8 Top Things to Do in Ubud During Your Yoga Teacher Training
By Deep Kumar | Founder, Yoga New Vision | Lead Teacher since 2009
The 8 best things to do in Ubud during yoga teacher training are: walking the Tegalalang Rice Terraces, bathing at Pura Tirta Empul temple, hiking Campuhan Ridge, visiting the Ubud Monkey Forest, exploring Tirta Gangga Water Palace, spending time at Bali Elephant Sanctuary, touring the cultural museums and art market, and swimming at Ubud’s surrounding waterfalls. Students at Yoga New Vision, based at Omham Retreats in Kedewatan, reach every one of these sites within 10 to 30 minutes.
Free Time During Bali YTT: What to Do in Ubud
I have been teaching yoga in Ubud since 2009. I have watched thousands of students arrive here, complete their 200 hour certification, and fly home. The ones who carry the deepest transformation are never the ones who studied hardest inside the shala. They are the ones who let Ubud itself teach them.
Ubud is not a backdrop for your training. It is part of the curriculum.
If you spend 22 days in one of the world’s most spiritually charged environments and you leave having only seen the inside of a yoga studio, you have shortchanged yourself by a significant margin.
Is Ubud Rich Enough to Justify 22 Days of Your Life Here?
I get this question from prospective students regularly. My answer is always the same: Ubud is the only place in the world where the environment outside your yoga shala actively reinforces what we teach inside it.
The Balinese approach to the Pancha Koshas, the five layers of human existence, is not an abstract philosophy here. It is how the entire island organises itself. You see it in the temple offerings placed at dawn. You feel it in the silence of the rice terraces at 6 AM. You experience it in the purification rituals at Pura Tirta Empul.
No other yoga destination on earth gives you that.
8 Top Things to Do in Ubud During YTT
Tegalalang Rice Terrace: Mindfulness Beyond the Photos
Tegalalang is 14 minutes by scooter from Omham Retreats. Most yoga students treat it as a photo opportunity. I ask our students to treat it as a pranayama lab.
Standing at the terraces at sunrise, watching water move through century-old irrigation channels, breathing cold morning air that is nothing like city air your body understands lung capacity differently in that moment. The Buteyko breathing principles we teach in the shala become visceral, not theoretical.
Go at 6:30 AM before the crowds. Bring nothing except your breath.
Pura Tirta Empul: How a 10th Century Holy Temple Deepens What You Learn in the Shala
This 10th century temple is 20 minutes from Omham Retreats. It houses 30 holy water spouts fed by a natural spring, and Balinese Hindus have been performing ritual purification here for over a thousand years.
We teach the Shatkarmas, the yogic cleansing practices, inside the shala. Pura Tirta Empul is their living embodiment. When you step into those cool spring waters on a Sunday morning with your cohort, surrounded by genuine devotion and ancient stone, you stop learning about ritual cleansing and start understanding it.
Every Yoga New Vision cohort visits this temple together. It is not optional. It is part of how I teach the Pancha Koshas in practice.
Campuhan Ridge Walk: Integrating Breathwork
Campuhan Ridge is 8 minutes from Omham Retreats on a scooter, then a 30-minute walk through undisturbed jungle and open grassland ridge paths.
I teach the Buteyko Breathing Technique as part of our core pranayama curriculum. There is no better place to integrate it than on Campuhan Ridge at 7 AM before the day’s heat builds. Your nasal breathing, your CO2 tolerance, your capacity to stay calm in physical exertion all of it gets quietly tested and improved on that walk.
This is not a tourist hike. It is breathwork with scenery.
Ubud Monkey Forest: What It Actually Teaches You About Ahimsa
The Monkey Forest is 18 minutes from Omham Retreats. Over 700 long-tailed macaques move freely through ancient temple grounds that date back to the 14th century.
I do not send students here for novelty. Ahimsa, non-harming, is the first Yama in Patanjali’s Eight Limbs of Yoga. Spending an hour among animals that are entirely wild, that live on their own terms, that need nothing from you except your respect that is Ahimsa in its most direct form.
Keep your distance. Do not feed them. Watch what happens when you stop needing to interact and simply observe.
Tirta Gangga Water Palace: The Most Spiritually Aligned Afternoon You Will Have Outside the Shala
The royal family of Karangasem built Tirta Gangga in the 1940s. It is a 45-minute drive from Omham Retreats and worth every minute of the journey.
The palace is a network of stepped pools, fountains, ornamental fish ponds, and carved stone deities set within manicured gardens. Orange Koi fish circle below the water’s surface. Everything here is deliberate, ordered, and deeply calm.
We teach the seven Chakras and the five elements as frameworks for inner balance. Tirta Gangga is an architectural meditation on those same principles. Students consistently report that visiting here shifts something they had been struggling to shift inside the shala.
Bali Elephant Sanctuary: Compassion as a Physical Practice
Mason Elephant Park is 28 minutes from Omham Retreats. The park has housed rescued Sumatran elephants from Indonesia’s deforested regions since 1997.
Spending time with an animal that weighs five tonnes and responds to genuine gentleness recalibrates your nervous system in ways that seated meditation can sometimes take weeks to accomplish. Yoga philosophy teaches Karuna, compassion, as an active quality. This is where Karuna stops being a Sanskrit word and becomes something you hold in your hands.
Cultural Museums and Art Markets: How Ubud Makes You a Richer Teacher
The Neka Art Museum, Puri Lukisan, and Agung Rai Museum of Art are all within 15 minutes of Omham Retreats. The Ubud Art Market is a 12-minute scooter ride.
