Booking choice: The Monkey Forest and swing tour, from $27 per person. Check dates Tour details
Most Ubud tours stop at Tegenungan Waterfall, a temple such as Tirta Empul and the Sacred Monkey Forest in the same day. Each has its own rules. The falls want shoes that grip on wet steps, the temple wants your legs and shoulders covered, and the monkeys want your sunglasses.
None of it is complicated. Get it right in the morning and you won't spend the day renting things at every gate.
The quick answer
Wear swimwear under light, quick-dry clothes, and sport sandals or water shoes with straps, not flip-flops. Carry a dry bag for your phone. At temples you need a sarong and sash; most tours lend one, and Tirta Empul rents bathing sarongs for about IDR 10,000. At the Monkey Forest, lock away jewellery and sunglasses and bring no food or plastic bags. Pack a towel, a change of clothes, water and small rupiah notes.
What should you wear to Tegenungan Waterfall?
Swimwear under light clothes, sandals or shoes with grip, and a dry bag for your phone. The spray soaks everything near the base.
- Swimwear under your clothes: you only find out at the pool whether staff have opened the swimming area. There are changing rooms on site, some charging about IDR 5,000.
- Quick-dry shorts or a skirt and a T-shirt: cotton stays wet for hours in the humidity.
- Shoes with grip: about 200 concrete steps lead down, mossy and slippery after rain.
- A dry bag or waterproof pouch: for your phone, cash and car keys.
- Water: for the climb back, which is steep and hot at midday.
Most tours give you about an hour here. Whether a swim happens is the staff's call, not the tour's: see can you swim at Tegenungan.
Can you wear flip-flops to Tegenungan Waterfall?
Better not. Wet, mossy steps and slick rocks at the pool edge call for sport sandals or water shoes with a heel strap.
Flip-flops slide off on the way down and skid on the rocks. Guests on the waterfall tours say the same in plainer words. One wrote: "Take your crocs, these are essential - flip flops and slider not good enough!" Another advised water shoes because one waterfall can only be reached by walking in water. That is Tukad Cepung, where you keep your shoes on the whole time.
Trainers work for the steps but stay soggy all day. A pair of strapped sandals that can go in the water, plus dry socks and trainers in the car, covers every stop.
What is the dress code at Tirta Empul and other Bali temples?
Everyone wears a sarong and a sash. To bathe at Tirta Empul you wear swimwear under a rented green bathing sarong, never swimwear alone.
At Tirta Empul the entry fee is IDR 75,000 for adults; the bathing sarong costs about IDR 10,000 and a locker about IDR 15,000, cash. The changing areas are shared, with no cubicles, so wear your swimwear from the hotel. No soap or shampoo in the pools. By custom, women who are menstruating do not enter temples or take part in the purification ritual.
For the walk around any temple, cover your shoulders and tie the sarong over shorts or trousers. You don't need to bring one: the Monkey Forest and swing tour and the Ubud highlights tour both include a sarong for temple entry. Bring a towel and dry clothes if you plan to bathe.
A sarong for temple entry is included, plus photo help at every stop and Tegenungan on the same day.
Explore the Monkey Forest and swing tour Tour detailsWhat do Bali's do's and don'ts say about clothing?
Dress modestly, above all at holy places. The governor's circular on tourist conduct also bans immodest photos at temples and entering inner courtyards unless you are praying in Balinese dress.
The rules come from Governor of Bali Circular Letter No. 4 of 2023, which the governor repeated in May 2026 (The Bali Sun). The parts that touch a tour day:
- Dress modestly, especially at temples and holy springs.
- No nude or immodest photos at holy places.
- Don't climb or touch sacred trees.
- Don't litter rivers or springs, and skip single-use plastic.
- Pay in rupiah.
Breaking them can mean deportation. It applies at Tegenungan too: the Beji Tirta Merta temple and holy spring sit about 80 metres from the falls, where locals hold purification ceremonies. A sarong is needed there, and access closes during ceremonies.
What should you leave behind at the Ubud Monkey Forest?
Food, drinks and plastic bags, which are banned. Put jewellery and sunglasses in the lockers in the lobby, or deep in a zipped bag.
The macaques go for small, shiny objects and anything that looks like food. The sanctuary's own guidelines name jewellery, beads and toys, ban food and plastic bags, and ask you not to touch the monkeys or look them in the eye. Revealing clothing is discouraged in what is a sacred forest. If you are bitten or scratched, go to the first aid clinic on site.
Glasses go missing too. A guest on the Ubud ridge walk tour wrote that a monkey "took my husband's rx glasses"; a local woman got them back. Wear contact lenses if you can, carry a backpack that zips rather than an open tote, and keep hats on firmly or in the bag. Entry costs IDR 130,000 for adults in 2026.
