it's become, and Seminyak provides an escape that's just a grab or scooter ride away.

If you decide to check out Seminyak you need to dig to find the gems. Because on the surface it's pretty typical, but once you discover some of the amazing places there, you can create your own hideaway. It took me a few days and many hours of research, by foot and online, to find the best hidden places of Seminyak. Prices are better than Canggu but again, you need to dig a bit.

2 years ago

I wanted to say I was surprised that no one has left a review about Seminyak yet... but maybe I shouldn't be surprised. Seminyak is a messy, watered-down Balinese town especially for the typical tourists. Seasoned travellers & nomads will find Seminyak overstimulating and overcommercialized. Imagine Seminyak as Bali's version of Cancun, Mexico.

Having said that, the party scene is pretty fantastic... so if you're looking to put on your dancing shoes and paint the town red, Seminyak is the place to go (One just doesn't require to live or stay there)! Lots of taxis and if you're okay on a motorbike-taxi, try the Gojek app.

Overall safe and easy to get around. Be wary of pickpocketers and being scammed in the money exchange places, I would recommend going to the atm instead.

3 years ago

✅ Good nightlife

✅ Safe

✅ Walkable infrastructure

✅ High-end shops and co-working spaces

✅ Less mosquitoes than Canggu

✅ Affordable to live

✅ Very safe

✅ Lots of fun stuff to do

✅ Warm now

✅ Warm all year round

✅ Good air quality on average

✅ Nomads.com members liked going here

✅ Many Nomads.com members have been

✅ Spacious and not crowded

✅ Easy to make friends

✅ Easy to do business

✅ Democratic

✅ Not a lot of alcohol abuse

❌ Overcommercialized

❌ Scams and pickpocketing

❌ Can be crowded and noisy

❌ Freedom of speech is weak

❌ Pretty slow internet

❌ Very sweaty and humid now

❌ Not many Nomads.com members right now

❌ Quality of education is low

❌ Hospitals are bad

❌ Roads can be dangerous

❌ People don't speak English well

❌ Not safe for women

❌ Not family friendly

❌ Hostile towards LGBTQ+

❌ Many people smoke tobacco

❌ Marijuana is illegal

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Feels (median)

30°C / 86°F warm

31°C / 88°F hot

32°C / 90°F hot

30°C / 86°F warm

31°C / 88°F hot

30°C / 86°F warm

32°C / 90°F hot

Real (median)

27°C / 80°F
warm

27°C / 81°F
warm

28°C / 82°F
very warm

27°C / 80°F
warm

27°C / 81°F
warm

27°C / 80°F
warm

28°C / 82°F
very warm

Humidity

sweaty
87%

sweaty
84%

sweaty
81%

sweaty
78%

sweaty
81%

sweaty
78%

sweaty
82%

sweaty
83%

sweaty
81%

sweaty
85%

sweaty
83%

Most common

☔️ Rain

Rain

rainy
341mm

rainy
280mm

rainy
201mm

rainy
81mm

rainy
70mm

rainy
58mm

dry
48mm

dry
42mm

rainy
52mm

rainy
81mm

rainy
157mm

rainy
247mm

Cloud

cloudy
60%

cloudy
53%

pockets
46%

pockets
31%

pockets
37%

pockets
36%

pockets
39%

pockets
42%

pockets
44%

cloudy
57%

cloudy
50%

Sun

avoid sun
7 UVI

avoid sun
8 UVI

avoid sun
9 UVI

avoid sun
7 UVI

avoid sun
8 UVI

avoid sun
7 UVI

avoid sun
8 UVI

Remote workers

844 people

636 people

900 people

550 people

764 people

691 people

660 people

709 people

636 people

640 people

617 people

927 people

Green is good. Red is bad. Values shown are the medians of all daily highs in a month based on past few years, not necessarily current numbers. Remote worker count is estimated based on the total amount of trips logged by Nomads.com members.

If you'd like to filter destinations based on their climate, try Nomads.com's Climate Finder

Based on Seminyak's cost of living, here's selected remote jobs that would cover your costs:

	Smart Contract Engineer @ Risk Labs
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	Senior Software Engineer @ Nava
	Product Partnerships Manager @ Presto
	Backend Software Engineer @ Firework
	Principal Product Designer @ 15Five
	Software Engineer Android @ Ontic
	Fullstack Software Engineer @ BlackCloak
	Salesforce Developer @ StackAdapt
	Lead Backend Engineer Debugger @ Tenderly
	Member of Product Atlas Settlement @ Anchorage Digital

Help pick the best photos for Seminyak and improve this page's look by tappingclicking on them and the site saves your feedback Vote photos

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Members who will be here soon

Members who have been here

Values shown are estimated visits by traveling remote workers based on the total amount of trips logged by Nomads.com members. Visits to a place are only counted once per year per user, even if they visit more in that year. Visits are also normalized by overall trips added per month on the site, so if site usage goes up or down it does not affect trends. Not all digital nomads are on Nomads.com, and not all Nomads.com members log their trips. So the data is only indicative.

