Banyu Wana Amertha Waterfall

Lake Buyan / Wanagiri, Bali, Indonesia

About Banyu Wana Amertha Waterfall


Hiking Distance: about 2.5km walk (w/ 1km scooter ride out)
Suggested Time: about 90 minutes (for all waterfalls w/ transport)

Date first visited: 2022-06-21
Date last visited: 2022-06-21

Waterfall Latitude: -8.20674
Waterfall Longitude: 115.11763

Waterfall Safety and Common Sense

The Banyu Wana Amertha Waterfall is really a series of four waterfalls all experienced in a single upside-down excursion (meaning you start by hiking down and then climb back up to the start; like most Bali Waterfalls).

The upper two waterfalls include a thin plunge where you can go behind it, which is surprisingly not all that common among the waterfalls in Bali.

Banyumala_Amertha_137_06202022 - The largest of the Banyumala Amertha Waterfalls
The largest of the Banyumala Amertha Waterfalls

Just uphill of that waterfall was a wider, more graceful waterfall that was suitable for long exposure shots (if you bother to lug a tripod down there, of course).

As for the other two waterfalls, the third one down involved a four-parallel-segment waterfall each of modest size on a steep spur trail that seemed to be unfinished during our June 2022 visit (as the concrete hadn’t even been laid yet).

Finally, the fourth and bottommost of the waterfalls was the largest of the group with a huge fanning out wall of water with a companion plunging tier dropping into a plunge pool suitable for swimming.

This is the waterfall that you see pictured above, and as you can see from how it dwarfs the people in the photo, it’s huge (probably on the order of 40-50m tall and with similar width).

Banyumala_Amertha_087_06202022 - Perhaps the most graceful of the four Banyu Wana Amertha Waterfalls
Perhaps the most graceful of the four Banyu Wana Amertha Waterfalls

While this waterfall alone is worth the price of admission (we paid about IDR 30k or $2 USD per person during our visit), I felt it was the ensemble of the four falls that really made this excursion stand out.

Experiencing the Banyu Wana Amertha Waterfalls

First and foremost, the car park and trailhead (see directions below) was actually far easier to reach on a much better-conditioned road than the neighboring Banyumala Twin Waterfalls.

Once we got there, we then walked about 800m on a fairly long descending partially-concrete scooter path before reaching a signposted trail junction.

At this junction, there were some locals with scooters offering rides back up to the trailhead, which we would later take them up on.

Banyumala_Amertha_015_06202022 - Mom descending on the narrow partially concrete path that's meant for both foot traffic as well as scooters on the way down to the Banyu Wana Amertha Waterfalls
Mom descending on the narrow partially concrete path that’s meant for both foot traffic as well as scooters on the way down to the Banyu Wana Amertha Waterfalls

Anyways, we first went left at this trail junction to experience the first two waterfalls, which were reached at the bottom of a short dirt path followed by a series of steps.

Once at the bottom, we noticed a thin waterfall spilling over an overhang, where it was pretty straightforward to get into for that unusual experience of looking out from behind the falls.

After having our fill of this spot, we then walked over a bridge and past a shelter down to the front of an impressively wide and graceful waterfall.

Further downstream from this spot, there appeared to be a bathroom (suggesting that there was an opportunity to change and swim here) as well as some kind of shrine even further into the jungle.

Banyumala_Amertha_050_06202022 - Frontal look at the lone Banyu Wana Amertha Waterfall that lets you go behind it
Frontal look at the lone Banyu Wana Amertha Waterfall that lets you go behind it

Once we had our fill of this pair of waterfalls, we then walked back up to the trail junction and took the other path down to the remaining two waterfalls.

We first went all the way down to the bottommost of the falls, which was also the largest of them all.

The path appeared like it was in the midst of getting a fresh coat of concrete while some of the buildings (appearing to be warungs as well as a toilet or latrine) looked to be renovated.

Further down the steps, we started to get an angled look down at the context of the falls, but the path continued to descend to a bridge at a dead-end right in front of the big waterfall.

Banyumala_Amertha_113_06202022 - The descent to the biggest of the Banyu Wana Amertha Waterfalls was not complete during our June 2022 visit, and they were still laying new concrete as you can see here
The descent to the biggest of the Banyu Wana Amertha Waterfalls was not complete during our June 2022 visit, and they were still laying new concrete as you can see here

There were locals as well as tourists alike taking advantage of the plunge pool fronting this waterfall for a swim, and Mom and I were content to check out the falls from both the bridge as well as further up the trail.

The waterfall was too enormous to try to capture it all from the end of the trail in one shot (unless you did pano mode on an iPhone or something).

Anyways, this was our turnaround point and we went back up the trail with a detour to the last of the waterfalls that we didn’t get to see yet.

This particular spur path descended a steep dirt path that looked like it was being set up for concrete (that the locals hadn’t gotten around to during our June 2022 visit).

