Watch the night sky light up with fireflies in Bali—here's the best place to see them
With urbanization and light pollution, Indonesia’s firefly species are dwindling. This Balinese family is helping the insects make a comeback—and ecotourism plays a key role.
People visit Bali for many reasons, from lush rice terraces and dramatic temples to remote beaches. Yet there’s another under-the-radar marvel that’s increasingly lighting up Bali’s skies—fireflies—and travelers can witness the magic in the traditional village of Taro.
Set in the verdant highlands roughly 45 minutes north of Ubud, Taro has all the makings for a lightning bug getaway: rice terraces for the island’s semi-aquatic species, forests for the terrestrial insects, and family-run conservation projects to revitalize the creatures, which have faced severe local threats in recent decades.
“Between now and 40 years ago, there’s been a huge decline [in firefly numbers],” says Wayan Wardika, founder of firefly conservation project Bring Back The Light. In 2020, Wardika introduced the initiative, which includes an on-site firefly research and breeding lab on his family farm. He’d moved home after years working abroad in the cruise industry, and realized the flashing wonders he grew up with had virtually disappeared.
While Wardika launched Bring Back The Light for science and conservation, he also invites small groups of travelers to see and support the fireflies—a moonlit visit that includes a Balinese cooking class and conversations about both the ecological and cultural importance of the insects, which are sacred to the island’s culture. “In Bali, fireflies have a strong connection to spirituality—they’re [looked to for] guidance, as the guru,” Wardika says. “They’re symbols of light, knowledge, and wisdom.”
(Fireflies are nature’s light show at this West Virginia state park.)
Bringing back Bali’s fireflies
As the buzz surrounding this month’s Great Smoky Mountains National Park’s synchronous firefly gathering shows, nature lovers will travel far and wide to watch lightning bugs. Tens of thousands apply to the national park’s firefly-viewing lottery each year. And it’s not just the Smokies. Research from Tufts University in 2021 suggests that, every year, around one million people travel globally to watch the bioluminescent light show.
Despite this rising fanfare, firefly species face growing threats worldwide. Threats include habitat loss, pesticide use, and worsening light pollution, as the insects rely on true darkness to communicate and locate mates. Between 2011 and 2022, the sky’s brightness grew around 10 percent each year, according to a report in Science.
Bali faces many of these problems. According to research from the Transnational Institute, up to around 2,500 acres of agricultural land has been wiped out each year for the past two decades. Often, it’s converted into housing and buildings, including for tourism. With this growing infrastructure comes more artificial light, and that’s not counting the use of firefly-killing pesticides to meet crop demands.
“We’re now producing rice three times a year [with chemicals], where before, we produced just one time per year,” says Wardika, noting this puts not only more pesticides, but more pressure, on the rice terraces and surrounding forests that fireflies call home. “We can’t stop farmers from producing more each year, but we can supply the materials they use.”
That’s why Wardika and his family provide organic fertilizer, produced from their own cows, chickens, and goats, to help Taro-area farmers meet growing demands in a firefly-friendly way. He also uses his own farm as a pilot project to demonstrate the potential benefits of both chemical-free farming and community-based tourism to neighboring agriculturists.
“[Low-impact tourism] can become a model for those who live in natural villages, like me, to see our natural environment as a key resource that we need to maintain, keep, and preserve,” he says.
(Fireflies are flourishing in places you wouldn't expect.)
Watching fireflies in the village of Taro
While the sparkle is the main attraction, a firefly tour in Taro goes beyond glittery awe. It’s a chance to learn about life in this traditional community, which is one of the oldest villages in Bali.
Visits begin around 5 p.m. with a stop in the firefly conservation lab. Travelers see the breeding center, where Wardika and young biologists from across Indonesia breed fireflies across all stages of life, from larvae to adults. Lab visits include narration on Bali’s semiaquatic and terrestrial species and their threats, as well as the behind-the-scenes legwork and patience required to revitalize populations.
“We’ve already started releasing thousands of semiaquatic larvae into the protected [fully organic] rice fields,” Wardika says, noting that it takes time for their numbers to rebound. “We’re confident that in a couple of years’ time, we will see a strong improvement in the population.”
The goal is to eventually release fireflies everywhere within a one-mile radius of the family farm, and soon beyond that. Bring Back The Light has also expanded, with eight teams across Bali, to revitalize the species outside Taro. For now, though, firefly viewing remains in the village—and after a lab visit, travelers join a traditional cooking class to create and gather around Balinese staples, such as moringa soup (made with the moringa plant, tomato, and ginger), with Wardika and his family.
Dusk signals the main event: firefly watching from the farm’s dedicated viewing area. Some nights, guests can join Bring Back The Light scientists in releasing a firefly or two from the breeding center.
The entire experience, which takes around four hours, is casual—but Wardika has plans for a new, luxurious iteration on the tour later in 2026: Dinner with the Fireflies. Kids are invited to the main firefly tour, but this new offering, best for couples and adult travelers, will pair locally sourced fine dining with a chance to witness the fireflies.
How to book a Taro firefly tour
To protect the fireflies, Bring Back The Light keeps space limited on its tours, with no more than 17 guests per night. Travelers can sign up on their own via the website Seek Sophie. Wardika works with several Ubud-area hotels, such as Buahan, a Banyan Tree Escape, or Anantara Ubud Bali Resort, to provide booking and transportation directly through each property.
Watching fireflies in a traditional Balinese village, while learning about local culture and ecology, shows a side of Bali few get to see. But Wardika is quick to remind jet-setters that firefly conservation takes years—decades even. And while a visit may not come with the throngs of fireflies seen in, say, the Smokies, travelers can feel good knowing they’re part of a long-term movement to bring back Bali’s sacred light.
“I’m not sure I’ll be able to see the clouds of fireflies in my lifetime,” Wardika says. “But I know one day maybe my children, or my children’s children, will be able to see that, and that makes me happy.”
(See rare footage of a Mexican firefly species flicker in unison.)
