A Love Letter to Munduk Waterfalls: Why you should visit the north of Bali
I’m gonna be for real: Whoever said “don’t go chasin’ waterfalls” was out of their freaking mind, let me just start with that.
Waterfalls are one of my favorite things in the world; if there is a waterfall in close proximity to wherever I’m traveling at the time, I will make a point to see it - they just make me so unbelievably happy!
Obviously, Bali is known for its overwhelming amount of waterfalls, and when I was in the planning stage of this trip, I realized that all the ones I was dying to see were located in the north, kinda out of the way of all the typical stops on a Bali itinerary. I, however, had already gotten my hopes of seeing these epic waterfalls in person, so I adjusted my itinerary to include a few nights basing myself in a city called Munduk, which was the perfect place to be as close as possible to everything I wanted to see.
While it was a good idea, and probably still the best way to do everything, the north of Bali is massive, and the waterfalls are pretty spaced out.
If you want to visit all the waterfalls Munduk has to offer, you’ll have to be committed to a fair amount of daily travel time as you drive between locations - but I promise you, it is so so worth it.
How to get to the munduk waterfalls
I will not lie to you - the roads in Munduk are a joke. There was one point when my friend and I were on a scooter, riding down a road at what seemed to be a crisp 45 degree angle, bumping our way down a muddy dirt path full of massive loose rocks - our tires were spinning, we were nearly pitched over the handlebars, our thighs were gripping the motorbike for dear LIFE. And THAT WAS THE ROUTE GOOGLE MAPS TOOK US. It was mildly terrifying and extremely comical all at the same time - but there’s not a chance I would recommend you go that route unless you are an experienced motorbike driver or just really on a tight budget. I have been known to make terrible choice in the name of saving a few dollars.
Lots of people hire drivers for the day, which definitely would’ve been what I’d have done if it was in the budget! The locals know which roads are drive-able, which routes are the most efficient, and how to pack as much into one day as possible. Definitely the better option.
You can typically arrange these drivers at the reception of wherever you’re staying, or book tours through Viator, Get Your Guide, or another booking platform.
The easiest would definitely to be to book in advance!
2 day Munduk Waterfall route
I started off my 2 day Munduk waterfall chasing operation with ambitious plans - but surprisingly only one waterfall (well, it actually turned out to be a solid two in one package deal so that was a very welcome surprise).
The first stop we happened upon while we were driving to the Handara gate from our hostel, and we drove past it so many other times that I’m fully convinced it wouldn’t be an inconvenience to anyone to stop at the Twin Lakes Viewpoint.
The Twin Lakes viewpoint is on lots of other Munduk Itineraries, but honestly some things people say are “the best things to do” involve taking a silly little picture and moving on. Originally, I hadn’t put it on my itinerary because I wasn’t too interest in going out of my way to look at a few lakes from above (does that sound pretentious? I’ve been too spoiled for views this past year) but I do have to admit, the view itself was gorgeous.
We stopped for about 3 minutes, took a picture, looked at each other, said, “cool”, and went on our way.
We arrived at the Handara gate around 9:30, and while the line was short, the sun was so intensely shining overhead that it was nearly impossible to get a good picture. The Handara gate was actually a hilarious phenomenon to me - as it’s actually the entrance to a golf course, and has no religious or cultral meaning whatsoever.
Everyone on instagram shows it as this epic location, but the gate was much smaller in real life, the reflection that you see in some pictures is actually just a guy who lets you borrow his pocket mirror, and the only thing to do there is to snag a picture and leave.
I’m glad I saw it, and it was on our way to the main event, so it wasn’t a loss in any way, but definitely a silly little stop and not quite worth the hype.
We hopped back onto our bike, and headed towards Sekumpul waterfall - one of the most impressive waterfalls Munduk has to offer.
