It's a nice place to stand under warm water spouting out of the mouths of protective dragon creatures, grab a bite at the restaurant, and maybe even treat yourself to a massage.
The entry is Rp 20,000 (about $1.75 US). Check the Banjar Hot Springs website for current hours and admission price. Air means water (yeah, funny huh?) and panas means hot (how about that?). Aeer (say "aye" like a pirate but add an r at the end) PAH-nahs
When to Go
Go early in the morning, mid-week. Most recently I went at 8:30am on a Friday and I was literally the only person in the springs.I can't stress enough to NOT go on the weekends, and NOT go on local holidays. You will hit crowds and it will be a different experience. I have heard horror stories about the state of the water and the state of the people in the water during crowded times - not great!
Also if tour groups go to the springs, you want to get there early enough to miss them when they get there around mid-day.
If you arrive before they open, you can get in free while they are filling the pools. Well, it's sort of at the whim of the workers of course. But pay or not, best of all you will have the whole place to yourself!
What to Bring
You can go simple and just bring some money and a towel and wear your swimsuit under your clothes, or bring dry clothes and even soap and shampoo for post-swim cleanup. The restaurant does request that you do not come in wearing wet swim clothing.Bring a camera, bottle of water (or buy drinks there). In the early morning, the sun has not hit the pools yet so there is no need for a hat or sunglasses at that hour. If you happen to have river shoes, it might not be the worst idea since the steps and platforms are pretty slippery, but bare feet is fine too.
Even though it's called holy hot springs, every person I've seen there has been wearing a bikini (the women I mean! LOL). I'm sure if you wore shorts and a t-shirt you would not be out of place, but a bikini seems acceptable. I have seen posts saying you should bring a suit you don't mind getting ruined but I wore a pretty light colored suit and did not have any green on it when I left.
Getting There
If you are driving yourself, you will head inland at the (only) Banjar traffic light off of the Seririt-Singaraja main road. Follow the road a short way past the local market on your right until you get into more of a town. Go a bit further just until you figure you must have missed the turnoff. You will then see a sign to turn left to the hot springs. Then you drive up a quiet little makes-you-smile kind of road past a grape field (field?).There's a parking lot with an entry gate but motorbikes have a special parking lot in the middle of the souvenir shops. It's easy to miss though! Look for the sign on the left where you will go down a steep driveway and off to either side to park your bike in yet another gorgeous setting!
I was told the parking fee for the motorbike was donation but typical is Rp 2000 for a motorbike and Rp 5000 for a car. Maybe he was just hoping I'd give more than Rp 2K.
The entry to the springs is at the end of the shops under a stone arch.
The Springs
The whole place is surrounded by green vegetation and blooming tropical flowers. The slippery cement pools are fed by natural sulfur hot springs so the water is a murky green and a bit eggy smelling (but not too much).The upper pool is the hottest one but it's still more warm than hot. It's a narrow pool 1 meter deep and is just the right temperature for me. Below that is the big main pool that is the coolest temperature. It is 1 meter deep where the water spouts out of the dragon heads from the upper pool and goes as deep as 2m at the opposite end.
Stand under the streams of healing holy waters and enjoy the view. I'm not sure if the water truly has therapeutic qualities or not, but the whole package sure does! Assuming you didn't come during a crowded time, take one of those "ahhh" moments that cleanse the soul. Around the corner (you walk by it when you enter the springs) is the third pool which may or may not have a pool of water in it. The three streams falling from a few meters above make for an incredible massage! I mean really, it targets those tight computer shoulder muscles like it's nobody's business!
Facilities
The thankfully and surprisingly unobtrusive-to-the-surroundings restaurant and facilities building is just off to the side of the pools behind the Holy Hot Springs sign. You have options to rent a locker and use the showers. All for a small fee, of course.You don't necessarily need a locker if you don't bring much or if there are not many people around. Most of the cement around the pools is wet but there is a dry shelf/bench along the side where you can put your things. There is on-site security that walks around the pools.
The restaurant is pretty big and has decent prices! The menu has Indonesian and Western food, drinks and beer. The changing rooms aren't much; just a tiny room with a few hooks (no charge for this luxury).
The toilets (scattered throughout the property) cost 3K ($.20) and the rather large lockers cost 5K ($.35).
Around the corner from the restaurant and over the bridge is the VIP(?) area. It costs Rp 15,000/hr and you get a special pool area that didn't look like much to me.
This is also where there are massages available for Rp 75,000/hr. That's about $5 US! So yeah, get a massage.