Suwat Waterfall (also known by its Indonesian name Air Terjun Suwat) is one of Bali‘s best-kept secrets – a true hidden gem that was only made accessible to tourists in 2019. Few group tours make their way here meaning that these falls don’t get anywhere near the crowds that some other nearby ones get. Much like its quasi-neighbour Tibumana Waterfall, Suwat Waterfall is a narrow photogenic cascade that falls into an idyllic natural pool that’s great for swimming. It is a beautiful secluded waterfall where you can rent a bamboo raft to take pictures within the natural pool below the falls. At about half an hour’s drive from Ubud, it’s one of several beautiful waterfalls you can visit in the area. To help you plan your visit and get the most out of your time in the area we put together this visiting guide for Bali’s stunning Suwat Waterfall.
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Suwat Waterfall Location & Map
Suwat Waterfall is located in Bali’s Gianyar province (southeastern region of central Bali), relatively close to Ubud (link to Google Maps).
How to get to Suwat Waterfall
The Suwat Waterfall car park is located here (Link to Google Maps), a short walk from the waterfalls.
Distance from Ubud: 12 km // Average Drive Time: 25 – 35 minutes
Distance from Kuta: 45 km // Average Drive Time: 1h15 – 1h30
Distance from Canggu: 40 km // Average Drive Time: 1h15 – 1h30
Distance from Sanur: 30 km // Average Drive Time: 1h – 1h15
In our opinion, the three best transport options to reach the Suwat Waterfall are: renting a scooter (moped), joining a group tour that hits several nearby attractions within a day or a half-day, or hiring a car and driver (which really isn’t as expensive as it sounds).
You can also use Bali ride-hailing apps such as Gojek or Grab, and make use of local taxis, but these options will typically cost more, especially if you plan on visiting several sites and attractions on the same day. Also, Gojek or Grab are not authorized to pick up people in certain locations where local taxi unions limit their services, including Canggu, Sanur, and Ubud. For more information on getting around the island and the different available options, check out our How to Best Get Around Bali guide.
Regardless of your chosen transportation method, you are likely to enjoy the ride there. The road leading to the waterfall is a very scenic one. You will pass small villages and beautiful rice fields. Just before the waterfall parking lot, you will drive through a beautiful narrow road surrounded by palm trees on both sides.
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Getting to Suwat Waterfall by Scooter: Once you get to Bali, you’ll quickly realize that scooter rental operators are everywhere. Although most street-side vendors will regularly be the cheapest option, they come short in several other aspects compared with more reliable and established vendors. For instance, most won’t offer roadside assistance or insurance that covers theft, nor do they regularly sanitize the helmets or have their scooters undergo regular maintenance. For this reason, we highly recommend using Bikago for your scooter rentals. Renting from them might be slightly more expensive (but still can be rented for as low as 12-15 US$/€ per day) but you get great peace of mind as among many other perks, all scooters undergo extensive quality checks.
What you get with your Bikago rental:
-Helmets
-Full tank of petrol and unlimited mileage
-Free Delivery and Collection at your Hotel
-24/7 Roadside Assistance and First Aid Medical Kit
-Charging Mobile Phone Holder
By Car and Driver hire: Hiring a car and driver to explore Bali can be a practical and cost-efficient way to experience a full day of sightseeing. Although this option is more expensive than renting a scooter (typically 40-60 US$/€ per day), you don’t have to worry about navigating the Bali roads and traffic, Also, most cars are modern and air-conditioned, which is welcome in Bali’s humid heat, and the local drivers always know the best routes to take and can optimize your ideal itinerary. Here are some of the best options to choose from:
By Group Tour: Group tours can be a great option to lower costs and reduce the hassle of having to plan an efficient itinerary. Their main downside is they might not exactly be tailored to your specific interests and preferences. But if you are mostly interested in hitting the main sights and attractions, there is this great tour option departing from nearby Ubud that visits Suwat waterfall:
Suwat Waterfall – Ticket Price and Operating Hours
Waterfall Entrance Fee
The entrance fee for Suwat Waterfall is 40,000 IDR per person (2025), which roughly amounts to 2.50 US$/€.
Although the entrance fee is slightly higher than most other nearby waterfalls (typically 25,000 IDR), unlike those other falls there are however no parking fees here, making the total cost more similar.
Having the exact change or small bills to pay for all costs is preferable as the majority of waterfall sites don’t accept credit cards and they may not have enough change for large bills. To our knowledge, there are no nearby ATMs.
Waterfall Opening Hours
The Suwat Waterfall is open daily from 7 am to 6:30 pm – though it may close for the day during important Hindu holidays, such as Nyepi, the “Day of Silence”.
Waterfall Facilities
There is a bathroom and a small changing room near the base of the waterfall, along with a few storage lockers.
There is also a small restaurant near the falls offering snacks, drinks and fresh coconuts,
For those of you travelling with young children, you’ll be pleased to know that there is typically a lifeguard on duty. The lifeguard is also a good resource to ask where it is safe to jump into the natural pool from, as there are several rocks that look like inviting jump-off points.
The Trail to Suwat Waterfall
The entrance to the waterfall trail is uniquely shaped like a turtle. This gate is meant to symbolize the history of the area around Suwat waterfall, which used to be home to a large population of turtles. Today, only a few remain in the area (it is unclear why this is the case), and you might be lucky to see one during your visit.
You will also see turtle rock carvings near the base of the waterfall.
