When my boss told me I needed to visit the Sacred Monkey Forest in Ubud, I was slightly terrified when he then proceeded to tell me how the monkeys steal everything off you – from sunglasses to phones. I poured over videos on YouTube to try and prepare myself, but they just made me even more scared!
However, all was fine, nothing was stolen, and I ended up having the BEST time there, so wanted to tell you all about it!
I was in Ubud for just two nights, so focused my efforts on a small handful of ‘to-dos’ instead of trying to pack lots in. This was mainly because I’d heard how awful the traffic was meaning getting around was hard, but also because I was desperate for a calm holiday with more relaxing than adventure.
And yes, I did have a massage every single day I was in Bali, which definitely helped with the relaxing.
I’m also trying to slow down on vacations these days as I was recently diagnosed with a chronic cardiac and fainting condition, which is made worse by the heat, tiredness, and dehydration. So I’m having to really watch what I’m doing, eat lots of salt, and have regular hydration sachets whenever I’m in the heat!
Anyway, back to the Sacred Monkey Forest. Ready to find out all about what it’s actually like to visit? Let’s go!
The Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary is a nature reserve and temple complex in Ubud, home to over 1260 long-tailed macaques. It costs only around £5 to enter, and you can stay as long as you like.
I got a Grab from my hotel, the Arma Museum & Resort, as I was pretty exhausted after a terrible night of sleep. I went fairly early in the morning and ended up spending a couple of hours there.
I made sure to keep my sunglasses and phone zipped away in my bag, and my camera was on a strap around my neck. I followed instructions and didn’t take any food, didn’t touch any monkeys, and didn’t look at them in the eye, and thankfully I had no issues.
There were lots of monkeys in the trees just outside the entrance, and on the little stretch of path that leads towards a tunnel that takes you into the forest itself.
My advice would be to keep walking towards the tunnel, even if you see monkeys, and also keep walking past the feeding platform. It gets incredibly busy with lots of people trying to get photos and you’ll see waaaaay more further into the forest, and there’ll be more space for photos etc. I even saw one American man purposely poke a monkey to get a reaction from it, and then he wondered why it got angry!
I really only saw monkeys getting angry at people that were very much in their faces and not leaving them alone. But actually the scariest thing was when they got angry at each other, not other people.
All of a sudden, out of nowhere they just freak and start fighting with each other, and you do NOT want to be in their way!
But when they’re not fighting, they’re so so cute.
The forest itself is absolutely beautiful, and it’s worth visiting just to walk around it to be honest! I really loved being surrounded by nature and big ole trees.
My favourite moment was being with the baby monkeys deep in the forest. They were super playful and cheeky.
There was this water fountain, and one of them sat there trying to turn it on. He was getting increasingly frustrated that he couldn’t get it to work, so a guide turned it on for him. He sat there happily lapping up the water, and then his friend came to join, sneakily sliding down the stone stair rail haha.
I just adore these photos so much.
The monkeys are free to roam and go wherever they like – and some quite often venture right into Ubud centre. They’re not captive at all and they choose to stay at the Sacred Monkey Forest…but obviously the constant free food means life is very easy for them!
The Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary is unmissable and you 100% need to visit if you’re in Ubud! It ended up being one of my favourite experiences in Ubud. Just follow the rules – no touching, no looking in the eyes, no food – and you’ll be fine!
