Visiting Cunca Wulang Waterfall From Labuan Bajo

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Blogger Katie Caf sits on a rock in front of Cunca Wulang waterfall Viewpoint — Cunca Wulang Waterfall Viewpoint

All About Cunca Wulang Waterfall

Cunca Wulang waterfall might not be the most magnificent waterfall I’ve been to in Indonesia, but it’s still a crazy adventurous activity you can do right outside of Labuan Bajo!

Cunca Wulang’s infrastructure has fallen victim to the pandemic closures, so as of right now it’s a very rough trek to get to the waterfall from the main road.

We were hopping missing planks on rope bridges, climbing over fallen trees, and scrambling on slippery rocks to get to Cunca Wulang – But, that was part of the fun!

If you finish the 20-minute trek (each way) to Cunca Wulang Waterfall, you’re rewarded with a gorgeous fall in the middle of the jungle, which also has a natural pool you can swim in on top of the falls!

Blogger Katie Caf driving a scooter to Cunca Wulang Waterfall from labuan bajo, flores. — 🛵 I drove a scooter to Cunca Wulang Waterfall, but if you’re not confident driving a scooter or navigating sans-street signs I recommend just taking a tour!

How To Get To Cunca Wulang Waterfall From Labuan Bajo

👉 The easiest way to get to Cunca Wulang is to take a tour. I was traveling with some locals who were able to show me the way via motorbike, but the roads weren’t marked, and I probably wouldn’t have made it there alone!

The entrance to Cunca Wulang is located around a 1.5-hour drive, or 40 KM, outside of Labuan Bajo.

Labuan Bajo is best known for being the fly-in and port city that serves as the gateway point to Komodo National Park, and the Cunca Wulang Waterfall makes for the perfect add-on day trip after a Komodo Cruise.

🌟 Book Your Private Tour To Cunca Wulang Waterfall & Rangko Cave

Address: FX3V+XH4, Pota Wangka, Boleng, West Manggarai Regency, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia

Hours: 8 AM – 5 PM

Padar Island, Komodo National Park is most commonly visited on a Komodo Boat Trip. After taking a komodo boat tour travelers can explore Labuan Bajo, where some choose to do other activites such as visit Cunca Wulang waterfall. — Padar Island, Komodo National Park – One of the stops my Komodo boat tour took me to!

How Much Does It Cost To Visit Cunca Wulang?

💸 The Entrance fee for Cunca Wulang is 50K Indonesian Rupiah ($3.50) per person. Cash only!

The entrance fee includes a guide that will walk you down to the falls. You definitely need the guide to show you the way because the path is so overgrown!

We also had to pay for scooter rentals for the day (100K per person), and gas (50K). I wouldn’t recommend going to Cunca Wulang on your own like we did unless you have a local guide due to the condition of the roads.

Full disclosure, I fell in the mud on my scooter on the way there! I wouldn’t have been able to pick it back up by myself if I was alone.

A stop at Rangko Cave is included when you book a tour to Cunca Wulang! I LOVED every minute of this magical cave in Flores. — **👉 A stop at Rangko Cave** is included when you book a tour to Cunca Wulang! I LOVED every minute of this magical cave in Flores.

Tours Of Cunca Wulang

Taking a guided tour from Labuan Bajo to Cunca Wulang is the easiest way to see the waterfall, as well as a bunch of other sights around Flores like Rangko Cave, where you can also go swimming!

If you take a guided tour it will cost more, but it will include other activities so you see the most of Flores for your money. 👉 The Tour I Recommend

The water is brown at cunca wulang waterfall during the wet season, which runs November through April - so it's best to visit from May - October (the Dry Season). — We visited in the wet season, the water is brown – so it’s best to visit from May – October (the Dry Season).

The pathway to Cunca Wulang is very overgrown! — The pathway to Cunca Wulang is *very* overgrown!

Katie’s Top Tips For Visiting Cunca Wulang Waterfall

✅ Bring Cash! Cunca Wulang is cash-only, and there are no ATMs nearby.

✅ Bring Water – There’s a place by the entrance that sells coconuts, but there’s nowhere to buy water and you’ll need it for the trek.

✅ Rainy Season vs. Dry Season – Flores has two seasons, the wet and the dry. If you’re visiting during the dry season, Cunca Wulang should have calm blue waters. If

✅ Pack Your Bathing Suit – If you’re visiting during the dry season you should have the opportunity to swim in the pool at the top of the waterfalls. 👉 And if you’re taking the guided tour, your trip includes a stop at Rangko Cave where you can go swimming no matter the season!

✅ You NEED Sturdy Shoes! While the trek to the waterfall is an easy one, the path is completely overgrown and you’ll be walking on slippery rocks that are wet from the falls. I would recommend bringing sneakers, hiking shoes, or hiking sandals to visit the falls!

Blogger Katie Caf standing in front of a rope bridge at the path to cunca wulang waterfall.