What does the art of a culture that has practiced Bhakti Yoga for centuries actually look like? It looks like the paintings in these museums. It looks like the woodcarvings and stone sculptures that are not decorative objects but living representations of the Hindu cosmic order.
When you understand what the Balinese artist was depicting and why, you teach yoga philosophy with a precision and depth that your students will feel.
Ubud Waterfalls: Active Recovery That Produces Real Results
There are eight significant waterfalls within 30 minutes of Omham Retreats. Tibumana Waterfall is 25 minutes away. Kanto Lampo is 22 minutes. Suwat Waterfall is 28 minutes.
Physical training at YNV intensity, six days a week, requires active recovery. Cold water immersion in a natural waterfall setting reduces inflammation, resets the nervous system, and gives your body the contrast stimulus it needs to absorb the previous day’s alignment and movement work.
Students from our 2025 cohorts reported completing an average of two waterfall visits per week during their 22 day training. This is not a luxury. It is intelligent athlete maintenance applied to the yoga student.
Why Omham Retreats Is the Best Basecamp in Ubud
Our home, Omham Retreats and Resort in Kedewatan, is not centrally located in the tourist core of Ubud. That is by design.
We sit within rice paddy fields with walking paths directly from your room. You are 8 minutes from Campuhan Ridge, 14 minutes from Tegalalang, 20 minutes from Pura Tirta Empul. You get proximity to every major site without being inside the daily traffic and noise of central Ubud.
One week before your training starts, I personally open a WhatsApp coordination group for your cohort. We arrange shared scooter rentals from vetted local providers, coordinate group excursion days, and share exact navigation guidance for every site listed on this page. You will not spend a single free day wondering what to do or how to get there.
What YNV Graduates Say About Exploring Ubud
Rebecca from Australia said this after completing her training: “I cannot imagine doing this anywhere else.”
Chelsea from the United States said: “If you want one of the most magical experiences of your life, I highly recommend coming.”
Katharina from Germany said: “I don’t have enough words to describe how changing, transformative, and unbelievable this journey was.”
Not one of these graduates is describing asana technique. They are describing Ubud. They are describing the training that happens outside the shala as much as inside it.
That is what I have spent 16 years building.
Your 2026 Training Dates and Pricing
Our May 2026 cohort has only final spots remaining. July and September are now enrolling.
Pricing for the 200 Hour YTT at Yoga New Vision:
Course Only (Early Bird): $1,999
Shared Room All-Inclusive (Early Bird): $2,999
Single Room All-Inclusive (Early Bird): $3,999
Every package includes your Yoga Alliance certification, full curriculum materials, and the $599 Yin Yoga online course as a free bonus. All-inclusive packages include 21 nights accommodation at Omham Retreats and three daily meals.
Secure your place with a $500 deposit. Payment plans are available.
Frequently Asked Questions
1.Will I have enough energy to explore Ubud while doing an intensive YTT?
Yes, if you choose a training that is intelligently designed rather than simply intense. The YNV daily schedule runs from 7:00 AM to 8:00 PM with structured rest periods and Sundays fully free. Our 2025 cohort data shows students completed an average of two major cultural excursions per week without compromising their training performance.
2.Is it safe to travel around Ubud alone as a yoga student?
Ubud is consistently rated among the safest travel destinations in Southeast Asia for solo travelers. YNV’s pre-arrival WhatsApp group connects you with vetted local taxi numbers and verified scooter rental contacts. We also coordinate group excursions so no student navigates Ubud alone unless they choose to.
3.What does it cost to explore Ubud on a typical free day?
Very little. A scooter rental costs approximately 70,000 IDR ($4.50 USD) per day. Entry to Pura Tirta Empul is 50,000 IDR ($3.20 USD). A full Sunday of exploration, including transport, temple entry, and a local meal, typically costs between 150,000 and 250,000 IDR ($10 to $16 USD).
4.Can I visit Ubud’s temples and sacred sites without being Hindu?
Yes. Bali’s sacred sites welcome visitors of all backgrounds provided you dress respectfully and follow site protocols. Wearing a sarong is required at most temples. YNV’s pre-arrival guidance details exact dress codes and conduct expectations so students arrive prepared and respectful of local customs.
5.How far is the Yoga New Vision training venue from Ubud’s main attractions?
Omham Retreats in Kedewatan is ideally positioned. Campuhan Ridge is 8 minutes away. Tegalalang Rice Terrace is 14 minutes. Pura Tirta Empul is 20 minutes. Ubud Monkey Forest is 18 minutes. Every attraction on this page is accessible during a Sunday or a free afternoon without significant travel time.
6.Is the YNV 200 Hour training suitable for beginners who have never taught yoga?
Yes. Beginners constitute a significant portion of every cohort. The training is not designed for already experienced teachers to sharpen their existing skills. It is designed to take a student from wherever they are and build genuine competence and confidence. Yoga Alliance accreditation since 2011 confirms our curriculum meets internationally recognized teaching standards.
7.What makes exploring Ubud during a YTT at Yoga New Vision different from other schools?
Most schools treat free time as rest time. At YNV, we frame Ubud as an extension of the training environment. The temple visits connect to Pancha Kosha philosophy. The ridge walks connect to pranayama. The elephant sanctuary connects to Ahimsa. When exploration is intentional rather than incidental, your certification carries a depth no classroom alone can produce.
Yoga New Vision is a Yoga Alliance Registered School (RYS 200) since 2011. Named World’s Most Authentic Yoga Teacher Training by OM Yoga Magazine, London. 15,000 graduates across 16 years. Every cohort rated 5 stars. Founders Deep Kumar and Sadhana Om teach in every training.
info@yoganewvision.com | yoganewvision.com