The path to the waterfall will first go through a scenic and photogenic bamboo forest. Afterwards, the trail mostly goes downhill and down several staircases. That said, the path is well-manicured and maintained, and shouldn’t take more than 5 minutes to walk the entire distance to the falls. Also, once you’ve gone through the bamboo forest, the path will be surrounded by beautiful vibrant and lush jungle foliage.
Note that after rain, the path surface and particularly the stairs might be slippery, so proper footwear is recommended.
The View – Bali’s Stunning Suwat Waterfall
Once you arrive at the falls, you will no doubt be quickly taken aback by its beauty. The Suwat waterfall cascades down a 15-meter-high vertical drop into a deep natural pool.
There is a rocky promontory in front of the falls on which you can climb to take pictures better pictures. There’s also a bamboo raft available for rent – we didn’t try the raft, but it most recently cost 20,000 IDR to take your picture on it.
Although in our opinion Suwat Waterfall isn’t quite as beautiful as the nearby Tibumana Waterfall, it does make up for it by being less crowded and busy. The swimming is also better as the natural pool is significantly deeper and, if that is of interest to you, there are several rocky platforms from which you can jump into the natural pool, including one from a cave behind the waterfalls. Signs in the area state that the natural pool has a depth of 7 meters.
Don’t be too disappointed if the pool beneath the falls looks cloudy or brownish (and not that bright blue-green you might have seen on Instagram), that’s just how it looks most of the year (as do most waterfall pools in Bali), particularly after a bit of rain that causes the water to mix with dirt and sand.
If you just want to enjoy the view and take a few pictures, you probably won’t need more than 45 minutes to visit (about a 10-minute walk each way + 25 minutes at the falls), but you can definitely stay longer by enjoying some time in the water.
Best Time to Visit Suwat Waterfall
Best Time of the Year
There’s no bad time of year the visit the falls. There’s a higher risk of rain during the wet season, but that shouldn’t discourage you. In fact, the waterfall will likely be more powerful and the pool beneath it will be deeper during the rainy season.
Best Time of Day
Although Suwat Waterfall doesn’t have as many crowds as other nearby waterfalls, the prime viewing area isn’t as large as other waterfalls either, meaning that you should still try to arrive early to enjoy the best viewing conditions. The water in the pool below the falls is also less likely to be cloudy if fewer people have walked around and swum in it, and the atmosphere can be quite magical with early morning sun rays.
Once you’ve passed mid-morning, it might be difficult to get shots of the waterfalls without people in the pool in front of it.
If you can’t make it early in the day, the best time is towards the late afternoon when the number of people visiting will start to diminish.
Other Nearby Waterfalls
Although there are many nearby waterfalls (Bali is full of them!), there are three in particular that we consider worthy of a visit, all of which are at most 20 minutes from Suwat.
Tibumana Waterfall
(coming soon)
Taman Sari
(coming soon)
Kanto Lampo
(coming soon)
Where to Stay Near Suwat Waterfall
In our opinion, the best place to stay in the area is in Ubud, whose location makes it a great base from which to explore several nearby waterfalls and temples. All of the following are some of the best mid-range hotel accommodations located within walking distance from the city center:
Komaneka at Rasa Sayang Ubud Hotel
Other Sights and Attractions near Suwat Waterfall
Tibumana and the other waterfalls are located in a small area of Bali with few major attractions in their immediate vicinity. But if you don’t mind driving just over 30 minutes north, you’ll reach an area that is home to not just one but rather 4 fantastic temples: Pura Gunung Kawi Sebatu, Pura Tirta Empul, Pura Mengening, and Gunung Kawi Tampaksiring
Another 15 minutes west of the temples is where you’ll find the stunning Tagallalang Rice Terraces. For a more complete list of attractions that you can visit from Ubud, check out our guide on the Best Day Trips from Ubud.
Planning a Trip to Bali?
You might be interested in these pages: (coming soon)
Best Things to See and Do in Bali
Best Things to See and Do in the Gili Islands
The Perfect Three-Week Bali Itinerary
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Photography Gear
If you like our photography, you might be interested in some of the gear we use to shoot our travel and hiking destinations.
Camera Body – Nikon Z 6ii Fx-series Mirrorless Body
Main Lens – NIKON 24-120mm F/4G ED VR AF-S
Zoom Lens – Sigma 745-306 150-600mm f/5-6.3
Polarizing filters – Urth Circular Polarizing (CPL)
Camera Tripod – K&F Concept 64-inch Camera Tripod
Mini-tripod – Lammcou Flexible Camera Tripod
Camera/hiking backpack – Vanguard Alta Rise 48 Backpack
Universal Travel Adapter – VYLEE Universal International Power Travel Plug
Other Travel Essentials
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Car Rentals
Discover Cars is our go-to website for car rentals. We almost always find our preferred rate there.
Transfer from Airport
Welcome Pickups is our favourite private transfer service, which you can pre-book at a fixed price. Currently available in 220 cities all over the world (mostly in Europe, but with several major cities in Asia, the Middle East and the US).
Kiwitaxi is another private transfer service – we haven’t tried it yet, but it’s currently available in a few more countries (102 as of 2024).
Hotels and Accommodations (coming soon)
Photography Prints
If you found this blog useful, you can help support our blog by purchasing low-cost digital prints. Printed physical prints are also available for purchase.
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Well, that wraps it up! We hope you enjoyed our guide on Bali’s Suwat Waterfall and that it will prove useful for planning your trip.
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