Seeing the cheeky Bali monkeys should be somewhere near the top of your Indonesia bucket list, and the Ubud Monkey Forest Sanctuary is the most popular place to do it.
Almost 1,000 monkeys live at the Bali monkey forest! This is a 12 hectare (30 acre) jungle area surrounding an old 14th century Hindu temple, located in the heart of Ubud.
It’s fun, family friendly, and affordable, and you get to interact with the animals in a more natural setting than a zoo. What’s not to like?
This travel guide will explain how to get to the Ubud monkey forest, current entrance fees, and everything else you need to know before you go!
What To Expect – Ubud Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary
It may sound weird, but the Instagram famous monkey forest was one of the biggest inspirations for my first trip to Bali years ago.
I saw all the moss covered statues in the jungle, and the pictures of people posing with monkeys in Ubud, and it looked really fun to me. Opinions of the monkey forest are all over the place. Some love it, some hate it.
A lot of people are scared of monkeys, so they’d rather stay far away from this place. I like monkeys, so going here seemed like a really fun and authentic experience that you can’t have anywhere else.
Now that my wife and I live in Bali, we’ve gone back to the monkey forest many times, with and without friends, and it’s always funny to watch the monkeys’ ridiculous antics.
No matter who you are, you’re guaranteed to have some memorable experiences at this place!
Monkey Business – Things To Know
The Bali monkey forest can be a bit wild. You’ve been warned!
I’ve seen the monkeys in Ubud crawl on peoples’ faces, pull down women’s tops and lift up their dresses, chew on peoples’ hair like a snack, drink from water bottles, steal sunglasses, and just flop down and take naps in the middle of the walking path.
Somehow I’ve miraculously escaped being peed on, even though I’ve let countless Bali monkeys climb on my shoulders over the years.
With that said, this is a place where you have a fairly good chance of being peed on, robbed, or even bitten. If you don’t like cheeky monkeys, then stay far away!
I’ve gotten a few bites, but nothing serious, and the Bali monkeys don’t really have any diseases to worry about (see the safety discussion later in this guide).
There are about 1,000 monkeys living here at the jungle sanctuary in more than 6 different groups, so it’s quite a party.
The Ubud monkey forest is a bit different from a zoo, because the monkeys are free to come and go as they please.
This is their natural habitat. The monkeys live here, and sleep in the banyan trees. You’re going into their cherished monkey living quarters. Their jungle palace, if you will.
Still, you can help feed the monkeys or take pictures with them. They’re easy to interact with, partly because of the helpful staff at the Ubud Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary.
The monkeys in Ubud are fed three times a day, mainly with a combination of sweet potatoes and bananas, along with the occasional papaya leaves and seasonal fruit.
This monkey species is called the Balinese long-tailed macaque, or crab-eating macaque. The scientific name is Macaca fascicularis.
Baby monkeys stay with their mothers until they’re about 10 months old, gradually learning the ways of the jungle, and they’re just as cute as you might expect.
Taking pictures with the Bali monkeys is always a lot of fun.
The staff can use a snack to lure the monkeys onto your shoulder, and they can even do funny trick photos for you where it looks like the monkey is holding your phone and taking a selfie photo with you. You can see the pic above for an example.
The amusing ‘monkey selfie’ viral pictures at Ubud are accomplished by the staff holding a sunflower seed or other small treat behind your phone, and then when the monkey reaches for it, they snap a photo. Voilà, you’ve got your monkey selfie!
When taking pictures with the monkeys, we try to avoid the older ones with their big fangs, and buddy up with the docile younger monkeys instead. They’re cuter anyways, and less likely to give a nasty bite if they get upset with you for some reason.
Just be careful not to approach one of the little baby monkeys too closely or suddenly, because the mothers may be protective!
The staff at the monkey forest also carry slingshots to keep the bad monkeys in line if they attack each other or steal something from a visitor.
They don’t hurt the monkeys. Usually all they have to do is pull out the slingshot and any troublemaking monkeys head for the hills.
The Ubud Monkey Forest does get a bit crowded nowadays, especially later in the morning and early afternoon. However, it’s actually not the only monkey forest Bali has to offer.
If the crowds at Ubud bother you, then you might want to check out the Sangeh Monkey Forest instead. It’s another nice monkey place in Bali that’s not too far from Ubud, and it’s way less busy.
Things NOT To Do
The following is a list of things you should NOT do at the monkey forest Ubud:
- Do not bring any kind of valuables. Earrings, jewelry, and other accessories aren’t a good idea. The Bali monkeys might steal them. Big earrings are especially risky because they’re tempting to yank.
- Do not wear glasses or sunglasses. The monkeys in Ubud will try to grab them off of your face. I’ve seen someone lose an expensive pair of glasses here.
- Do not bring outside food or hide it in your pockets. The monkeys might find it, and they will not be happy about you hiding it.
- Do not feed the monkeys outside snacks or drinks. Peanuts, cookies, candy, and other snacks are bad for their monkey bellies.
- Do not bring plastic or paper bags. The monkeys in Ubud associate these bags with food, so they’ll steal them and then toss them in the forest, like litter bugs.
- Do not panic or run from the monkeys. They know what this means. If you can stay calm, the monkeys are more likely to do the same.
- Do not look the monkeys in the eye and grin at them. The Bali monkeys hate if you do this; especially the bigger ones. They take bared teeth and eye contact as a sign of aggression.
- Do not touch or grab the Bali monkeys. They won’t let anyone pick them up, and they hate being touched. Let them do the touching, and they’ll also climb onto you if they want.
