Blahmantung Waterfall (Air Terjun Blahmantung)

Pujungan Village / Pupuan District, Bali, Indonesia

About Blahmantung Waterfall (Air Terjun Blahmantung)


Hiking Distance: 2.4km round trip (Blahmantung only); 4km loop (w/ Blemantung)
Suggested Time: 1 hour (Blahmantung only); 2 hours (w/ Blemantung)

Date first visited: 2022-06-26
Date last visited: 2022-06-26

Waterfall Latitude: -8.31969
Waterfall Longitude: 115.04515

Waterfall Safety and Common Sense

The Blahmantung Waterfall is said to be one of the tallest waterfalls in Bali, which certainly compelled us to target it on a trip to the island.

However, there was a bit of misinformation surrounding this waterfall on the internet, which actually landed us a serendipitous experience with the Blahmaning Waterfall.

Blahmantung_206_06252022 - Blahmantung Waterfall
Blahmantung Waterfall

Nevertheless, when we finally did get to experience the Blahmantung Waterfall, we witnessed something that seemed to be getting a bit more attention from foreign tourists.

Yet we also walked on a lesser-known path that allowed us to experience other waterfalls in the area in the same excursion.

By the way, these waterfalls included the Blemantung Waterfall (which locals said was called Rajapala Waterfall) as well as the Bidadari Waterfall.

In any case, from what I could tell, the Blahmantung Waterfall certainly was one of the taller free-falling ones that we’ve witnessed in person as it appeared like it plunged 50m (though I’ve seen some claim it’s 100m tall).

Sekumpul_244_06212022 - Is the Blahmantung Waterfall taller than the Sekumpul Waterfall?
Is the Blahmantung Waterfall taller than the Sekumpul Waterfall?

If you buy the latter figure, then that might put it even taller than the Sekumpul Waterfall which was said to be 80m tall (though it too has been claimed to be upwards of 100m tall).

Regardless, I appreciated the more intimate experience that we managed to get with this waterfall, which really felt more rewarding than the direct out-and-back excursion that we saw other foreign tourists do.

In this write-up, I’ll describe how we did the full excursion though if you’re only interested in the direct out-and-back hike to just the Blahmantung Waterfall, then skip to the last section.

How To Find The Blahmantung Waterfall

The primary reason why I tend to think the Blahmantung Waterfall had its share of misinformation on the internet is that GoogleMaps has multiple waypoints for it.

Blahmantung_277_06252022 - By the starting point of the Blahmantung Waterfall, there was this small waterfall, which is kind of an indicator that you're in the right place if you see this
By the starting point of the Blahmantung Waterfall, there was this small waterfall, which is kind of an indicator that you’re in the right place if you see this

So if you end up routing to the wrong waypoint, then you end up doing what we did and arrive at the Blahmaning Waterfall thinking it’s the Blahmantung Waterfall.

The key thing to remember regarding the target waterfall is that it’s near the village of Pujungan, which is just to the east of Pupuan Village (also the name of the district the falls is in).

It’s for this reason that you might also see the Blahmantung Waterfall called the Air Terjun Pupuan (or Pupuan Waterfall).

The Blahmaning Waterfall is actually closer to Tinggarsari Village so if you find yourself on a side road that passes through this village, be aware that you’re likely NOT going to the Blahmantung Waterfall!

Blahmantung_288_06252022 - Looking back at the context of a rice field with a narrow road and our parked vehicle in front of the start of the Blahmantung Waterfall hike
Looking back at the context of a rice field with a narrow road and our parked vehicle in front of the start of the Blahmantung Waterfall hike

We’ll detail a bit more about the driving directions, but just realize that the village you’re nearby pretty much tells you everything you need to know about not confusing the waterfalls.

Trail Description – The Rajapala and Bidadari Waterfalls

From the start of the hike, we passed by a short side waterfall next to the trailhead before descending for about 200m towards a trail fork.

At this fork, there was a steep, narrow ramp going up to the right, which turned out to the be direct trail leading to the Blahmantung Waterfall.

However, we kept to the left to continue the descent which eventually bottomed out at around 500m from the junction.

Blahmantung_259_06252022 - This was the trail fork where the narrow path on the right went to the Blahmantung Waterfall while the wider path on the left went down to the other waterfalls
This was the trail fork where the narrow path on the right went to the Blahmantung Waterfall while the wider path on the left went down to the other waterfalls

Down at these depths, we started to notice a tall waterfall, which Gaia GPS labeled as the Blemantung Waterfall.

