Nusa Penida
23 August 2024
Nusa Penida is a rugged paradise a short boat ride from Bali, offering some of the most breathtaking landscapes I’ve ever seen. From the iconic cliffs at Kelingking Beach to the surreal snorkeling at Crystal Bay, Nusa Penida was unforgettable. The roads were rough, the sun was relentless, and the hikes were no joke—but the jaw-dropping views made every challenge worth it.
Día 1
- Crystal Bay
- Kelingking Beach Overlook
We got picked up from our Airbnb by a young kid, and he ran into a wall backing out. Bradnon said he dented and scratched the back of the new car he was driving. He was possibly rattled by this because he drove super slow for the rest of the way and never wanted to use 1st gear. The result was he stalled out repeatedly because he only started in 2nd. We arrived late due to traffic and his grandma-like driving. We were late for the 8:00 am ferry, so I think we got put on the 8:30 am ferry – that or they were behind schedule, too. By 8:15 am, we were on the boat, and after an hour of sitting on it, it filled up all the way, and we left. It was hot, and it took forever. I was glad to be out of the ferry. We did not get off the ferry until 10:15 am.
Indi arranged a driver to pick us up from the ferry terminal and take us to our hotel. We found him standing with a piece of paper with Indi’s name on it. We walked with him a long ways to his car, passing through what appeared to be some kind of industrial salvage yard. We decided to rent two scooters from our hotel for the sake of convenience. The “cottages,” as they were called, were two little round-roofed cabins made entirely of wood. I quite liked them, although they weren’t particularly close to anything besides Crystal Bay. We got the scooters sometime around 11:30 am and stashed our bags at the cottages.
Crystal Bay
We rode the scooters down to Crystal Bay and rented a couple of beach chairs and umbrellas for the day at around 12:30 pm. We got some roasted corn for 20k, and it was super good. I got in the water and found it to be rather colder than expected. I swam out past the sandy area and found amazing coral like I had never seen before. Colorful, biodiverse, healthy, full of fish and a few turtles. I swam back in after a while to tell them how good it was and get them to come with me.
They were busy with other stuff and possibly not as excited as I was. So, I laid down on the beach chair with Indi to wait. After a while, she left and I fell asleep. I think I slept for a long time. When I woke, the three of them were gone. I eventually thought to check my phone and saw that Indi had texted me that they were walking to a nearby beach. I got another piece of corn and waited for them to return. I got back in the water once more, but the shallows were all rocky, so I got out. We decided to hit one more location before we lost the light so we hopped on the scooters, Audrey put her helmet on backwards, and took off.
It was at this time that we realized the roads on Nusa Penida are in seriously bad shape. The traffic is not as bad as Bali, but the roads are riddled with potholes and occasionally partially or totally washed out. The ride takes 45 minutes, according to Google Maps, but in reality, it takes longer. On the way, we stopped at a warung close to Kelingking Beach called Warung Madeva. The food was excellent, easily the best food we had on Nusa Penida. However, as you will discover if you keep reading, Nusa Penida sets an extremely low bar when it comes to food. I highly recommend eating at Warung Madeva whenever possible; it’s just the best food there, period.
Kelingking Beach Overlook
We arrived at Kelingking Beach with plenty of time to watch the sunset. I will never forget the view. The view from the top of the cliff, looking down on Kelinking Beach and the steep walls that surround it on three sides, is jaw-dropping. It doesn’t matter what time of day you go, it doesn’t matter the weather, so long as you can see down to the ocean you’re going to be astonished at the beauty and drama of the viewpoint.
Día 2
- Kelinking Beach
Kelingking Beach
We didn’t get up as early as we had planned. We hopped on the scooters and drove to Kelingking Beach to hike all the way down to the water. We started at about 10:00 am. Unfortunately, we got stuck behind some really slow people, so it took a long time to get down. I didn’t mind overly much because the view was spectacular from top to bottom. The stairs were steep and crowded at the top, but the crowd got thinner further down.. At a certain point, the stairs dissolved into rocky dirt. The rails built on either side of the path are well made (from 2×4’s or branches) and, I hope, well maintained. I saw a large, older lady in front of me yanking on the posts with all her weight as she stepped down a particularly tough spot, and the fence held!
