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Tourism in Canggu started with Canggu village and the Canggu surf community jointly hosting an international surfing event in 1990.
In those days, the Canggu area had scenic views of paddy fields and coconut groves.
But after Kuta, Legian and Seminyak,
Canggu has become one of the most popular destinations in Bali since the beginning of the 2020.
In 2023–2024, Canggu is feverishly transforming into a highly urbanised zone
and the current rapid development has by now replaced the rice fields, farmland and natural open spaces with private villas,
hotels and diverse constructions aimed at tourists.
As of 2023, about 324 hotels and other lodgings are registered in Canggu Village and high market brands have started moving in, such as Hugo Boss diversifying into the tourism industry by taking over a luxury rental villa in 2024.
There is a huge increase in restaurants, bars, and places to hang out.
Housing speculations are rife, such housing being built with the sole tourism investment industry in mind, for example the Las Casas and Blacksand villa projects.
One project in particular has gathered much controversy: the five-star and — originally — seven-floor Taryan Dragon Resort & Residence, on more than 1 hectare right along Seseh beach in Cemagi, next to Canggu.
Following a mediatised protest campaign and petition, its developer halted the project in September 2023 and proceeded with what he had not done as yet: meet and consult with the community leaders.
The Ukrainian company took some engagements towards the community and the surrounding area.
From around September 15, it took hardly six weeks for the local community leaders to warmly welcome the new Taryan project.
By the following November 3, many of them and the Taryan Dragon Resort & Residence team took part in a traditional Balinese Ngeruak ceremony. This was immediately followed by a meeting at Adat Seseh in Cemagi that gathered owners’ representatives and shareholders of the Taryan Group, the local Balinese architects and construction company, and more than 100 community figures. A berita acara officiation or letter of support was signed by all parties and validated the project. The final design was presented in December 2023,
with work on the ground due to start early January 2024, aiming for completion in 2026.
Then, as of May 2024, Taryan Group (founder and owner Artur Mkhitaryan) associated with Anantara Hotel Group (owned by Minor International, CEO Dillip Rajakarier) and the Taryan Dragon project is relabelled the Anantara Dragon Seseh Bali Resort. When it opens, it will be the fourth venue owned by Anantara Hotel Group who already possesses Avant Seminyak Bali Resort and Anantara Uluwatu Bali Resort, along with Anantara Ubud Bali Resort due to open in September 2024.
Water problem
Mass tourism industry has become the largest consumer of water, consuming 65% of freshwater in Bali and having lowered the island's water table by some 60%.
Canggu is in North Bandung, where 64% of households are connected to the water mains (piped water). But this piped water is very unreliable, in particular during the dry season; therefore all tourism-related venues (hotels, villas, restaurants, laundries, spas etc.), and many households, have wells with electric pumps (bored wells or sumur bor) even if they are connected to the piped water system; and nearly all these wells are 60 m deep, which means they are deep enough to bring salt water intrusion - and irreversible pollution but also a falling water table, land subsidence and deteriorating water quality. Hand dug wells, usually no more than 12 m deep, now dry up in season.
In theory all commercial ventures must have a well permit, except for warung or little food stalls; but many large restaurants are now called warung (such as Warung Made, one of Bali's premier restaurants with several branches). Another handy misuse of vocabulary occurs with the word "villa", supposedly a private house and as such paying a lower premium for water than even a simple guest house; but the Bali Villa Association asserts that "Anything can be a villa", and that includes tourism accommodation with 70 rooms, each with their own swimming pools.
Another problem is that of coordination: the responsibility for clean water in Bali falls to eleven different government departments (in 2012), each of which represented at the three levels of the Indonesian government system: National, Provincial and Regency. This results in plenty of rules but nobody taking responsibility to enforce any of them. Moreover, each department competes with the others for ownership (and potential funds) of all projects, thus further impeding proper resources management.
Infrastructures inadequacy
The infrastructure was adequate for settlement activities, but has not followed the tourism development and cannot deal with the growth of tourism activities. Examples of this are the increased volume of waste generated by the rising number of visitors, leading to occasional waste pileups; or the roads, inadequate for the massive increase of tourism activities, with the consequence that the quality of the local road surfaces have deteriorated by 53.16% in 2023. Drainage provision for waste disposal is insufficient by 52.77% (in 2023). And waste infrastructure and facilities is 100% inadequate (in 2023).
Seminyak's Petitenget Beach (next door to Canggu) and Canggu's Batu Bolong Beach seawaters were found contaminated with Escherichia coli in 2022.
For all these reasons, Canggu has made it to the list of "Slum and Blighted Areas in Badung Regency", with a decline in quality affecting 64.37 ha — the largest area experiencing such a decline.
Nearby Uluwatu has become the next tourism development target, with tourists splitting their visits between Canggu and Uluwatu.
Tourism revenue leakage
The increased number of accommodations brings higher regional revenue, Gross regional domestic product (PDRB), and some income for the local community But the local population mostly owns small businesses with low margins who face the strongest competition, such as budget accommodations and tour operators. The large proportion of ownership by outsiders, in conjunction with these outsiders owning the businesses with the highest profits, presents a significant source for financial leakage.
Increased costs of living
The costs of living has become more expensive due to tourism,
including housing, food, goods, and such services as healthcare.
Increased nuisances
This includes the aforementioned pollution, sewage problems etc. as exposed above. It also includes increased noise and population density. As a result, the condition of Canggu Village becomes less conducive for settlement purposes and, at the same time, for supporting tourism activities. Residents consider that such touristic area as Canggu is no longer a good place to raise a family: including and beyond the stated infrastructure problems, there is also that of alcohol abuse from tourists, which brings various troubles and a level of insecurity.
On culture
The locals feel that their own culture in Canggu had started to become influenced by tourists. There is also mention that religion and traditions are commercialised to earn money from tourists. In Canggu, where tourism is not based on local culture, the locals do not feel included in the tourism development process; this to be compared to Ubud, another rising tourism area but this one based mostly on local culture and where the locals have a more positive feeling towards tourism, due in part to that they feel more involved in the development process.