This was an impressively tall waterfall dropping in at least two noticeable tiers upwards of 30m or so, but it seemed to have been intervened with to feed an irrigation ditch and weir further downstream.

Roughly 200m from the weir or dam control shelter, there was a steep path that rose up towards the top of the cliff before descending across a footbridge right in front of the upper tier of the Blemantung Waterfall.

Up here, we spoke to some locals who were doing trail work, and they said that this waterfall was actually called the Rajapala Waterfall, which meant something like “king”.

Blahmantung_043_06252022 - Context of some irrigation infrastructure fronting the Blemantung Waterfall, which the locals here also called it the Rajapala Waterfall
Context of some irrigation infrastructure fronting the Blemantung Waterfall, which the locals here also called it the Rajapala Waterfall

This detour was about 250m each way (or 500m round-trip), and it probably was the most strenuous (or at least sweatiest) part of the hike so far.

After having our fill of the Rajapala Waterfall and rejoining the trail, we then hiked roughly another 200m towards what our guide called the Bidadari Waterfall, which is Balinese for “angel”.

This stretch of the walk included a couple of unbridged stream crossings before going past a trail junction and skirt a small dam or diversion wall before reaching a shelter fronting the modestly-sized waterfall.

The Bidadari Waterfall was more of a cooling off spot as opposed to a swimming hole because its plunge pool was shallow.

Blahmantung_124_06252022 - This was the Bidadari Waterfall (or 'Angel Waterfall') which was the other off-the-beaten-path waterfall that would be missed if you only went to the Blahmantung Waterfall and back like most of the foreign tourists did
This was the Bidadari Waterfall (or ‘Angel Waterfall’) which was the other off-the-beaten-path waterfall that would be missed if you only went to the Blahmantung Waterfall and back like most of the foreign tourists did

Once we had our fill of the Bidadari Waterfall, we then went back to the nearby junction and climbed up through a coffee plantation before rejoining a more established trail, which went towards the Blahmantung Waterfall.

Trail Description – The Blahmantung Waterfall

According to my GPS logs, the trail we were on rejoined the Blahmantung Waterfall Trail about 600m to the east of the trail fork we skipped earlier on and about 200m west of the waterfall itself.

In the first 200m of the ramp from the trail fork, the trail sloped pretty steeply as it made its way up towards a coffee plantation with some fruit trees being grown.

The path was concrete (probably meant to be for scooter traffic), but it has the unintended effect of being quite slippery when wet (especially with the combination of rain and humidity).

Blahmantung_254_06252022 - This slippery concrete slope was very tricky, even for our local guide Dendi, who slipped but didn't fall when descending this part of the Blahmantung Waterfall trail
This slippery concrete slope was very tricky, even for our local guide Dendi, who slipped but didn’t fall when descending this part of the Blahmantung Waterfall trail

This was especially the case when Mom and I had to descend it on the way back, but this is something to be very careful of.

Anyways, continuing beyond the coffee plantation, the track eventually approached a prayer-only shrine followed by a shelter before ending right at the plunge pool of the Blahmantung Waterfall.

The boulder-fringed plunge pool itself was quite sizable though it was surrounded by very steep cliffs, which made me very aware of the rockfall danger.

Of course, no one was swimming here during our late June 2022 visit because of the sporadic rain squalls that came and went throughout.

Blahmantung_203_06252022 - Context of Mom checking out the tall plunge of the Blahmantung Waterfall
Context of Mom checking out the tall plunge of the Blahmantung Waterfall

After having our fill of the Blahmantung Waterfall, we then hiked the remaining 1-1.2km or so back to the trailhead.

Overall, Mom and I spent about 2.5 hours away from the car, which included the time spent chilling out at each of the waterfalls.

However, it could easily be half that amount of time and distance if we only targeted the Blahmantung Waterfall without doing the other waterfalls.

Authorities

The Blahmantung Waterfall resides in the Tabanan Regency near the village of Pujungan in Bali Province, Indonesia. It may be administered by the Tabanan Regency local government. For information or inquiries about the area as well as current conditions, you can try visiting this website.

