Suwat Waterfall is a gorgeous secluded waterfall with tall cliff walls creating an almost canyon like environment. You can swim in the large pool at the base and there’s even a bamboo raft which is already gaining traction on Instagram.
Given the falls are only 30 minutes from Ubud and then a five minute walk when you get there, it’s the perfect place to cool off from the intense Bali sun.
Here’s everything you need to know about visiting Suwat Waterfall.
Suwat Waterfall
The walk to get there
Distance: 250m each way (500m total)
Elevation gain: 25m
Difficulty: Easy but rocky at the end
The walk to Suwat Falls is short and straightforward. It only takes around five minutes, although most of that is downhill.
It’s all on well formed staircases which are quite steep, but not too slippery when dry - almost all Bali waterfall walks have been a little slippery when damp, so watch out for that if it’s been raining recently.
The path is surrounded by dense foliage with true jungle vibes.
Just before you reach the rocky section of the track you’ll need to cross a bamboo bridge. It’s pretty sturdy and there’s a hand rail if you need it.
After that you have a few metres of boulder hopping. Luckily steps have been carved into the rocks which makes it much easier. It only takes a few minutes to reach the base of the falls.
Just before that, you can see some steps carved into one of the larger boulders on the right, this offers a great view of the falls but these steps were a lot more slippery than any of the others so go carefully!
Swimming at Suwat Waterfall
The pool at the base of the falls is pretty big and you’re definitely able to swim rather than just take a plunge like at many of the other waterfalls.
It starts off shallow-ish but then gets much deeper the closer you get to the falls - the sign says it gets to 7m deep!
Accessing the water is easy as the rocky steps take you all the way down and into the pool and then you can just step off and start swimming.
There’s a surprisingly large bamboo raft tied up by the pool, which makes for a great photo, but takes over most of the pool - so it’s not ideal if someone’s on it and you are looking to swim!
Currently (May 2022) you’re allowed to take it for a ride free of charge. I feel like in time this won’t be the case as new charges always come in when things start to get popular, but for now it’s really relaxed experience.
The people working at the falls are super friendly and genuinely happy for you to be there.
In terms of water colour at the falls, a lot of the photos I’d seen online were turquoise. Although it’s hard to say for sure as we visited in May not long after rainy season had ended, it definitely didn’t show any signs of being turquoise - far more green than a dazzling blue.
If you visit during the rainy season there’s every chance the water could be brown, so dry season (April to October) is the optimum time to visit.
Suwat Falls entry fee and access
The entry to the waterfall is currently 15k rupiah. At the moment it’s super relaxed and no mention of guides or extra charges to park, or any of the other things you’ll find at some of the more popular waterfalls.
My impression was that the community really want to encourage visitors and are very happy to have you there.
There’s a large car park and the road is sealed and in good condition all the way, for both cars and scooters. The journey will be just over 30 minutes from Ubud or 1 hour 15 from Kuta.
It’s near several other waterfalls, including the gorgeous Taman Sari Falls, so you could easily make a full day’s waterfall hopping adventure.
If you’d like to go with a driver instead of independently we’d recommend our friend Wayan (based in Ubud). We’ve done loads of trips with him over the years and he’s easy going, patient and quotes a fair price for the work he does.
Just to be clear we don’t get any kick backs from recommending him, but we’d love to send him some business as he’s always been brilliant for us.
You can contact him on Whatsapp: +62 812 3792 3151 or through instagram - @wayan_driverbali. Tell him you came from our blog and I am sure he will give you a good price : )
The best time to visit Suwat Waterfall
The best time to visit in terms of season is the dry season (April to October) and the later the better. The further you are from heavy rains, the better the water colour will be. The size of the waterfall will reduce but the colour will become more green (or blue if those pictures are actually real!).
In the rainy season (November to March) you could get lucky, but you might find the falls are brown. It could also be too turbulent for swimming depending on how wet it’s been.
In terms of timing, although the waterfall is not yet hugely popular, coming early will almost guarantee you get it to yourself. I’d also avoid weekends if you can.
Photography-wise a cloudy day will bring even light and make it easier to photograph. Early mornings will also be less harsh lighting.
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