The Twin Lakes: Tamblingan and Buyan, Without the Tour Bus
Updated: 14 hours ago
There is a dugout canoe on Lake Tamblingan, paddled standing up by a man who has done it his whole life, and for about an hour you sit in the front of it while the far shore does not get any closer and nobody says anything. It is the best hour in North Bali and it costs less than a cocktail in Seminyak.
Two crater lakes sit side by side about half an hour from Munduk, sharing one ridge and almost nothing else.
Which lake is which
Buyan is the larger, the closer to the main road, and the busier. It has the viewpoints the tour buses stop at, the ones with the sign and the queue for the photograph. The view genuinely is magnificent. So is everyone else's.
Tamblingan is the smaller one behind it, reached by a rougher road, and it is the reason to come. No motorboats are permitted. There are dugout canoes, a handful of small temples at the water's edge, and jungle running right down to the shoreline.
The silence on Tamblingan is not a figure of speech. Without engines, all you get is birds and paddle.
The canoe
Arranged at the lakeside with the local boatmen. Roughly an hour, sometimes longer if the light is doing something and nobody wants to turn back.
You pass Pura Gubug and the other small temples that sit half in the water, which are still in use and are not attractions. Photograph them from the boat, quietly, and do not climb on anything.
Mornings are calm water and mist. Afternoons get a breeze and, in the wet months, weather.
The trail between them
A jungle path runs along the ridge separating the two lakes. Two to three hours depending on where you start and how muddy it is, through proper cloud forest: moss, ferns, and a canopy that closes over your head.
This is the best birdwatching in the area, and it is also where you understand that this part of Bali was forest long before it was terraces.
Take a guide. Not because the path is dangerous, but because the junctions are unmarked and a guide will show you things you would walk straight past.
Getting there from Munduk
About thirty minutes by car. The road to Buyan is fine, the last stretch to Tamblingan is rough and better in a car with some clearance.
We arrange the driver and, if you want it, the guide. Ask the night before rather than the morning of, because the boatmen are worth arranging in advance.
Practicalities
Best time of day: early. Before nine for still water and mist, and before the buses reach the Buyan viewpoints
Cost: modest entrance fees at both lakes, and the canoe paid directly to the boatman
What to bring: a layer, since the water is cool and there is no shade on a canoe, and something waterproof for a phone
Footwear: the ridge trail is muddy in every month. Grip matters
How long: half a day for the canoe and the viewpoints, a full day if you walk the ridge
Frequently asked questions
Can you swim in the lakes?
Not really, and it is not encouraged. These are sacred waters with active temples on their shores. Take the canoe instead.
Is Tamblingan busy?
Compared with the south of Bali, no. Compared with Buyan, dramatically less. There are quiet weekday mornings when you will have the water to yourself.
Are there monkeys?
Yes, on the ridge trail, and they are wild rather than habituated. Do not feed them and do not leave a bag open.
Is this the same as the Bedugul temple?
No. Pura Ulun Danu Beratan on Lake Beratan is the famous one on the money note, and it is a further twenty minutes on. It is beautiful and it is very busy. Worth combining if you leave early enough.
Can we do the lakes and the waterfalls in one day?
You can, and it will feel like a day of driving. We would rather you did the lakes one morning and the waterfalls the next.
Why it is worth the rough road
Ask us the evening before and the car will be ready at seven.
Two nights, eight rooms, a thousand metres up. The lakes are half an hour away; the waterfall is ten minutes below the rooms.
Check dates on WhatsApp — it opens a message, not a booking form. Or read what The Quiet actually is.
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