The Ultimate Guide to Tukad Cepung Waterfall

Tukad Cepung Waterfall is one of the most popular waterfalls of Bali and the perfect choice if you are short on time to visit any of the waterfalls in the northern part of Bali and want something closer to Ubud. This cave waterfall is famous for the sunrays that filter through the cave opening and is a must-visit if you love caves and (obviously) waterfalls. 

 If you are looking for a guide to Tukad Cepung waterfall, read on ahead.

Tukad Cepung Waterfalls is situated in central Bali and is one of the many waterfalls which are closest to Ubud.

How to get to Ubud from Ngurah Rai International Airport

Ubud is around 38km from Ngurah Rai International Airport and the quickest and easiest way to get to Ubud is by taxi. One can book a cab through Bali’s cab aggregators like Grab and GoJek.

How to get to Tukad Cepung Waterfall from Ubud

Tukad Cepung is roughly 28km from Ubud and it takes around 40 mins to reach here by car or scooter.

Hiring a cab would be the best and safest choice if you are not comfortable riding a two-wheeler.

However, if you are experienced enough to ride on steep roads, renting a two-wheeler would be the more affordable and enjoyable option of the two.

We had rented a scooter for going around in Ubud and personally found it an easy drive to the waterfall. The roads were good and we didn’t encounter a lot of traffic since we had left early in the morning.

Booking a tour is another option for visiting Tukad Cepung as many of the tours from Ubud do include this waterfall in their itinerary.

Entrance fee to Tukad Cepung Waterfall is 20k IDR per person. There’s a lot of parking space inside the premises and the parking was free when we visited the place.

Tukad Cepung is open from 7am to 6pm.

After you pass the ticket counter, there are a few stairs that you need to climb down to reach the bottom. However, this is not a difficult hike as compared to the hikes required for other waterfalls of Bali. You will also pass by shops and cafés selling snacks, drinks, slippers, and more. Once you climb down the first set of stairs, you will pass by a small stream that you can swim in instead of walking along the path. You will also see glimpses of the waterfall from the top cascading down to the cave below. You will then reach a final set of rough-hewn stairs which will take you to the bottom.

Once you reach the bottom, you have the option of going left or right. Right takes you to a smaller waterfall while left will take you to the actual cave waterfall. Go left. You can come back to the smaller waterfall later.

As soon as you climb down onto the cavern floor, you will be walking in water. Make sure you are wearing waterproof slippers. I can imagine the water level being higher during the wet season but it was only ankle-deep during dry season. You can walk along this path until you reach a set of big rocks that will block your path.

Now, if you have seen Instagram photos of this place, you will easily recognise these rocks. At the right time of the day, sun rays fall on this rock making it the perfect spot to take pictures. You can either walk under the rock on the left and climb up a ladder or wade through knee-deep water on the right and climb up smaller rocks to reach the top. Once on top, you will be surrounded by lush vegetation, with the force of the waterfall spraying mist all around you.

Walk a little further until you come to the cave waterfall. Jump down and you will be at the base of the waterfalls. The force of the waterfall was so high that I found it really difficult to click any decent pics here without the lenses getting all misty and had to resort to taking quick snaps on the GoPro and mobile. Since we were here early before the crowd, we had the waterfall all to ourselves. During peak hours, you can expect lines of people queueing up to take photos of the coveted sun rays. You can catch glimpses of those rays in some of our pics here, but we didn’t stick around to experience the full effect.

The water is not deep enough for swimming here but you can stand near (or if you are brave enough – under) the waterfall. But the force of the waterfall is so strong that my clothes were wet even standing at the “mouth” of the cave.

Once you have gotten your fill of the waterfall, you can climb back up and go on top of the big set of rocks you saw while on the way here. If the time is right, you can get some really good sunrays shots here as well. 

Now that we have seen the main waterfall it is time to walk back towards the stairs. But instead of climbing up, we will walk straight ahead to see the second waterfalls.

You can expect to walk in even deeper waters here as you walk to the waterfalls surrounded by lush greenery. This tiny waterfall even had its own rainbow and was well worth the extra few meters of walking.

Once you have taken your fill of the second waterfall it is time to turn around and head back to the stairs and make your way up. As we made our way back at 10, we passed by hordes of people who had just started trickling in and, boy, were we happy that we avoided the crowd!

There are two famous photography spots here in Tukad Cepung – one on the rock and one under the waterfalls, with the sunlight streaming from the top. 

Be prepared for very low lighting and lots of mist in the air, making it a difficult environment to click photos in. I was unprepared for this, so 90% of my photos are either way too noisy due to the low lighting or they have water drops on the lenses.

The rock is a bit difficult to climb down from and you will need someone on the other side to click your photo but trust me, with the rays streaming from the top, this is one spot you shouldn’t miss.  

The path to the waterfalls also offer plenty of photo opportunities, some stretches being perfect for some light and shadow photography.

If you are looking to get the sun rays streaming down the cave entrance, the best time to visit Tukad Cepung Waterfall is when the sun is at the top – that is, from 9:30 AM to 11:30 AM.

However, you can expect a lot of crowd during this time. In fact, you will see people queuing up to take photos at all of the spots mentioned above and you will barely have any time to actually enjoy the waterfall.

If you are looking to avoid crowds, and just want to take in and enjoy the waterfalls and don’t really care about that perfect Instagram shot, the best time to visit Tukad Cepung is early in the morning right after it opens.

If you are looking to read about the other waterfalls of Bali, check out my 5 Most Beautiful Waterfalls in Bali post.