Drive_to_Blahmantung_025_iPhone_06262022 - Following our local guide from Pujungan named Dendi, who rode his motor bike towards the trailhead for the Blahmantung Waterfall
Drive_to_Blahmantung_032_iPhone_06262022 - Continuing to follow Dendi towards a rice field as we got closer to the trailhead for the Blahmantung Waterfall
Blahmantung_001_06252022 - Looking back at a motor bike driven by our local guide from Pujungan named Dendi, which I'd imagine the narrow road was more suited for
Blahmantung_001_iPhone_06262022 - Looking back at a rice field where we started our walk to the Blahmantung Waterfall as well as other neighboring waterfalls
Blahmantung_012_06252022 - Mom and Dendi descending along a wide concrete path en route to the Blemantung Waterfall first since we punted the Blahmantung Waterfall for later
Blahmantung_014_06252022 - Mom and Dendi continuing to follow this ledge path on the way down towards the Blemantung Waterfall
Blahmantung_017_06252022 - Mom and Dendi approaching the bottoming out part of the walk en route to the Blemantung Waterfall
Blahmantung_020_06252022 - Context of Mom and Dendi continuing towards a bridge as the initial descent had bottomed out en route to the Blemantung Waterfall
Blahmantung_021_06252022 - Context of an intermediate waterfall and the trail leading us towards the Blemantung Waterfall
Blahmantung_024_06252022 - Context of an irrigation ditch alongside the concrete path leading us closer to the Blemantung Waterfall
Blahmantung_026_06252022 - Still continuing to follow the concrete path alongside an irrigation ditch on the way to the Blemantung Waterfall
Blahmantung_028_06252022 - Starting to approach the impressively tall Blemantung Waterfall or Rajapala Waterfall
Blahmantung_041_06252022 - Context of a man-modified waterfall fronting the Rajapala Waterfall and some steps leading up to a weir
Blahmantung_046_06252022 - Looking towards some kind of dam control or weir that was right across from the Rajapala Waterfall
Blahmantung_049_06252022 - Frontal look at the Rajapala Waterfall or Blemantung Waterfall as seen from the weir
Blahmantung_057_06252022 - Another frontal look at the Blemantung Waterfall
Blahmantung_065_06252022 - Steep series of steps leading up to the uppermost drop of the Rajapala Waterfall
Blahmantung_067_06252022 - Closeup look at some kind of green goo that was being used to bond joints on the railings alongside the steep series of steps leading up to the upper drop of Rajapala Waterfall
Blahmantung_069_06252022 - Continuing up the steep series of steps leading up to the upper drop of Rajapala Waterfall
Blahmantung_071_06252022 - Still going up the steep series of steps en route to the upper drop of Rajapala Waterfall
Blahmantung_075_06252022 - Looking down at the context of the valley beneath the Rajapala Waterfall as we descended towards the footbridge and shelter fronting its upper drop
Blahmantung_076_06252022 - Looking at the upper drop of the Rajapala Waterfall from the footbridge that we had climbed up to
Blahmantung_079_06252022 - Another look at the context of the footbridge fronting the upper drop of the Rajapala Waterfall
Blahmantung_085_06252022 - Another look at the upper drop of the Rajapala Waterfall from the shelter and footbridge that we had climbed up to
Blahmantung_087_06252022 - Looking back at the steps we'd have to climb to leave the upper drop of Rajapala Waterfall before making the steep descent back onto the main trail
Blahmantung_090_06252022 - Context of the upper drop of the Rajapala Waterfall and the initial climb of steps on the way back to the main trail after the steep series of steps back down
Blahmantung_102_06252022 - Looking down at the steep series of steps on our way back down to the main trail after having our fill of the Rajapala Waterfall
Blahmantung_103_06252022 - Dendi and Mom continuing to make their way back down to the main trail after having our fill of the Blemantung Waterfall
Blahmantung_112_06252022 - Once we got down to the main trail, we then had to walk upstream towards the Bidadari Waterfall
Blahmantung_117_06252022 - Approaching the Bidadari (Angel) Waterfall
Blahmantung_007_iPhone_06262022 - Looking back at a trail junction where the steps going up on the left would rejoin the Blahmantung Waterfall Trail while the path on the right was what we took to get to the Bidadari Waterfall from the Rajapala Waterfall
Blahmantung_141_06252022 - Dendi and Mom going up the steep trail hooking up with the coffee plantation and the Blahmantung Waterfall Trail
Blahmantung_145_06252022 - Dendi and Mom continuing to go up towards the Blahmantung Waterfall Trail after having had our fill of the Bidadari Waterfall
Blahmantung_154_06252022 - Going up through a coffee plantation on our way to join up with the Blahmantung Waterfall Trail
Blahmantung_157_06252022 - Dendi and Mom now on the trail leading to the Blahmantung Waterfall
Blahmantung_159_06252022 - Closeup of some kind of coffee bean or something like that seen along the way to the Blahmantung Waterfall
Blahmantung_166_06252022 - Dendi and Mom finally approaching the Blahmantung Waterfall
Blahmantung_172_06252022 - Portrait look at the entirety of the drop of Blahmantung Waterfall
Blahmantung_176_06252022 - Frontal look across the plunge pool towards the Blahmantung Waterfall
Blahmantung_208_06252022 - Looking up towards the brink of the Blahmantung Waterfall and some neighboring cliffs and trees
Blahmantung_212_06252022 - Last look back at the Blahmantung Waterfall before we headed out as the next tourists showed up
Blahmantung_216_06252022 - Looking back at the context of some kind of prayer-only shrine fronting the Blahmantung Waterfall
Blahmantung_221_06252022 - Mom using a broad leaf to act as an umbrella since we were getting intermittent rain during our visit to the Blahmantung Waterfall
Blahmantung_226_06252022 - Dendi and Mom continuing to make their way back from the Blahmantung Waterfall
Blahmantung_227_06252022 - Walking back through the coffee plantation on the way back from the Blahmantung Waterfall
Blahmantung_230_06252022 - Partial view across the coffee plantation towards the Rajapala Waterfall
Blahmantung_238_06252022 - Dendi and Mom continuing to make their way back from the Blahmantung Waterfall
Blahmantung_250_06252022 - Elevated distant view towards the Rajapala Waterfall or Blemantung Waterfall as seen on the way back from the Blahmantung Waterfall
Blahmantung_255_06252022 - Dendi slowly making his way back down this slippery slope on the way back from the Blahmantung Waterfall
Blahmantung_256_06252022 - Looking back at Mom carefully making her way down this slippery concrete slope on the way back from the Blahmantung Waterfall
Blahmantung_273_06252022 - Last look at this waterfall by the trailhead for the Blahmantung Waterfall
Blahmantung_272_06252022 - Broad look at the small waterfall by the trailhead for the Blahmantung Waterfall
Blahmantung_281_06252022 - When we got back to the Blahmantung Waterfall Trailhead, we weren't out of the woods yet as we still had to get past this stranded jeep that ran out of fuel just as we were about to leave
Blahmantung_292_06252022 - Helping out the driver of this jeep to not block the road as he waits for fuel to arrive by the Blahmantung Waterfall Trailhead