Monkey Forest, rice terraces, a swing and Tegenungan in one private day, sarong included.
Check dates for the Monkey Forest and swing tourHow do you cope with the sun and humidity on an Ubud day?
Light, loose clothes in breathable fabric, a hat, sunscreen and plenty of water. In the rainy months add a light rain jacket and mosquito repellent.
Bali is hot and humid all year, and an Ubud tour stacks the hardest parts together: the climb out of a gorge at Tegenungan, open rice terraces at Tegallalang with little shade, and long stretches in and out of an air-conditioned car. Bottled water comes with every tour here, but bring a refillable bottle too.
From November to March expect heavy showers; a thin jacket packs smaller than an umbrella and leaves your hands free on the steps. Jungle falls like Kanto Lampo bring mosquitoes in the wet season. Pale colours stay cooler; bright ones photograph better against dark rock.
What should you pack for a 10-hour Ubud tour?
Cash in small rupiah notes, a towel, a change of clothes, a dry bag, sunscreen and a charged phone. Leave valuables at the hotel.
A packing list that covers every stop on a full Ubud day:
| Item | Why | Where it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Rupiah in small notes | Gates take cash only on transport-only options | Tegenungan IDR 30,000, Tirta Empul IDR 75,000, Tegallalang IDR 10,000 to 20,000 donations, toilets about IDR 5,000 |
| Swimwear, worn | Saves changing in shared rooms | Tegenungan, Tibumana, Tirta Empul |
| Strapped sandals or water shoes | Grip on wet steps and rocks | Every waterfall |
| Dry bag or phone pouch | Spray and wading | Tegenungan, Tukad Cepung |
| Quick-dry towel and dry clothes | For the car afterwards | After any swim or bathing |
| Hat, sunscreen, refillable bottle | Heat and open terraces | Tegallalang, the climbs |
| Zipped bag, no plastic | Macaques and the plastic ban | Monkey Forest |
| Light rain jacket, repellent | Showers and mosquitoes | November to March |
| Power bank | Ten hours of photos and maps | All day |
Leave the car with the driver: on a private tour it waits at every stop, so dry clothes and spare shoes can stay in it. If you book an inclusive option, most of the cash list shrinks to tips and snacks. The Bali tourist levy of IDR 150,000 is separate and never part of a tour price; see the levy post.
Your own car waits at every stop, so the dry clothes and spare shoes ride along: Tegenungan, Tirta Empul and the Monkey Forest in one private day.
Explore the private Ubud tour Tour detailsWhat should you wear for a jungle swing and photos?
Shorts or leggings under a skirt or dress, nothing loose in your pockets, and bright colours. The swing harness goes around your waist and legs.
Many Ubud tours stop at a swing park; the Monkey Forest and swing tour includes Happy Swing Bali access on its all-inclusive option. A long dress looks good in the air, but wear something underneath, and empty your pockets of phones and sunglasses before you swing out over the valley.
For photos at the falls, colour beats black: bright clothes stand out against dark wet rock. Every tour driver here offers to take pictures, and guests often say the photos were the best part. Hand over the phone in its pouch.
A private driver-guide for Tegenungan and the Ubud classics, with temple sarongs provided.
Check dates for the Ubud highlights tourFrequently asked questions
Do you need a sarong at Tegenungan Waterfall?
Not for the falls. You need one only if you enter the Beji Tirta Merta temple beside them, or at temples later in the day such as Tirta Empul.
Can you wear shorts to temples in Ubud?
Yes, with a sarong and sash tied over them. Temples rent sarongs at the gate, and several tours include one.
Should I wear a swimsuit on an Ubud tour?
Yes, under your clothes. It saves changing in shared rooms at Tirta Empul and lets you decide at the waterfall whether to get in.
What shoes are best for Tukad Cepung and Kanto Lampo?
Water shoes or sport sandals with straps, kept on the whole time. You walk through water at Tukad Cepung and climb wet rock at Kanto Lampo.
Ready to book
Choose your tour
Free cancellation up to 24 hours before on every option. Prices are from-prices in USD and move with the season.
Monkey Forest, Jungle Swing & Water Temple
Cheap to start, but the $27 option has no entry fees or lunch: pick an inclusive one.
Ubud Private Tour: Rice Terraces, Temples & Waterfalls
- Private car and driver-guide
- Hotel pickup and drop-off
- Entry fees, lunch and swing (All-Inclusive option)
Private Ubud Highlights Tour
Silver village, Batuan temple and the Ubud classics, with entry fees as an option.
