Curious about the famous Mount Batur sunrise trek? Here's all you need to know about our adventurous sunrise tour along this gorgeous volcano in Bali.

The Mount Batur Sunrise Trek in Bali

Curious about the famous Mount Batur sunrise trek? Here's all you need to know about our adventurous sunrise tour along this gorgeous volcano in Bali.

Ah yes, the famous Mount Batur sunrise trek. A must do for anyone who likes hiking or sunrises in Bali.

I should preface this post by explaining that this was not an easy trek for me at all.

  1. I’m a night owl, so I was never going to get enough sleep for a 2 a.m. wake-up call.
  2. My current fitness levels leave much to be desired.
  3. I don’t hike that much, despite having one or two or three mountain posts. I want to be a person who hikes, but I’m not there yet.
  4. I’m not 100% sure I had appropriate shoes, but I also saw people in Keds and Converses, so I wasn’t the most unprepared person.

Anyhow, after successfully completing this gorgeous sunrise tour, I wanted to shed some light on what exactly the Mount Batur sunrise trek was like.

mt-batur-sunrise-hike

The Mount Batur Sunrise Trek

For starters, doing this hike was entirely Elissa’s idea. She grew up near the foothills of southern California, so she always did hikes with her family, including much harder ones than this. She also does taekwondo regularly.

Yes, Elissa’s current fitness levels > my current fitness levels by a landslide. At first, I hemmed and hawed when she added it to our list, but after I saw the pictures from Nicola at Polkadot Passport, I decided I could suck it up and hike an active volcano to get such a beautiful view.

Guys, it’s gorgeous up there.

You spend a good hour and a half to two hours getting to one of the three main points in the dark with only a flashlight and, hopefully, an attentive guide to help you. It’s freezing cold at the top, though you can get a hot drink while you wait with the hundreds of other people who decided to do this trek as well.

You might curse yourself for agreeing to this hike the whole way up and the whole way down. However, as soon as you see that bit of orange popping up through the darkness… It’s worth it. Like easily one of the best sunrises I’ve seen in my whole life. My photos do not do it justice!

I hated every moment of my life getting up and down that hill, and my ankles were tender for a few days afterward from falling multiple times, but I’d still recommend this trek to anyone.

Also, you might run into some monkeys on the way down ;p

mount-batur-sunrise-monkeys

More on the Mt. Batur Sunrise Trek

  • From Canggu:
    • It’s about 1 1/2 – 2 hours drive depending on traffic. We left at 1:45 am and actually got there a little after 3 am, but on the way back it took us a little over 2. You can easily arrange a guide with your guesthouse. If you’re in Ubud, there are definitely multiple travel agencies as well.
  • Cost
    • 600,000 IDR (~ $46) for the drive and guide. We were also given breakfast and water.
    • We tipped our guide, Eka, because he was the best. I read 20-50,000 IDR is normal, but I think we each did 50,000 IDR a piece. He seemed so much more attentive than other guides we saw, and he literally held my hand for most of this hike.
    • **If you want to book ahead of time, I always recommend looking on Klook. Here’s their tour for Mt. Batur.
  • Weather Tip
    • It. Gets. COLD. Like windy, to your bones cold up at the top. Bring a proper jacket. Even my cargo jacket wasn’t enough to keep me warm, and we wound up waiting about an hour for the sunrise!
  • Shoe Tip
    • Wear something sturdy, either trail shoes or hiking boots. Trail shoes should be pretty okay though. There are rocky parts and slippery parts, and while I fell a lot, overall the actual trail wasn’t as harsh on my feet as Baemsagol.

mount-batur-bali

Have you been on a sunrise hike before? 

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22 Comments

    1. Hi! I believe Mt. Batur uses a government-related agency. I booked with my guesthouse, though, so I’m not sure. They handled everything else :)

  1. Sunrise and sunset are just one of the most amazing scenes nature offers to us. You got to appreciate this more because of the effort you exerted to get up there. This should be a photographer’s dream.

    1. They really are! They’re sheer magic, I swear. And yes, I’m just imagine all the types of shots I could have gotten with a more upgrade DSLR or even a drone :p!

  2. I was definitely looking forward to this hike but we skipped Indonesia this time in favor of a trip to America in FOUR WEEKS! (EEK!) With that said, I’ll definitely be doing it when I make it to Indonesia so I appreciate these tips as I’ll be referencing back. I’ve done quite a few sunrise hikes and while they’re sometimes awful in the process, views like yours make it all worth it. Glad you had a great time – thanks for sharing your experience =)

    1. Haha you’ll have fun back in the US! Definitely do the hike when you’re in Bali (especially if you’re already used to how awful pre-sunrise can be :p).

  3. I’m a night owl too and terrible at waking up early so I wouldn’t be able to do this. I love hiking though because I love to photograph landscapes. My condition wasn’t very good as well, but since I started jogging I can walk up slopes without being out of breath. It’s probably easier to train that way than walking up a bunch of mountains all the time.

    1. Haha I only got like 3 hours of sleep before doing this– so terrible! And wow you’re doing better than me with being in shape! I want to start jogging and getting my fitness levels up again so something like this hike isn’t as hard as it was for me!

  4. sounds like a tough workout. waking up and leaving so early would prove to be difficult too, if you even sleep. half the time I’m still awake at 1:45.
    sounds well worth it though. I’ll be sure to do it for some photography up top. haha

    1. Oh man it was! Though Elissa is in better shape than I am, and she seemed pretty okay! And yes, that was probably 99% of my motivation–thinking of the photos!

  5. I love the final picture of you Sam! So stunning, a great shot to commemorate a feat esp. since you said there was a 2am wake up call?? Indonesia seems like it has so much to offer. I honestly need to go sooner rather than later! The only thing that would truly freak me out would be those wild monkeys!

    1. Thanks, Izzy! Haha it was more like a 1:30 am and on the road by 2 am — NUTS! It definitely does! I originally thought I’d go when I had 3 weeks for travel, and I wanted to do 2 weeks around Indonesia and 1 week relaxing in Bali. I have a pin board of non-Bali places I want to see still!

      Haha and the monkeys were super chill :) The people pushing to see them were probably more dangerous!

  6. I almost did this hike when I was in Bali, but we decided to do some extra days in temples instead, but this seems like something I’ll do when my husband and I go to Bali soon! Thanks for sharing! I hope you become a hiker – we absolutely love hiking and the rewards & memories it brings! Cheers!

    1. Definitely when you go back! If you can try to get a guide for just the two of you instead of a bigger group :) And definitely, it’s my goal this year! Hike as much while I’m in Korea (AMAZING mountains here) and continue when I’m home!

  7. I would totally do this! Waking up at 2 am sounds tough, but the views look amazing, and I’m sure it’s something you’ll never forget!

    1. Definitely recommend as someone who died the whole way up and down– the views are SO worth it! The 2 am was pretty bad, but I did sleep in the car ride up and back haha.

  8. Thanks for sharing this! So often it’s hard to get a sense of how difficult a trail is and how prepared I need to be. This was a super helpful post.

  9. I love hiking and this would be ideal for me. As hard as it would be to wake up early I think I could manage it for those views and beautiful sunrise. If I ever get to Bali I will be doing this for sure.

    1. Oh definitely. This is an easy must if you like hiking! Haha I was kind of hoping it would be like what my early morning swim practices used to be like– hard, but I’d also only be half awake for them!

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