Telaga Tunjung Dam: Tabanan's Quiet Reservoir Among Rice Fields

While visitors crowd Tabanan's famous rice terraces, Telaga Tunjung Dam in Timpag village, Kerambitan district, is almost always empty. This irrigation reservoir sits ringed by rice fields and green hills — an honest working landscape rather than an attraction polished for tourists.

What Makes It Worth the Detour

• The reservoir covers roughly 16.5 hectares, held by a 33-metre dam wall with a storage capacity of about 1.26 million m³.
• It irrigates more than 1,300 hectares of rice fields through the Meliling, Gadungan and Sungsang subak networks — so the view is genuinely part of Bali's farming system.
• Thin mist often lies on the water in the morning; by late afternoon the surface mirrors an orange sky before the sun drops behind the western hills.
• Tour groups practically never come, so you can sit for as long as you like.

Things to Do Around the Reservoir

• Fishing — locals fish from the banks regularly; bring your own gear, as nothing is rented on site.
• Landscape and pre-wedding photography along the embankment road and the surrounding paddy bunds.
• Walking the subak paths of Timpag village, which also offers river tubing packages on the irrigation channels from around IDR 150,000 per person.
• A late-afternoon picnic while the light softens — the main reason locals come at all.

Pack These Before You Go

• Food and drinking water; only small warung stalls operate nearby, with a limited selection.
• Small cash notes for parking or snacks — do not expect a card machine out here.
• A mat or blanket to sit on, plus a hat and sunscreen, since the embankment is exposed.
• Shoes with grip: the bank paths can be slippery after rain.
• A rubbish bag — carry your waste out, there is no permanent cleaning crew here.

Practical Info & Visiting

• Location: Timpag village, Kerambitan district, Tabanan Regency, Bali. View on Google Maps
• Access: about 10 km from central Tabanan, roughly 20 minutes' drive; around 40–50 minutes from the Tanah Lot area via Tabanan town; about 42 km or 1.5 hours from Ngurah Rai Airport along the Denpasar–Gilimanuk road. There is no public transport — use a scooter, private car, rental or ride-hailing app.
• Visiting hours: an open area with no official gate. Come in daylight, ideally before 08:00 for morning mist or after 16:00 WITA for soft afternoon light.
• Tickets & parking: there is no official ticket booth. Keep small notes ready in case a local attendant manages parking; your spending is usually limited to parking and warung snacks.
• Visiting: simply turn up, no reservation needed. For tubing or subak trekking packages, contact the Timpag tourism village organisers.
• Instagram: search on Instagram to check current water levels before you set off.

Let the reservoir close your day before you head back — and book an AccessiaPass hotel voucher for an affordable room in Tabanan or Canggu as your base for exploring west Bali.