Banyumala_Amertha_194_06212022 - Context of a shelter fronting the four-segment waterfall that was the last of the Banyu Wana Amertha Waterfalls that we witnessed
Context of a shelter fronting the four-segment waterfall that was the last of the Banyu Wana Amertha Waterfalls that we witnessed

However, once we got to the bottom (it did get a little mildly rough in spots), we then stood in front of a four-segment waterfall before a shelter.

The falls were modest in size, but collectively as its own little foursome, they were pleasing to experience before we headed back up to the trail junction.

Once at the trail junction, we paid the IDR 30k per person to do the ride back up to the car park, which was actually worth it in my mind given how long of a descent it was.

All told, Mom and I spent just under 2 hours away from the car, but I suspect that if we didn’t do the scooter ride, then it easily could have easily taken over 2 hours (maybe closer to 2.5 hours) in total.

Authorities

The Banyu Wana Amertha Waterfall ensemble resides in the Buleleng Regency near Bedugul or Lovina in Bali Province, Indonesia. It may be administered by the Buleleng Regency Government. For information or inquiries about the area as well as current conditions, you can try visiting this website.

Drive_to_Banyumala_Amertha_004_iPhone_06212022 - The pretty smooth road descending towards the Banyu Wana Amertha Waterfalls, which was a stark contrast to the narrow rougher road to the neighboring Banyumala Twin Waterfalls
Banyumala_Amertha_001_06202022 - Arriving at the car park by the entrance for the Banyu Wana Amertha Waterfalls
Banyumala_Amertha_005_06202022 - Mom starting the walk on the scooter path down towards the Banyu Wana Amertha Waterfalls
Banyumala_Amertha_006_06202022 - A brief uphill stretch on the concrete-lined scooter path, which was only brief as the rest of the way was downhill (i.e. upside down hike) like most Balinese Waterfall hikes
Banyumala_Amertha_007_06202022 - Going by some residence on the way down to the Banyu Wana Amertha Waterfalls
Banyumala_Amertha_009_06202022 - Mom letting a local scooter rider by as we were making our way down to the Banyu Wana Amertha Waterfalls, which was probably what we were going to do on our way back up
Banyumala_Amertha_011_06202022 - Looking towards a cow, which I'd imagine was being raised by one of the local farmers around the Banyu Wana Amertha Waterfalls
Banyumala_Amertha_013_06202022 - Mom continuing down the fairly long partially concrete-lined path leading down to the Banyu Wana Amertha Waterfalls
Banyumala_Amertha_019_06202022 - Mom going by some incomplete shelters or warungs as we were continuing to make our way deeper into the jungle for the Banyu Wana Amertha Waterfalls
Banyumala_Amertha_022_06202022 - Continuing to descend deeper into the jungle in pursuit of the Banyu Wana Amertha Waterfalls
Banyumala_Amertha_023_06202022 - Sign at the trail junction where each fork went to half of the Banyu Wana Amertha Waterfalls
Banyumala_Amertha_024_06202022 - Mom starting on the path to the left as we pursued the uppermost pair of the Banyu Wana Amertha Waterfalls
Banyumala_Amertha_025_06202022 - Mom descending steps leading to the uppermost pair of the Banyu Wana Amertha Waterfalls
Banyumala_Amertha_026_06202022 - Looking down at our first glimpse of one of the Banyu Wana Amertha Waterfalls
Banyumala_Amertha_027_06202022 - Mom continuing to descend the footpath down to the uppermost pairing of the Banyu Wana Amertha Waterfalls
Banyumala_Amertha_028_06202022 - Looking across a gracefully wide waterfall as one of the four Banyu Wana Amertha Waterfalls
Banyumala_Amertha_030_06202022 - Mom continuing to descend towards another one of the Banyu Wana Amertha Waterfalls
Banyumala_Amertha_031_06202022 - Approaching the base of the thinner of the uppermost pairing of Banyu Wana Amertha Waterfalls
Banyumala_Amertha_037_06202022 - Frontal look at the thinner of the uppermost pairing of the Banyu Wana Amertha Waterfalls
Banyumala_Amertha_039_06202022 - Mom looking downstream towards the more graceful wider waterfall of the uppermost pairing of the Banyu Wana Amertha Waterfalls
Banyumala_Amertha_042_06202022 - Looking out from behind the thinner of the uppermost of the waterfall pairing of the Banyu Wana Amertha Waterfalls
Banyumala_Amertha_044_06202022 - Angled look at the thinner of the uppermost pairing of the Banyu Wana Amertha Waterfalls
Banyumala_Amertha_051_06202022 - Last look towards the thinner of the Banyu Wana Amertha Waterfalls before moving over to check out the next waterfall
Banyumala_Amertha_052_06202022 - Mom going up towards the next of the Banyu Wana Amertha Waterfalls
Banyumala_Amertha_064_06202022 - Long-exposed look at the wider graceful waterfall making up the other of the upper of the Banyu Wana Amertha Waterfalls
Banyumala_Amertha_100_06202022 - Frontal look at the wider graceful waterfall making up the other of the Banyu Wana Amertha Waterfalls
Banyumala_Amertha_072_06202022 - Last look at the graceful waterfall making up the other of the upper waterfalls pairing of the Banyu Wana Amertha Waterfalls
Banyumala_Amertha_108_06202022 - Following the other partially-concrete lined path leading to the lower pairing of the Banyu Wana Amertha Waterfalls
Banyumala_Amertha_110_06202022 - Continuing to descend the partially-concrete lined path leading to the lower pairing of the Banyu Wana Amertha Waterfalls
Banyumala_Amertha_122_06202022 - Looking down towards the largest of the Banyu Wana Amertha Waterfalls
Banyumala_Amertha_131_06202022 - First look in front of the largest of the Banyu Wana Amertha Waterfalls
Banyumala_Amertha_169_06212022 - Looking back down at the context of the largest of the Banyu Wana Amertha Waterfalls with people swimming in the plunge pool for a sense of scale
Banyumala_Amertha_177_06212022 - Long-exposed look at the largest of the Banyu Wana Amertha Waterfalls with people swimming in the plunge pool for a sense of scale
Banyumala_Amertha_186_06212022 - Going back up the steps of the newly-poured concrete on the way back up from the largest of the Banyu Wana Amertha Waterfalls
Banyumala_Amertha_188_06212022 - Mom starting to descend towards the last of the Banyu Wana Amertha Waterfalls that we'd visit on our June 2022 excursion
Banyumala_Amertha_189_06212022 - Mom descending the steep (and muddy) dirt path leading down to the last of the Banyu Wana Amertha Waterfalls
Banyumala_Amertha_208_06212022 - Frontal look at the last of the Banyu Wana Amertha Waterfalls on our June 2022 visit
Banyumala_Amertha_216_06212022 - Mom heading back up the concrete path after having our fill of all the Banyu Wana Amertha Waterfalls
Banyumala_Amertha_218_06212022 - Mom approaching the signed junction where locals offered scooter rides back up to the car park of the Banyu Wana Amertha Waterfalls
Drive_from_Banyumala_Amertha_001_iPhone_06212022 - Taking a fairly tame 'shortcut' route after leaving the Banyu Wana Amertha Waterfalls and headed back towards Singaraja/Lovina
Drive_from_Banyumala_Amertha_002_iPhone_06212022 - Continuing to drive the 'shortcut' route between Banyu Wana Amertha Waterfalls and Singaraja/Lovina