When we finally made it to the bottom, we hung our stuff from a tree and took in the beach from sea level. Even without the birds-eye view, the beach is stunning. It’s in the top 5 most beautiful beaches I have seen in my life. Some pretty big waves would sweep people’s legs out from under them whenever they got too close to the shore break waves. It was hilarious and no one was injured.
It looked fun, and I feel comfortable navigating big waves, so I timed it and ran in. I had so much fun playing in the waves by escaping the pull of a shore break wave at the last second. I could have stayed in the water all day. A lot of people were looking at me like I was crazy. One or two others made it out past the break like me.
Brandon and I brought goggles. We put them on and swam out far enough to where the water was clear from the sand being churned up by the powerful waves. There wasn’t much to see underwater, but the view was great and the water super blue.
Brandon went in, and I stayed in the water. Suddenly, the waves grew bigger, then bigger still. Before I knew it, I was the only person in the water as massive 8-10 ft shore break waves barreled onto the sand. The power and size of them was incredible. I was careful not to get caught, I didn’t feel like being carried back up the stairs on a stretcher. I had a blast riding over the crest of the wave to watch it smash down onto the sand. Eventually, the big waves ceased, and people came back into the water. Audrey and Indi never wanted to get in. Eventually, Indi gave me the signal that it was time to go.
The way back up was both faster and easier than the way down had been. I believe we did it in half the time.
We went back to the same warung near Kelingking Beach. Just like the previous day, everything was delicious. The menu is short, but everything on it is worth a try.
Día 3
- Diamond Beach
I could hear that it was raining when I woke, so I was in no rush to get up and out of the house. We did not do much besides packing and getting ready to check out at noon. We arranged to store our bags at the cottage and come back for them later.
Then, we paid for the 2nd day of use of the scooters and walked to a restaurant. The place was fancy and looked cool, but the food wasn’t great. It was here that we hung around waiting for Pheobe to arrive – Indi’s high school friend from New Zealand. She was going on a trip to Europe and decided to meet up with us for a week before continuing on her planned trip. We all got lunch together, returned to the cottage, and waited for a driver.
We got a driver to take us from our cottages to the new hotel where we would be staying on the other side of the island. The drive was long and rough. The roads in Nusa Penida suck. We finally got to a rocky dirt road that took forever to drive down. I realized I had barely glanced at this place before booking it. I just saw that it was cheap, close to where we wanted, and the rooms looked fine.
We rolled up to the front gate and walked into the property to find that it was beautiful. It was still under construction, but there were 3 finished rooms, and we had booked all of them for just $45. I wish we could have stayed at this hotel longer. It was one of my favorite hotels in Indonseia. The host was very nice and informed us we could book a tour through her and arrange breakfast. She also showed us a path to walk to Diamond Beach – the reason we had come there. It was later in the day at this point, but we decided to go right then.
Diamond Beach
Diamond Beach was gorgeous. The beach was already in shade because of the sun being low and the cliff being tall, but it was still picturesque. The walk down to the beach was much easier than Kelingking. The steps were wide, shallow, uniform in size, and looked newly made. Plus, there were a lot fewer of them compared to Kelingking.
When we got to the beach, we got in the water right away. I think it may have been low tide because it was pretty rocky. There was only a relatively small sandy area to get into the water. The waves were relatively small and mostly break before the area that is shallow enough to stand, which means that you get a big wall of white water to duck under or attempt to jump over. I played in the waves for a bit, but the rocks made it slightly sketchy and not as fun as the previous day’s waves.
I got out and flew the drone around. I managed to get some footie before it got too dark. We climbed the stairs back up before it was too dark to see. It was totally dark by the time we walked back to the hotel on the trail. By night, it was a different experience. We saw large snails with mildly conical shells getting it on all over the place, and we had to be careful not to step on them; there were so many.
