Bali Adventures: Sekumpul Waterfall

Our third day in Bali was one of our favorite days of exploring. We were picked up by Dewa around 9am and started the 3 hour drive to Sekumpul Waterfall. Throughout our trip, Dewa had been trying to get us to taste durian. When we passed by a large fruit stand on the side of the road, we just had to stop.

Durian is a large fruit found in southeast Asia. The durian fruit has a very strong odor that has been compared to the smell of a rotting corpse. Because of its smell, the fruit has been banished from several public places around Asia. Adam and I both held our breath as we placed a piece of the fruit in our mouths. I gagged. I think Adam did too. However, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to taste. The smell when the fruit is cut open is awful, but the fruit itself doesn’t taste that bad. I doubt I will ever eat it again though.

After having a taste of the durian, we needed something yummy for our tastebuds. We tried a variety of other fruits, all of which we loved. Pictured above: Pitaya/Dragon Fruit (top left, pink), Rambutan (top left, red), Salak (brown, bottom left), Magosteen (bottom right). The magosteen was my absolute favorite. YUM!

Our next stop of the day was Sekumpul waterfall. There are several waterfalls in Bali but we read this is one of the most beautiful ones. We liked this one in particular because it was off the beaten track with very few tourists. There were about 4 people at the waterfall when we arrived and at one point we were the only two there!

The drive to get to the waterfall in itself was an adventure. It was about a 3 hour drive from Ubud on narrow, winding roads through the mountains. Once we arrived at the waterfall parking area, we still had quite a walk ahead of us.

There were about 450 steep stairs that led down to the waterfall. Going down wasn’t so bad, especially because we were so excited. Coming back up was the rough part, especially in the humid heat.

Pictures don’t do well at showing how large this waterfall is. If you look closely, you can see about 4 people standing on the dirt area at the bottom of the falls. They look like ants in this photo.

This photo doesn’t capture the entire waterfall, which is approximately 270 feet in height.

We swam at the bottom of the falls for about 30 minutes or so. The water was very chilly but refreshing. Standing at the bottom of the falls felt like we were in a hurricane. The pressure from the water was so strong that we could barely stand up without blowing over. This spot was well worth the trek to get there and will be something we will always remember.

I took a ton of photos at the waterfall and at our rice terrace stop afterwards so I decided to cut this day’s post into two. Check back soon for our adventures at Jatiluwih Rice Terrace!