Butterfly Park in Tabanan Bali

Bali has a wide variety of attractions and I try to cover as many of them as possible. The Butterfly Park in Tabanan is one of the smaller attractions within reach for people in the Kuta area.

Tabanan is one of the 8 kabupaten (districts ) of Bali and its main town is also called Tabanan. The Butterfly Park (Taman Kupu Kupu) is located 7kms north of the town of Tabanan, at Wanasari, on the road to Penebel. The ride takes about an hour from Kuta.

The museum is located 50 meters off the road, but is easy to find, due to the massive sign outside. The neat grounds and parking lot, lead into the souvenir shop and ticket office. These keysrings had a bug attached, the perfect gift for those relatives you hate. I was surprised that the cost of admission was 40,000rp. That’s a bit steep for Bali.

The entrance to the museum is close by, and after passing through a couple of doors, and a set of hanging chains, you are inside the net-covered garden. Immediately you’ll see large yellow and black butterflies fluttering around, like bar girls at a Seminyak nightclub. Butterfly watching is a strange hobby, if you aren’t used to it, as these little creatures like to hide. It’s not like walking through the monkey forest, with hoards of friendly animals spilling out. At least a butterfly won’t try to steal your water bottle.

In the center of the garden is a section, that contains cages with a variety of butterflies and insects, including this stick insect and leaf insect (those are my scientific terms). This guy showed me some and kept pointing out the interesting ones.

While I strolled round there were no other guests. The gardens contain ponds and a variety of bushes and plants. I’d say you could check the place out in a hour max and be out of there if you’re not an expert on insects or plants. My thoughts were that I’d come here if I was driving by but wouldn’t come from Kuta just to see this place. I think they need to tap into the entertainment aspect a bit more like Discovery Channel and find some ‘flesh eating butterflies’ or a ‘rogues gallery’ of other insects, butterflies are just pretty. The Bali Butterfly Park covers 3,500m sq, making it the largest park of its kind in SE Asia. The park provides an environment for butterfly preservation and study.

Bali Butterfly Park

•Where is it?
Wanasari, Tabanan
•How long does it takes to get there?
1 hour from Kuta
•What is it?
Small enclosure with butterfly and insect collection.
•How long does it take to see the Butterfly Park?
1 hour.
•Admission:
40,000rp
•Opening hours:
Daily 8am-5pm
•Who is the Bali Butterfly Park good for?
Kids, families, people who enjoy nature, people who want an interesting pit-stop on a road trip.
•Who is the Bali Butterfly Park not good for?
People who need ‘big entertainment’, people with short attention spans, people who don’t like nature, people who are scared on insects.
•Facilities:
Parking, toilets, gift shop, snacks, drinks.

Bali Butterfly Park
Jalan Batukaru,
Sandan Wanasari
Tabanan 80351

(0361) 814282 (0361) 814283
Fax: (0361) 814281