A tour guide standing with a walking stick at a run down bridge painted yellow. The bridge makes up the pathway to visit Cunca Wulang Waterfall.

My Experience At Cunca Wulang Waterfall

After I took a Komodo National Park boat tour from Lombok to Flores, I fell in love with the port town, Labuan Bajo, where they dropped us off.

I was only expecting to stay a few days, but I actually loved Labuan Bajo so much that I wound up staying for a month!

During that month I made some local friends, and they insisted we check out the Cunca Wulang waterfall one hour outside of Labuan Bajo.

Because I was with locals who knew the route, we all just drove motorbikes there – If you’re not super confident on a motorbike, and if you don’t know the local area, I would just recommend taking a tour.

The dirt roads leading up to the waterfall aren’t marked, and they have no street lights, I wouldn’t have felt comfortable making the trip to Cunca Wulang without local guides!

Not many people visit Cunca Wulang, and that was made apparent by the condition the trek was in when we arrived.

Blogger Katie Caf sitting on a broken stone pit that was once used as a seating area for tourist at Cunca Wulang Waterfall. The pit is overgrown with moss and weeds and is cracked in half. — The pathway to Cunca Wulang is overgrown and falling apart.

The path to Cunca Wulang looks like it was built with a lot of thought put into it, there are multiple bridges and concrete structures along the path, but it’s been completely ignored in recent times and left in a state of total disrepair.

It was about a 20-minute trek down to the falls. During the trek, our guide was clearing brush from the concrete steps leading to a rope bridge that was falling apart. Seriously!!! I’ve never been on a bridge like it, 1/4 of the wooden planks were missing and the roping on the sides had completely rotted away.

To add to the safety issues, the bridge was wet and slippery from spray from the falls hitting it. It really felt like you could just slip off and fall into the river any minute.

We crossed the bridge and continued to follow our guide along the path, which eventually just turned into scrambling over rocks to get to the main photo spot.

Again, everything was wet and slippery from spray hitting it from the falls.

Online you’ll see lovely photos of Cunca Wulang waterfall where the water is blue, and there are calm pools of water under the falls – this is only true if you visit during the dry season.

I visited Cunca Wulang in the rainy season (November – April), so the water level was high, the rapids were rough, and the waterfall itself was brown rather than blue.

If you visit during the dry season (May-October), you can swim in a natural pool on top of the falls, but when we went the water was too rough.

a tour guide at Cunca Wulang Waterfall in Labuan Bajo, Flores, crossing a bridge to reach the falls and carrying a walking stick. — Your tour includes a guide and a walking stick – which you’ll need since the rocks are slippery!

The falls are in a canyon and are known as the “Grand Canyon of Flores”. They’re honestly gorgeous waterfalls, but I think the most enjoyable part of visiting the falls was the mad scramble we took to get there!

After we visited the photo spot there was another 5-minute trek up you can take, on a much newer-looking path, to see the top of the falls.

We only stayed for a few minutes because it was getting dark, but this was definitely a memorable and worthwhile activity to do in Flores. I only wish we were there during the dry season so we could swim on top of the falls!

Cunca Wulang Waterfall with blue water, how it looks during the dry season from May - October — Cunca Wulang Waterfall with blue water, how it looks during the dry season from May – October. (Photo from Canva)

Cunca Wulang Waterfall: Conclusion

Thank you for reading my guide to visiting Cunca Wulang Waterfall – it was one of the coolest day trips I took from Labuan Bajo after my Komodo Boat Tour dropped me off on the island of Flores.

Labuan Bajo is quickly becoming a top travel destination in Indonesia as more and more tourists are traveling from Bali to visit Komodo National Park, and then sticking around to explore Flores overland.

Cunca Wulang was an adventurous activity in Flores that I enjoyed because it really felt like we were somewhere not many people have been before – it felt uncharted.

That being said, there are some very real safety issues related to the path leading to the falls that make me reticent to recommend it to everyone visiting Flores.

If you’re not fit, or if you have small children in your group – I wouldn’t recommend visiting Cunca Wulang due to safety issues.

If you still want to visit the falls, I recommend going with a local guide.

Thanks for stopping by!

-Katie

Looking for more information on Indonesia?

I fell in love with Indonesia in 2019 and I’ve been traveling back ever since! If you’re planning a trip to Bali & Indonesia and looking for more information, consider reading some of my other posts:

– ULTIMATE Guide To Taking A Komodo Island Boat Tour
– How To Get From Bali To Komodo Island
– How To Visit Wae Rebo Traditional Village
– Best Places To Stay In Labuan Bajo For Every Budget
– Guide To Visiting Cunca Wulang Waterfall From Labuan Bajo
– Bali Travel Tips: 50 Essential Dos & Don’ts
– How to Learn to Ride a Scooter
– Complete Transportation Guide for Getting Around Bali
– BEST Things To Do In East Nusa Tenggara & Flores