To visit waterfalls in Bali, you generally do have to pay for a ticket! The money from these tickets goes to preserving the land, and also towards a local guide who ensures that you make it down to the waterfall and back up to the parking lot safely. The rocks that you climb on that are under the spray of the waterfall can be pretty slippery, and so having someone to look out for your safety while you’re visiting the waterfall itself is very important.
The plus side of these guides is that they’re always so fun to talk to, and if you’re traveling solo, they know all the best angles to snag a good instagram photo, and they really will act like your own personal photographer, shouting out poses for you to do and hyping you up.
I know it can seem annoying to pay for a hike to a waterfall, but the prices are very small, and it goes towards supporting the local community and ensure your safety - something I can never be too mad about paying for.
At Sekumpul, there are multiple waterfalls that you can buy tickets for - and the ticket prices vary with the amount of waterfalls your guide takes you to. We opted for the smallest ticket at this particular waterfall, which included Hidden Waterfall as well as Sekumpul.
The hike down was stunning; seeing the waterfall from above was almost as impressive as seeing it from below. the hike took around 20 minutes, and the way down was fairly simple.
We headed to Hidden Waterfall first, which, while it seemed like a silly little add-on in the beginning, actually ended up being one of the most fun waterfalls we visited! The unique thing about Hidden Waterfall is that it’s, well, hidden from the path by being just around a bend, but also in the fact that the water flow isn’t so strong that you can’t get near it, and the pool at the bottom is deep enough to swim in.
Some of the bigger waterfalls are so powerful you can only admire from a distance, and we also encountered waterfalls that flowed into a really shallow stream with no pool underneath to swim! Hidden Waterfall was perfect in that sense.
After we had our fill of swimming beneath Hidden Waterfall and taking pictures, we walked over Sekumpul.
I-
I’m speechless. Really, Sekumpul was one of the most beautiful thing’s I’ve ever seen in my entire life. Sekumpul made the entire detour to Munduk 100% worth the little bit of extra hassle. There were two separate streams, and the sheer height of it made my jaw hit the muddy ground.
There was no pool for swimming underneath (well, there kinda was but the force of the waterfall was too strong to actually enjoy yourself) so we took some pictures, stared at it for a good 30 minutes, and then headed back up to make the long trek to our next stop.
Which was definitely a flop - only sharing this in the spirit of being realistic - and I would definitely not suggest that you repeat our footsteps!
I had seen a stunning picture on instagram of a black sand beach, with vibrant green palm trees and blue water, and the location was pinned as Gretek Beach. We drove nearly 2 hours there (4 hours home) and the beach was not at all like the pictures. We walked forever trying to find the gorgeous paradise that Instagram had promised, but it was definitely a flop.
We took a few drone pictures, and sadly went back to our hostel, wondering what other treasures Munduk has that we could’ve utilized our time more wisely and seen. Oh well - travel isn’t always perfect all the time! And Sekumpul more than made my day anyways.
The second day, we got an early start and vowed to see many more waterfalls after mildly flopping in our mission the previous day - and we sped off to Banyumala - or the twin waterfalls.
The hike to this waterfall was one of the easier hikes, and when we got there, we had it completely to ourselves! The entire hour or so we were there we only saw one other group (and it was the wedding party of a traditional Balinese wedding - they looked STUNNING), and it made the experience so magical.
This waterfall is a really good one to swim at, as the water isn’t too deep and the force of the waterfall isn’t too strong. The water came up to my waist at the deepest part, and we had the best time swimming, climbing on rocks, taking pictures, and having an amazing time.
Banyumala was such a good waterfall! Definitely one of my favorites, as it was super chill.
After that, we hopped back on our motorbike and arrived at my all time favorite waterfall that we visited - and not because of the way it looked.
Aling Aling waterfall is much different than any of the other Munduk waterfalls we visited on our itinerary, mainly because it is sacred, and swimming is forbidden in the actual Aling Aling waterfall. It’s gorgeous to look at, but that’s not why people come to Aling Aling.
