How To Visit Ubud Monkey Forest In Bali

Last Updated on 12th March 2023

Ubud Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary Photo Diary

The Ubud Monkey Forest is one of the most popular things to do in Ubud and perhaps the entirety of Bali. It’s a place that I was curious to see for many years before we travelled to Indonesia and I’m glad that we got the opportunity to visit as it certainly didn’t disappoint!

While I’m no expert on the monkeys or the forest itself, I wanted to write a post as a sort of photo diary from our time there as I took so many pictures of the cute creatures that I simply had to share them with you guys!

If you’re planning a trip to Bali and want to know more about the Sacred Monkey Forest in Ubud, or you’re just wanting a daily dose of cuteness from these adorable little guys, keep on reading!

What you need to know about the Ubud Sacred Monkey Forest

The Ubud Monkey Forest Sanctuary is regarded as an important spiritual, educational and economic conservation area in the village of Padangtegal in Ubud, where it resides.

As well as more than 700 monkeys who roam the forest (and come and go as they please), the Forest is also home to three temples; Pura Dalem Agung, Pura Beji and Pura Prajapati. Only religious believers may enter the temples to worship and pray but they’re beautiful to look at from the outside.

Within the Sanctuary, there are also a whopping 186 species of trees punctuating the 12.5 hectares of forestry; most of them towering high up into the sky. It’s a beautiful environment for the monkeys to live in and interact with each other and it makes for a truly special place to visit while in Ubud.

The type of monkey that you’ll find within the forest is the Macaque, also known as the Balinese long-tailed monkey. While they might look incredibly adorable, they’re also remarkably mischievous and are renowned for jumping on people’s heads, stealing people’s bags and belongings and generally causing havoc!

It’s a great experience seeing how they interact with one another and how they play and fight, but it’s also important to remember to give them plenty of space and not to get too close to them.

The Macaque typically live on a diet of sweet potato, banana, papaya leaf, cucumber, corn and coconut and is fed by staff three times a day. It’s imperative that you don’t feed the monkeys while you’re there as it could upset their stomach and make them very ill.

The Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary has one main mission: to conserve the area based on the concept of Tri Hita Karana. This is a philosophy practised in Hinduism and is derived from the word of “Tri” meaning three, “Hita” meaning happiness, and “Karana” meaning the cause or manner. The approximate English translation is: “Three ways to reach spiritual and physical well-being”.

The forest aims to provide not only visitors but locals as well, with harmony and peace when visiting the Monkey Forest, as well as conserving rare plants and creating a space for educational and ritual purposes.

Regardless of your beliefs, however, you can still thoroughly enjoy wandering around the Forest and seeing the beauty of nature, as well as the hundreds of monkeys who call it home!

Entrance fee

Adult: 80,000IDR (£4.40)
Child: 60,000IDR (£3.30)

Opening times

8.30 AM – 6 PM daily

Location

Jl. Monkey Forest, Ubud, Kecamatan Ubud, Kabupaten Gianyar, Bali 80571, Indonesia

Top tips for visiting the Monkey Forest

Don’t feed the monkeys and try not to get any food out while you’re there; they won’t hesitate to try and steal it from you!
Avoid looking the monkeys directly in the eye as they can see it as a form of antagonisation and they may get aggressive.
Watch out for your valuables; the monkeys are known to try and steal things from you, especially hats, earrings and sunglasses!
The monkeys may jump on your head and try and pull your hair (we saw it happen to a man while we were there!); try and stay calm and the monkey should leave on its own accord, if not, there’ll be a member of staff nearby who will assist!
Don’t get too close and don’t try and touch the monkeys; they might try and touch you but could get aggressive if you approach them; especially the mothers if you’re near her babies.