After 30 years of visiting Bali, showing friends around, and hosting adventure tours there, it’s fair to say I know a bit about what to see and do there. Although the truth is, if you’re looking for a where to stay/eat/drink guide, this ain’t it cause that’s not my bag. But if you’re looking for a whiff of adventure, or just some general fun active stuff to do here’s a few of my best suggestions.
First of all, if you’re interested in one of my fully hosted/guided tours, you can contact me any time. We only do about one a year, but can also do them on demand if you have a small group and we have availability. Contact me any time if you’d like to know more about those options.
You can also find more information about some of the things to see and do at Awesome Bali Tours – the day tour business I help out with, with my head guide Widi at the helm. Feel free to completely bypass me and go direct to him if you need a driver or a guide on a day by day basis.
So here’s my top tips:
Climbing Mt Batur volcano at sunrise.
It’s a stupid early start but climbing an active volcano and watching the sunrise is true bucket list stuff. If you go, decide in advance whether you’re happy to just go up, watch the sun rise, then come straight back down. Or if you want to fully explore the volcano while you’re up there. Our tours take you all around the crater and it’s well worth the effort. Do that. It’s awesome. Then have a soak in the hot springs afterwards.
Snorkeling at Menjangan Island.
There are a couple of places you can snorkel on the east coast that are a bit quicker to get to than here, and cheaper because you can snorkel straight off the beach, but this is the best place I’ve ever snorkeled. You need to hire a boat to take you out there, so it costs a little more, but it’s beautiful up there and there are three different sites you can snorkel. Usually I’d combine this with staying in Lovina so it’s not so far to drive. Goes well with the waterfalls I mention below.
White water rafting.
There are a few different places you can go white water rafting. I’d always heard Telaga Waja was best and that the Ayung River near Ubud was second rate, but that’s not how I see it. Ayung River is easier to get to, and it’s awesome. There’s about a dozen companies to choose from, most of whom do all sorts of deals starting from about $30, but on my tours, I only use Mason Adventure Tours because their guides, equipment, food, safety and facilities are the best by far. They’re more expensive, but for me personally, worth every cent.
Chasing waterfalls.
There’s quite a few waterfalls you can do, and it just depends how much time you have and how energetic you’re feeling. My two personal favourite spots are Sambangan and Sekumpul – both in the north of the island so a little further away, but well worth the effort.
At Sambangan you can jump and do a natural rock waterslide, or just go for a swim. Or just look if jumping and sliding and swimming isn’t your thing. One word of warning, during wet season, it’s been known to flash flood, so only go with someone who is suitably knowledgeable and cautious.
The Sekumpul waterfalls are some of the highest and most spectacular waterfalls in Bali and great for swimming. These require a bit more effort to get down to, and back out again, but well worth it.
Both lots of waterfalls can be combined with some awesome hiking through jungle and rice fields. If you go to Sekumpul and go with Widi, he may just take you to his family home for a home cooked meal – something you should totally do.
There are plenty of other great waterfalls, but they probably warrant a stand alone post so perhaps I’ll do that sometime.
Jatiluwih Rice Terraces.
The Tegalalang rice terraces just out of Ubud are beautiful, and easy to get to, and offer some great photo opportunities, but if you want a proper hike through a much bigger area you need to get to Jatiluwih. Hike a little bit or a lot, it’s up to you. There’s a reason these terraces are a Unesco World Heritage site. They’re epic.
The ‘Twin Lakes’.
This is one of my favourite adventures through some, lush green jungle. There’s an awesome 9km hike to be done, and you’ll definitely want a guide as it very quickly goes from easy to follow path, to ‘holy heck which way do we go now’ single trail. But it’s beautiful and there’s rarely many people there so it’s a great experience. If you want to shorten the hike, have Widi arrange a traditional wooden canoe to pick you up at the 6km mark and you can paddle to the end.
Ubud.
Even if you’re not into yoga bendy pretzel poses, Ubud’s a great place to explore – and makes a pretty good hub to do lots of the things I’ve listed above. The Campuhan Ridge Walk is a great little hike, and I think a visit to the sacred monkey forest is probably about as close as you can get to acceptable animal tourism. Not exactly an adventure activity but if you’ve never been before, probably something you should cross off your list.
Other stuff.
Still looking for other stuff to do? Bedugul lake temple is nice, and can make a good stop on the way to some of the other places I’ve mentioned. But instead of doing what everyone else does and walk in with the crowds, we like to paddle in from the lake. Great fun, and less people.
The Botanic Gardens near Bedugul also rate a mention. We do a great run through there, but you can also walk or drive. There’s some great stuff to see, and if you’re feeling daring, it’s also the site of the treetops ropes course which is good fun.
Tanah Lot Temple at sunset can be a bit of a circus, but is another one of the boxes you might want to tick. The amount of people there is pretty stupid, but it’s worth doing at least once.
Need a driver or a guide?
Trying to work out how to combine stuff or fit everything in, or looking for some extra suggestions? Head on over to Awesome Bali Tours and ask Widi.
A note about animal tourism:
I don’t ever recommend animal tourism. If you want to know more about this issue, here’s a few links to check out.
Bali Animal Welfare Association.
All Bali animal tourism venues fail animal welfare standards.
Even drinking the Luwak coffee – that’s the super expensive coffee that’s shitted out by the civet – is a no go zone for people who give a shit about animals because of how they’re kept and treated.
If you still don’t give a shit about animal welfare and are hell bent on going to an elephant park, at least visit Mason’s Elephant Park & Lodge as they at least do a decent jobs of looking after their animals.
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