Looking to visit the famous Leke Leke Waterfall in Bali? This beautiful waterfall is famous on Instagram not just because it towers down a rainforest cliff face, but also because it is framed perfectly by the surrounding forest. Read on to discover what you need to know to visit Leke Leke Waterfall near Ubud, Bali.
Where is the Leke Leke Waterfall?
As mentioned above, Leke Leke Waterfall is found in Bali. If you want to visit this waterfall (especially in the early morning) you should stay in the Ubud area. However, please note that the waterfall is still just under an hour’s drive from the centre of Ubud. You can see its location and distance from Ubud on the Google Maps screenshot below (and you can find the directions on the Google Maps link here). Obviously, please note, the time of the day will impact how long it takes to get to this waterfall (as mentioned below, when we headed here at 6am in the morning, we did the drive in 45 minutes rather than one hour and I imagine that during rush hour it can take quite a bit longer).
How to get to the Leke Leke Waterfall from Ubud?
Due to the distance of the waterfall from main accommodation towns like Ubud, it is not possible to walk from Ubud to Leke Leke Waterfall and you will need motorised transport. You can hire a scooter, bike, car (whatever you fancy/are comfortable with/insured for) or get a driver. When we visited in January 2024, we paid 400,000 IDR for a return journey via car, which included a 6am start and the driver waiting for us while we were at the waterfall. A worker at the waterfall told us this was good value but I’m not sure because Bali has gone up in prices quite significantly for me since I last visited 8 years earlier (a lot of prices seem to have doubled). If you choose to get a car through the Grab app they were looking at 450,000-500,000 IDR for a one way journey, so it definitely seems better to talk to people on the street and get a driver rather than go via Grab. We found our driver this way via talking to the drivers advertising on the street once we arrived in Ubud.
How much does it cost to visit Leke Leke Waterfall?
Leke Leke Waterfall is not free to see and when we visited in January 2024 entry was 50,000 IDR per person. Again, I find this very steep for Asia (and being Australian I am not used to paying for waterfall access) but this waterfall is absolutely stunning so I am still glad I went. I believe the price has risen in the previous years as older blogs have said different prices so be warned that this price may continue to rise (although I’d hope not – it is just for entry, nothing else is included in the ticket!).
When are Leke Leke Waterfall opening times?
When we visited, we saw that Leke Leke Waterfall opened at 7am in the morning. However, by chance (there was less traffic on the road in the early morning) we arrived at 645am (after leaving Ubud at 6am) and there were people already there who took our money and let us go down.
How long is the hike to Leke Leke Waterfall and how hard is the hike?
Once you get dropped off at the waterfall carpark you can begin the hike down to Leke Leke Waterfall. The entire hike is well signed and obvious to follow and is on a maintained and purpose built path but you do need to be careful. You are descending towards the waterfall and ascending to come back with many stairs so you need to be fit and able. On our way down it only took us 10 minutes, and I would factor in 20 minutes for the walk back up but we chose to stop at multiple points to rest and enjoy the scenery so if you also want to do that, that is something to also factor into your timings. Near the start of the hike there is also shops to buy food and drink and one of the instagrammable swings you can pay to use.
How do you find the perfect photo spot at Leke Leke Waterfall?
Leke Leke Waterfall is framed so perfectly among the rainforest and there are two fantastic photo spots where the leaves part around your camera lens. In addition to the below photo spots you can also obviously take photos closer to the waterfall as well.
Photo Spot 1
The first photo spot is the main one you will have seen photos of. It is found just before you head down the last part before the waterfall, slightly off to the path with a clear view through the leaves directly onto the waterfall.
Photo Spot 2
The second Leke Leke photo spot is slightly further back up the path. This photo will have more rainforest in but provides brilliant scale if you want to look tiny against the waterfall.
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