The Banyu Wana Amertha Waterfalls are located about 18km south of the city of Singaraja.

Since we were driven to the trailhead for the Banyu Wana Amertha Waterfalls from the Banyumala Twin Waterfalls, I won’t bother with giving driving directions, but you can look at the embedded map above for your trip planning needs.

Drive_to_Banyumala_Amertha_002_iPhone_06212022 - Approaching the signed turnoff for the more tamer access road (compared to the Banyumala Twin Waterfall) for the Banyu Wana Amertha Waterfalls
Approaching the signed turnoff for the more tamer access road (compared to the Banyumala Twin Waterfall) for the Banyu Wana Amertha Waterfalls

Our 7km drive took us close to 30 minutes or so, which might attest to the slow driving required on the narrow access road to leave the Banyumala Twin Waterfalls car park before swinging over to the Banyu Wana Amertha Waterfalls car park.

This was an example where some of the mountain roads in Bali were really more suited to scooters than to passenger vehicles.

Yet, our hired Balinese driver was pretty skillful at navigating this narrow road, which strangely had some characteristics more common with 4wd roads.

For geographical context, Singaraja is about 10km (less than 30 minutes drive) east of Lovina, about 30km (an hour drive) north of Bedugul, 73km (over 2 hours drive) north of Ubud, about 88km (about 3 hours drive) north of Kuta, about 78km (about 2.5 hours drive) north of Canggu, and about 83km (over 2.5 hours drive) north of Seminyak.

Drive_to_Banyumala_Amertha_010_iPhone_06212022 - Approaching the car park and entrance for the Banyu Wana Amertha Waterfalls
Approaching the car park and entrance for the Banyu Wana Amertha Waterfalls

Note that you’ll want to take the drive times with a grain of salt mostly because the traffic situation (especially in Southern Bali) is pretty bad and unpredictable.

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Long video focused on the last of the waterfalls before showing glimpse of another falls and then going behind the last of the waterfalls


Sweep showing the penultimate falls before going right across from falls and dwelling on that perspective


Downstream to upstream sweep of the main falls from a partial bridge spanning its creek


Full context of the falls with some brief zoom ins of the main waterfall

Trip Planning Resources


Nearby Accommodations




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Tagged with: buleleng, wana giri, danau buyan, lake buyan, wanagiri, bedugul, north bali, singaraja, lovina,munduk valley, bali, indonesia, north bali



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