One of Indonesia’s most incredible natural wonders is Kelimutu, a small volcano on the island of Flores that has three stunning crater lakes that come in three different vibrant colors.
The colors of the lakes vary with changing mineral contents (or supernatural activity, depending on who you ask). They’re typically dark red, green and light green. When we visited in late August, the lakes were black, aqua, and green (though the green one turned into an almost identical shade of aqua to match the third lake, once the sunlight hit it).
Revered by the locals as sacred and hailed exceptional by pretty much anyone who has ever seen a picture of the striking volcano, Kelimutu is worth planning a trip to so you can see the natural beauty for yourself.
A visit to Kelimutu can be done as a side-trip out of Bali (you can fit it into a weekend like we did), or it makes a great stop along the way during a cross-Flores trip.
Getting there
Kelimutu is located in the small mountain village of Moni. Most travelers base themselves out of Moni for a night so they can visit Kelimutu in time for a breathtaking sunrise (weather permitting) the next day.
From Bali, the easiest and most direct way to plan the trip is to fly into Ende. There are inexpensive direct flights on small carrier Kalstar. We paid Rp 2.1 million per person for roundtrip tickets booked through Traveloka—we highly recommend using this Indonesian travel site. Options for refundable tickets, cheap travel insurance plans, and payment with credit card made booking tix a breeze.
Once in Ende, you can hire a car or if you’re really keen to trek it and hang with some locals, take a public kijang (car), travel (van), or bus to Moni.
For the private car option, you’ll get swarmed upon landing at the tiny Ende airport by a crowd of eager and somewhat pushy drivers ready to take you to Moni. The starting price seems to be Rp 500k, but it’s Indonesia, so everything’s negotiable—don’t get taken for an overpriced ride. We got things down to Rp 350k and offered a tip in the end.
Since most people arriving in Ende are likely going directly to Moni as well for Kelimutu, you can easily make friends with other travelers and split the car—making it not that much more for the comfort of a private car with AC versus riding in a packed sweaty bus with chickens crapping in the aisle (or on your head).
Ende’s only about 50 km southwest of Moni, which in theory should just take you about an hour by car, but part of the road was closed for construction when we went, so we had to sit in traffic (even turned the car off) as workers alternated closing lanes—the journey was closer to two hours.
The route is mountainous so if you’re prone to motion sickness, you’re going to want to pack some Antimo, Dramamine, or whatever your anti-nausea aid of choice!
You can also fly directly into Ende from western Flores port town Labuanbajo or Kupang in West Timor using other carriers like Wings Air and Nam Air, depending on where you’re coming from. If you’re doing a bigger Flores trek, you can also consider flying into Maumere and taking a bus or other transport from there to Moni.
We can’t stress this enough, but if time is flexible for you, we really recommend exploring Flores from end to end. Start in Labuanbajo and visit Komodo while you’re out there, then work your way out to Kelimutu (and beyond), stopping in traditional villages, world-class dive and snorkeling spots, and waterfalls along the way.
Overnight in Moni
An increasing number of accommodations have been popping up in Moni as Kelimutu gains popularity. Most are budget to mid-range homestays. Western-style toilets seem pretty easy to find, but hot water is not as common as you’d think in the small mountain town—considering how freezing Moni gets at night.
You can try booking ahead on travel sites, but just to warn you, a reservation doesn’t 100 percent ensure a room. Some of our travel companions booked ahead on Agoda and even paid online, only to arrive at their homestay in Moni and get told the rooms were all full.
We came to Moni without any prior booking and found a room just fine, but it seemed like most places actually were full since we came in the midst of high season, so it’s a bit of a gamble. If you don’t want to fly by the seat of your pants, you’d probably best make the booking ahead of time and call the day before to confirm your arrival.
We ended up staying at Homestay Serano (Jl. Jurusan Kelimutu Moni) slight offset from Moni and right on the main road to Kelimutu. They have a handful of bamboo-walled bungalows with hot water (though of course our hot water heater was broken). Totally fine for a budget homestay, clean enough minus our giant spider friend in the toilet, and great location. Hard to complain for Rp 100k a night.
Bintang Lodge seems to be a watering hole of sorts for travelers passing through Moni if you’re looking to get social and the rooms seem more updated than a lot of other offerings if you’re looking for those mod cons.
As we mentioned, it gets hella cold in Moni at night so you’re going to want to layer up. We’re talking sweats (both pants and hoody), scarves, and socks. Living in Bali, it’s easy to forget how dingin other parts of Indonesia can be!
Concerning eating, there’s not many options in terms of food in Moni. There are a few warungs that have Indonesian mainstays like nasi goreng, mie goreng, ayam goreng, etc. Just go to the one closest to your homestay and you’ll probably be fine.
The “Hike”
Moni is nice and close to Kelimutu so you probably can sleep in til as late as 4am and then set out for that famous sunrise view at 4:30am from your homestay.
Arrange transport the night before, whether you want to hire a driver to drop you off and wait, an ojek (motorcycle taxi), or if you’re competent on a motorbike, you could just rent one and drive yourself. Unless you choose to walk back down to Moni from Kelimutu on foot for the opportunity of seeing some hot springs and a water fall.
We didn’t do that because of limited time and it’s dry season, so we heard the waterfall was barely trickling.
Entry into Kelimutu National Park is Rp 150k, so budget accordingly. Doubtable that they take credit card (or at anywhere else in Moni for that matter).
Once you enter the national park and hit the parking lot, you’ve got a “ hike” to get through before summiting Kelimutu and making it to the main vantage point straddling the crater lakes.
It’s not a hike in the truest sense of the word though—takes like 20 minutes with some paved stairs at the end. So if you’re not that fit, still can do!
Sunrise view
Okay, so everyone says to go to Kelimutu for the sunrise view. But keep in mind, because everyone is saying that, that means everyone is there! It was quite crowded during our trip with mainly European tourists elbowing for selfie space with their selfie sticks. Gross.
However, we can’t be too annoyed by the hordes of people because we were treated to a totally clear view—conditions vary and are unpredictable (obviously it’s worse in rainy season), but it’s still pretty much luck of the draw!
At the top there are old ibu (local women) selling bananas, pop mie, coffee, sarongs, and other treats. A nice and hot cup of ginger coffee mix was Rp 10k. There’s also a gang of mischievous monkeys, so watch your sunglasses and plastic around them!
If you have more time to stick around and hangout at the park, it would be nice to see Kelimutu’s lakes during the day. Most of the tourist were bule (foreigners) in the morning, with more Indonesians arriving later—they almost seemed to have the right idea because the colors were that much more vivid once the light hit them as the day went on.
Next stop
If time is on your hands and you don’t need to fly right out to Ende, Bajawa’s an option. Charming traditional villages with locals eager to share their culture, stunning volcanic scenery, and natural hot springs, Bajawa’s worth checking out.
But if you’re only visiting Kelimutu for a weekend, then it makes sense to leave Moni after you’ve gotten your fix of the lakes then head back over to Ende for a night before catching an early morning flight. Not a ton going on in Ende, but there’s a gorgeous beach the locals call Batu Hijau, meaning “Green Stone,” though ironically the stones are blue. Great for sunset, but kind of sad to see the stones being collected, probably for landscaping in some Bali villas.
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