The Blahmantung Waterfall is located about 1.5km northeast of Pujungan Village or about 37km south of Lovina Beach.

That said, we were driven to the trailhead for the Blahmantung Waterfall from Kuta, which took at least 2.5 hours.

Blahmantung_278_06252022 - Our local guide Dendi and my Mom standing before the start of the Blahmantung Waterfall hike
Our local guide Dendi and my Mom standing before the start of the Blahmantung Waterfall hike

Since our long drive was part of a make-up visit to see the actual Blahmantung Waterfall (in light of our Blahmaning Waterfall mistake), I won’t labor you with our specific situation and bother with giving driving directions.

Therefore, you can look at the embedded map above for your own trip planning needs.

In hindsight, had we driven from Lovina Beach straight to the Pujungan Village, then that drive should take on the order of about an hour.

For geographical context, Pujungan Village is 38km (about an hour drive) south of Lovina Beach, 47km (about 90 minutes drive) south of Singaraja, about 31km (an hour drive) west of Bedugul, 68km (about 2 hours drive) northwest of Ubud, about 72km (about 2 hours drive) northwest of Kuta, about 61km (about 90 minutes drive) northwest of Canggu, and about 67km (about 2 hours drive) northwest of Seminyak.

Blahmantung_004_06252022 - The Blahmantung Waterfall excursion started next to this attractive rice field near the village of Pujungan
The Blahmantung Waterfall excursion started next to this attractive rice field near the village of Pujungan

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.

I touched upon this earlier, but you can see this for yourself when you compare the above GoogleMaps estimate versus the actual time it took our driver to get from Kuta to Pujungan (about 2 hours versus 2.5 hours).

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Clean look at the Blemantung Waterfall from a dam control shelter before panning along its drop then ending with last contextual look again


Checking out the uppermost drops of the Blemantung Waterfall from the footbridge area in front of it


Brief sweep checking out an intermediate waterfall and shelter between Blemantung and Blahmantung


Brief sweep starting with the full height of the main falls then panning along its drop before zooming back out again


Sweep checking out the nearest waterfall to the start of the trail

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Tagged with: pupuan, tinggarsari, pujungan, blahmantung, off the beaten path, mistaken identity, google maps, googlemaps, misinformation



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Johnny Cheng

About Johnny Cheng

Johnny Cheng is the founder of the World of Waterfalls and author of the award-winning A Guide to New Zealand Waterfalls. Over the last 2 decades, he has visited thousands of waterfalls in over 40 countries around the world and nearly 40 states in the USA.
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