The chart below shows visitors by nationality normalized for population size. This means we take all trips logged on Nomads.com, check which country of origin the user is from, then divide that total visit count by the country of origin's population. If we didn't, it'd just show the big countries like US, Brazil and India always on top. Instead, this shows which nationalities worldwide proportionally visit more or less, which is more useful.

⭐️ Total score	2.82/5 (Rank #133) 335 reviews
❤️ Liked by members	👍4 liked it 👎1 disliked it
👍 Quality of life score	Okay
👶 Family score	Okay
🎒 Community score	Okay
💵 Cost	😙 Affordable: $1,779 / mo
📡 Internet	😡 Slow: 9Mbps (avg)
😝 Fun	Good
⛅️ Temperature (now)	🥵 Hot: 28°C83°F (feels 31°C88°F)
💦 Humidity (now)	🥵 Sweaty: 76%
💨 Air quality (now)	🌱 Great: 50 US AQI
👌 Safety	Great
🤮 Food safety*	Okay
👮‍♀️ Lack of crime*	Great
🤝 Lack of racism*	Good
🎓 Education level*	Mediocre
⚡️ Power grid	Great
🌊 Vulnerability to climate change	Good
💰 Income level*	Very low: $298 / mo
🙊 English speaking*	Bad
🚶 Walkability	Great
🚦 Traffic safety*	Bad
✈️ Airline scores*	Good
🧳 Lost luggage*	Great
😄 Happiness*	Okay
🍸 Nightlife	Good
📶 Free WiFi in city	Bad
🖥 Places to work from	Great
❄️ A/C or heating	Okay
😁 Friendly to foreigners	Good
🗯 Freedom of speech*	Okay
👩 Female friendly	Bad
🌈 LGBTQ+ friendly	Bad
🎅 Startup Score	Bad

🌍 Continent	Asia
🚩 Country	Indonesia
🗓️ Average trip length	11 days
📡 Internet speed (avg)	9 Mbps
⛅️ Weather (now)	🌧 28°C 83°F + 🥵 Sweaty (76%) = feels 31°C 88°F
💨 Air quality (now)	👍 50 US AQI 🍃 OK
🔌 Power	230V 50Hz
🚕 Best taxi app*	GoJEK
🚑 Travel medical insurance	Safetywing
💸 100,000 IDR in USD	USD 6.04
🏧 Suggested ATM take out:	IDR 1,000,000 = USD 60
💸 Tipping	Yes, 7.50%
💳 Cashless	💵 No, cash only (esp. for foreigners)
☕️ Best coffee place	Caffe Bene
🚰 Tap water	🚫 No, not drinkable
♻️ Return rate	👍12% of visitors return
📸 Visitors per year	6,238,300 visitors
📸 Tourists now	119,557 tourists
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Population	25,000 people
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 GDP per capita*	$3,570 / year
👫 Gender ratio (nomads)	👨 84% 👱‍♀️ 16%
⛪️ Religious government	Religious
💻 Online electronics shop	Tokopedia
🏠 Apartment listings	Airbnb
✈️ Best short-haul air carrier	Lion
✈️ Best int'l air carrier	Garuda
🏥 Best hospital	BIMC Hospital

💵 Cost of living for nomad	$1,779 / month
💵 Cost of living for expat	$1,327 / month
💵 Cost of living for family	$2,085 / month
💵 Cost of living for local	$596 / month
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$717 / month
🏡 Airbnb (median price)	$3,011 / month
🏠 1br studio rent in center	$403 / month
🏠 Median home price	$181,326
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$34 / night
🏠 Airbnb (median price)	$99 / night
🏢 Coworking hot desk	$214 / month
🍛 Dinner	$1
🥤 Coca-Cola (0.3L)	$1
🍺 Beer in cafe (0.5L)	$3
☕️ Coffee in cafe	$2
👩‍🏫 International school	$11,182 / year
📱 Mobile data (~10GB)	$7 / month
🚕 Taxi price (avg trip ~3km/2mi)	$3 / trip