Indonesia – Nusa Penida

Paradise beaches, swimming with Manta rays, and cave temple

The most popular ferries to the paradise island of Nusa Penida are in the cities of Sanur (closer to Denpasar airport) and Kusamba. In high season, the island is completely overrun, but we arrived at the end of March, and we were lucky with everything, with the weather and the lack of tourist crowds.

There was not really a quay in Kusamba, so it’s good to travel with a backpack. Trolleys and waves are not a good combination. The waves were huge and while some guys are holding the ropes, you have to quickly climb onto the boat.

Day 1 – Arrival!

Nusa Penida is truly a heavenly place, the scenery is just breathtaking! The most convenient way to travel around the island is a scooter, but it’s far from the safest, the roads here are just awful. In 4 months of traveling in Asia, we have never seen so many broken and bandaged arms and legs on other tourists. If you are not confident in your abilities, it is better to take a tour by car.

Day 2 – Crystal bay and Pandan beach

On the first day we went to the most famous beach of Crystal bay, which, unlike the other beaches of the island, is easy to reach and there is no need to climb. However, it was a bit crowdy, and we moved to the nearby Pandan Beach, the entrance to which lies hidden in the left end of Crystal Bay. Only a 30 minutes hikethrough the neighboring hill on foot, and we were almost alone on this gorgeous beach!

Day 3 – Diving with Manta rays at Manta Point

Nusa Penida is one of the rare places on the planet where you can see and swim with huge Manta rays. Diving centers give almost 90% guarantee !!! It’s possible to see them while snorkeling as well, as the rays often hang out at the surface.

The boat ride itself turned out to be quite exciting, with a stunning view of the rocky shores and huge waves. To get to Manta Point you go through a relatively narrow strait with a strong current.

Day 4 – Diamond beach & Atuh beach

On the east coast of Nusa Penida there’s a viewpoint from which you can descend down to two beaches: Diamond beach and Atuh beach.

In my opinion this is the most beautiful place on the island! Judge for yourself.

The picture below is a 360 photo, click and drag to look around, scroll to zoom!

Descent to Diamond Beach is not for the faint of heart! It’s a steep climb, and when we were there, the entrance to the water was impossible, due to the large waves and heavy objects in the water – coconuts, wood and so on. Therefore, Atuh beach is better suited for swimming. But it’s still worth going down to Diamond Beach, with an amazing view below.

Day 5 – Kelinking beach

Kelinking beach – это несомненно один из самых красивых пляжей, которые мы видели. Однако спуск к пляжу довольно трудный физически и психологически, по пути вниз нам встретилась девушка с приступом паники. Бедняга застряла на середине пути, и боялась идти вперед и назад, затрудняя проход другим. Тропа рассчитана на одного человека в одну сторону, а поток движется постоянно и вниз, и вверх. В самый сезон спуск к пляжу может занять до часу, так как приходиться ждать! Я уже не говорю о жаре….так что лучше спуститься утром, а подняться вечером, чтобы избежать толпы и прямого солнца.

Kelinking beach is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful beaches we have seen. However, the descent to the beach is quite difficult physically and psychologically, on the way down we saw a girl having a panic attack. The poor woman was stuck in the middle of the road, and was afraid to go back and forth, making it difficult for others to pass. The trail is designed for one person in one direction, and the stream moves constantly and down and up. In the season, the descent to the beach can take up to an hour, so you have to wait! And I’m not talking about the heat yet …. so it is better to go down in the morning and get up in the evening to avoid the crowd and the direct sun.

At the end of the beach there is a small cave in which you can hide from the soaring sun!

As elsewhere in Bali, the beaches of Nusa Penida are full of plastic, brought by the waves. We decided to fill our backpack with garbage, and bring up as much as we can. While we were doing this, we saw two girls, with a huge black plastic bag, who were cleaning the beach. We wondered what they would do with this garbage (to drag such a load to the top, it is simply unrealistic!). As a result, they gave the collected garbage to local drink vendors who were supposed to burn this garbage on the beach. Not ideal, but still better than if the plastic would have drifted back into the ocean. We gladly helped the girls, and the beach became cleaner for a while.

Day 6 – Angel’s Bilabong and Broken Beach

Angels Bilabong (natural pool near the sea) and Broken Beach (a collapsed cave) are close to each other, and you can walk around them in roughly an hour. We spent half a day in total with the road and taking pictures, the rest of the time we spent on the beach, as this was our last full day on the island.

This is Broken beach. Of course, it is impossible to swim in it, just look at it from the top, or ride on the excursion boat.

Day 7 – Departure and Cave temple Giri Putri

Our bungalow was next to the cave temple of Goa Giri Putri, which we visited on the day of our departure. The place is very interesting, the entrance to the cave is super low and narrow, and I had to literally crawl. Inside, the cave is simply awesome, a fascinating silence reigns in it, and bats hang from the ceiling 🙂

It was sad to leave, but New Zealand was waiting for us. Enjoy the video!

Useful information:

1 euro = approx. 16000 indonesian Rupiah (March 2019)

Housing – 40% of the budget

Bamboo Bungalows on Nusa Penida: 290.000 Rupiah per day

Food – 30% of the budget

Places that we liked: Penida Colada, Ogix Cliff Paradise, Black Garlic Bistro & Bar

Transport – 19% of the budget

Renting a scooter in Nusa Penida: 70000 Rupiah per day

Amed to Nusa Penida: 500.000 for two persons (300.000 for a taxi, 200.000 for the boat)

Nusa Penida to Kuta: 420.000 for two persons (300.000 for the boat, 120.000 for the taxi)

Small expenses (purchases, laundry, entry to temples, etc.) – 11% of the total budget

Out of budget:
• Diving Nusa Penida with Octopus Dive – 1 million 300 thousand / person for 2 dives