The water flowing from Aling Aling feeds into three different waterfalls of varying heights - the first is a 5 meter waterfall that you can actually SLIDE down. The water had eroded a smooth channel into the rock, so even though it is a steep drop and a strong waterfall, you won’t get scraped or banged up on your way down.
(In the photo of my with the sign, the waterslide is the waterfall behind me!!)
Theres also a platform 5 meters above this pool, so you can jump off or slide down - whichever one you choose! I did both multiple times, and had an absolute blast.
If you continue to follow the running water, you’ll come to the next jump - 10 meters down into fairly shallow water.
The local guide you get with your entry ticket tells you exactly how to jump so that you won’t hurt yourself, so don’t worry! It was deep enough that you fully submerge, but shallow enough that you can push off the bottom to reach the surface when you land. The 10 meter jump was scary, but also super fun, and we were some of the few people to even try it!
AND THEN - our guide took us to the 15 meter jump, as he had quickly realized that if there is a ledge for me to jump off of, I WILL jump off of it, no questions asked. He mentioned that this jump was deep enough to pose no danger, and I promptly ran off the ledge.
Halfway down, I remember thinking, “Dang, I’m really ~still~ falling.” It was literally high enough to have a whole conversation with yourself in the air. I climbed back up to the top, and the guide said, “Crazy American lady, you are the first to jump off the 15 meter cliff this week! Most people are too scared.”
The people in my group, who weren’t actually planning on jumping off this last waterfall, decided they weren’t about to be shown up by the “Crazy American Lady” (which was my nickname for the rest of the day - one that I’m not really mad about) and promptly lined up.
We spent the majority of the day at Aling Aling, and it was one of my favorite days of my entire three weeks in Bali - the fun we had that day was absolutely unmatched. If you visit any Munduk Waterfalls, visit Aling Aling.
We were planning on calling it a day, but as we were driving back, we saw a sign for GitGit Waterfall - one that had been on my list of Munduk waterfalls I wanted to visit!
The hike down was relatively short, which was a good thing, as the river seemed to be about dried up! The waterfall itself was the strongest we had seen so far, too strong to even get close at all. But the river it supposedly supplied was super dried up. I’m sure that during rainy season it’s even more epic, and it was definitely an impressive waterfall to behold! But we couldn’t swim anywhere and there wasn’t much to do besides stare at it, so we flew the drone, ventured a little too close for a cool picture, and headed back to our hostel for some well-deserved rest.
All that hiking and motorbike riding had both our legs and our booties sore as HECK, so we called it a day on waterfalls. We had plans to visit the Water Temple and Leke Leke on our way to Ubud, but we decided to complete our tour of Munduk by just visiting the water temple - as we had friends meeting us in Ubud and wanted to get there sooner!
So the next morning, we checked out of our hostel and headed to the Water temple. It was not at ALL what I thought it would be.
Bali, while absolutely stunning and worth the hype around it, has so many hilarious instagram vs reality moments where you really laugh at your expectations.
The Water Temple, while beautiful, was super small, and had strange amusement park-esque things all around, which made it seem like so much more of a tourist trap than an actual religious site. There were silly little faded frog and mushroom statues everywhere, you could rent paddle-boats, and there was a carousel and an entire section that looked like a playground for kids.
Super weird vibes honestly, but Rayan and I had a hilarious time in our boat that we rented, and if we had to do it again, we’d definitely skip.
It is what a lot of people label one of the most instagrammable spots in Bali, and while we did get some good pictures, it was just such a strange experience that it’s up to you on whether or not you would include it in your Munduk itinerary.
That about wraps up our Munduk Waterfall itinerary!
Munduk and it’s waterfalls blew me out of the water - I had the time of my life! I 100% recommend the extra hassle heading to the north is - because the north of Bali is like an undiscovered paradise.
Which waterfall are you dying to see? Would you go to Munduk?
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