I found the host and paid for a snorkeling tour for the 5 of us for the following day. Then, I ordered breakfast for us to be ready 15 minutes before leaving at 7:00 am. After showering, I went outside to sit with Indi for a bit. It was comfortably cool, and there was some wind. It felt great to sit outside and enjoy the sound of the night. We heard, then saw one of the large Balinese house geckos – though a smaller one than I had seen online. It was still cool and much bigger than any gecko I had seen before. I don’t think I have mentioned it previously, but if you visit Indonesia, you’re going to hear a loud, high-pitched croaking at night. If you find the culprit, you might see a reptile the size of your forearm.
Día 4
- Snorkeling Tour
- Toya Pakeh
- Manta Point
- Crystal Bay
We woke up at 6:30 am to eat breakfast at 6:45 am to leave the hotel at 7:00 am. A driver from the tour company picked us up at the hotel, and we drove back to the other side of the island where the ferry port is located. Right next to the ferry company that brought us to Nusa Penida was the tour company we had booked for the day. We stashed our things in a big, open, wooden box originally built to hold flippers. We left our things there and got in the boat.
The boat was full, but I had expected that from reviews I had read online. In fact, I wasn’t expecting much from the tour, I just wanted to see manta rays.
Toya Pakeh
Our first stop on the tour was to a place very close to where we had embarked from. It was a coral reef offshore of the rocky coastline. The current was decently strong, so the captain had us hop off the boat upcurrent and let us drift down while looking at the shallow reef. The coral was amazing. I was astounded by the reefs’ health and biodiversity. I had only ever snorkeled (or scuba dived) in the Americas before coming to Nusa Penida. If you enjoy snorkeling, Nusa Penida is a great destination, and that’s a laughable understatement. I was one of the first people in the water and the last back on the boat.
Manta Point
The captain sailed the boat around the island to Manta Point. As we drove around, a man stood on the bow to scout for mantas but saw nothing. He told us to hop in anyway to see what we could see. There wasn’t much; the water was much deeper in this location, but it was still cool.
We were the last to the boat, and the guide was frustrated. I guess he had been calling for us because they had seen dolphins. When we turned the boat to leave, the dolphins came back. He asked if we wanted to see them at the cost of cutting out one of the stops on the tour, and we collectively agreed.
We hopped in and swam after them, but they were fast, and I had no fins on in my excitement to see them. This ended up being a big mistake. I chased them down and was alone when I caught up to one. It was down deep, but I dove down as best I could. After swimming for so long and with no fins on, I couldn’t go down 40-50 feet to get really close. I was surprised when a dolphin looked up and started to swim towards me as I dove down to get closer. Truth be told, it startled me, and I let myself ascend to the surface. I called to the boat to say I saw one, and when I looked down, it was swimming away. As I swam around looking for them, I was able to see the whole pod swimming below me a few times. Indi saw it too, it was cool. It was my first time swimming with dolphins despite seeing them many times.
Crystal Bay
We got back in the boat and went to Crystal Bay, where I had already snorkeled. The reef is incredible and looked even better this time around because it was sunny and close to midday. It was so healthy, colorful, and full of fish. I kept thinking that I had never dared hope to see a reef so pristine. I feel very grateful to have seen it. I saw a small, striped eel I’d never seen before, maybe you can spot it in the photo.
We ended the short tour, and although we hadn’t seen mantas, I felt it was one of the best tours I had been on and for less than $25/pax. There are many tour agencies that offer this exact itinerary. I had heard mixed reviews because there are a lot of people on the same boat, and the water can be rough depending on conditions, but I wholeheartedly recommend it. We were lucky enough to have great conditions, and I knew it was going to be a big group.
Our ferry back didn’t leave until around 2:00 pm, so we had time to kill. We went to a kind of restaurant/beach club where we got some food and chilled in the pool until it was time to leave.
Next time
On our next adventure, we embarked on a 3-day boat trip to Komodo Island. It’s an experience I will never forget.
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