Nusa Penida

A trip to Nusa Penida could start in the harbour of Sanur, there are different ports where to leave from but Sanur would be the most obvious one, many drivers/tour agencies will be able to help you to get a boatticket there, you can order them online and you can buy them with the ticket office in the harbour. The boats go out all day and start early in the morning.
The boat trip takes little over an hour arriving in Toyapakeh harbour where you need to get out of the boat through the water but the staff from the boat will help you with that.

Nusa Penida is the biggest island in the group of three, Nusa Lembongan is the second one and the smallest one of the three islands is Nusa Ceningan only to be reached by a bridge, there are no cars on that island.
The team of Rundung Bali Tours did the trip in June 2022 and rented a motorbike and travelled around the island and below is a list of things which we visited.
Please note that because this trip was in 2022, things can be different now, like entrance fees.

Saka Boutique Hotel

We stayed at the Saka Boutique hotel for one night, the hotel is located about a 5-minute drive from the harbour, a small and cosy boutique hotel with 8 rooms, a swimming pool, restaurant which has a good menu. The rooms were nice and clean and there is a small veranda in front of the rooms with 2 chairs.

Broken Beach

From the hotel about 40 minutes driving through the hills on a great road and it was a lovely drive. Only when we got close to Broken beach was the road ‘broken’ because the road turned into a bumpy road full of stones and potholes, but the view made up for that a lot. Broken Beach, locally known as Pantai Pasih Uug, is one of the most picturesque and most visited destinations on the island of Nusa Penida.

It is a beautiful place on the west coast of Penida, cliffs of 50-200 meters high. The circular cliff and centre form holes like caves and sea tunnels. It is as if the sea water is caught in the middle of the cliff, making it look like a large pond. Broken Beach has a large natural pool, about a hundred meters in diameter, created by sea wear and a collapsed limestone mound, million years ago. This hole has a diameter of 98 meters and offers a unique and scenic view.

Kelingking Beach

About 24 mins drive from Broken beach to Kelingking according to Google but don’t even notice it because the roads are pretty good until you get close to the beach cause same as with Broken Beach also here a broken and bad road leading to the beach, but again very worthwhile, a road down which gives you a nice view over the rock formations in the sea and the coast and you can go further down.

Kelingking Beach is one of the most famous spots of Nusa Penida and it is a beautiful place. The rock of Kelingking Beach looks a bit like the spine of a dinosaur that would drink in the sea. And according to Google, it’s called T-Rex Bay. Kelingking Beach cliff is about 150 meters high and it is a busy location because all the day trips go to this location.

Crystal Bay

The last destination of that day. Crystal Bay is a nice wide beach with a rocky part in the water, the road to it was not too good here either, but again a beautiful spot at the ocean for enjoying a beer and waiting for the sunset, but unfortunately that day there were too many clouds and so there was hardly a sunset visible.

Sunny Cafe

From Crystal Bay we drove back to Toyakapeh (the harbour) and in the “main street” you will find all kinds of restaurants, including Sunny Cafe, we had a very nice dinner there, a modern place with both local food and “world dishes” and the burrito is recommended. This was also fairly close to the hotel so it wasn’t a very far drive back to the hotel.

You and We house

Because the plan was to do the east side of the island the next day we also had a hotel on that side, looking back this was not really needed but it was a good experience and what a nice place it was.
You and We house located a bit higher with a nice sea view, 5 wooden houses next to eachother. The hotel was a bit far from the main road, so for getting around you certainly need transport but we had the motorbikes which was good.

Diamond Beach

From the hotel it is best to drive through the hills on a nice road to Diamond Beach. Diamond Beach is a beautiful, white-sand and silky blue bay on the eastern tip of Nusa Penida, the view from the top of Diamond Beach is one that looks like a postcard. A beautiful white beach, clear blue water, limestone cliffs and palm trees together create a pretty picture.

Teletubbies Hill

The next destination of the trip was Teletubbies Hill, it is a collection of green hills that indeed resembles the backdrop of the Teletubbies. The route was very beautiful, good roads and great touring, it was hot but not bothersome and there was enough wind and it went downhill.

Giri Putri Cave temple

Last visit today, the Giri Putri cave temple and this is a very special place, you need to rent a sarong (IDR 5.000). First up a steep staircase with many uneven steps and then you come up on the first level then there is another very steep staircase of 7 steps, and then you come up and there is someone waiting and you get some water sprinkled on your head, a donation was also expected (not unusual) and then to the entrance of the temple, but where was the entrance? This turned out to be a hole in the ground and we had to go through a deep hole into the cave and that was not easy but in the end we succeeded.

The first part is still low so you have to continue crawling on the ground, but at a certain point you can stand up again and it was very special experience. We walked through the temple, in the middle of the cave was a staircase with an altar and while we walked through the cave it turned out that there was a normal exit on the other side of the cave. A long path down and walking around the cave you eventually came back on the road and in the parking lot.

Nusa Penida is a very interesting island, has many beautiful locations and the ones mentioned here are only a few of them. A stay of 3 days and 2 nights is recommended when you want to take the time to visit all the nice places Nusa Penida has to offer.