Lakes and Crater Rim in Bali
Part of the Bali travel guide — see every topic in All Bali Guides.
Bali's central highlands hold four crater lakes — Batur, Bratan, Buyan and Tamblingan — sitting between 1,000 and 1,200 metres in the calderas of ancient volcanoes. They supply the water that the subak irrigation system distributes to every rice field on the island, which is why the lake temples are among the most important on Bali. For visitors they offer the one thing the coast cannot: cold air, mist, pine and a landscape that looks nothing like the postcard.
The Batur caldera
Lake Batur sits inside a caldera thirteen kilometres across, with the active cone of Mount Batur rising from the floor beside it. The classic view is from the rim at Kintamani, where a line of restaurants and coffee shops looks straight down into it — the buffet places are mediocre and the view is the point. Better: the Pinggan viewpoint on the northern rim at sunrise, when cloud fills the caldera and the villages sit above it. Down at lake level, Toya Bungkah has natural hot springs on the shore and is where the sunrise hikes start.
Bratan and the temple
Lake Bratan at Bedugul holds Pura Ulun Danu Beratan, a temple with thatched meru towers on a small promontory that appears to float when the water is high — the image on the fifty-thousand-rupiah note and the second most photographed thing on Bali. It is busy from mid-morning and is best before nine. The Bali Botanic Garden next door covers 150 hectares of highland forest and orchid collections and is genuinely good; the Treetop Adventure Park inside it is ropes and ziplines through real trees and works well for older children.
Buyan and Tamblingan
The twin lakes sit side by side just west of Bratan and are the quiet ones. Tamblingan has no development on its shores at all — you can hire a dugout canoe from the village and paddle across in silence, and there is a forest trail linking the two lakes that takes about two hours. The Wanagiri viewpoint on the ridge above has a row of photo platforms, swings and nests built out over the drop, which is either the appeal or the objection. Munduk, half an hour west, is the natural place to stay.
Practicalities
The lakes are two to two and a half hours from the south coast and around ninety minutes from Ubud, on a steady climb. It is fifteen degrees cooler up here and genuinely cold before dawn — ten to fifteen degrees at the Batur rim — so bring a fleece. Afternoon mist and rain are normal year-round and heavier than on the coast, so go in the morning. Entry to Ulun Danu Beratan is around 75,000 rupiah, the botanic garden about 30,000, and the Batur area levies a district fee on arrival.
Lakes and Crater Rim at a glance
| Altitude | 1,000–1,200 m; 10–15°C before dawn |
|---|---|
| Batur caldera | 13 km across, with an active cone inside it |
| Best caldera view | Pinggan viewpoint at sunrise, northern rim |
| Ulun Danu Beratan | ~IDR 75,000; go before 9am |
| Quietest | Lake Tamblingan — no development, dugout canoes |
| Distance | ~90 min from Ubud, 2–2.5 h from the coast |