When I first arrived into the Indonesian island of Bali I was met with a mix of disappointment and frustration due to experiencing just HOW commercialised the island was (it didn't help my card was blocked as soon as I arrived AND we'd just reluctantly left The Philippines, which we'd absolutely fallen in love with).
We continued on regardless, and within a few days we were then struck by a massive earthquake that caused us to flee from our guesthouse in Ubud, it was at this point we considered leaving and going back to the Philippines but flights weren't working in our favour so we decided to change tack and head to the island of Nusa Penida instead, which is only a half an hour ferry ride from Bali in the hopes we'd find the chilled tropical paradise we were searching for.
Thankfully as soon as we arrived we were so happy we decided to stay! It fast became one of the most breathtaking places I'd ever been to and also one of my all time favourite islands, below I'll give you just a taste at what this incredible island has to offer and why personally I found it much better than Bali.
How to get there:
Its fairly straight forward to get to Nusa Penida, wherever you are in Bali head to the east of the island to Sanur harbor, from there you catch the fast-service ferry to Penida, which takes roughly 30 minutes and costs about 7 euro, one way.
The Best Things To Do On The Island:
1. Kelingking Beach:
Now, you've probably seen photos online from this beach or more specifically the view from above the beach, but believe me when I say seeing this in person is utterly breathtaking, I have only ever experienced this sense of awe once before when I watched the sunrise over the Bagan temples in Myanmar, But Kelingking give me that same feeling. It has water like Gatorade and the palest white sand but in order to get to it, you basically have to abseil down the massive cliff face and just pray you don't die hahaha....no seriously, its a pretty daunting climb complete with dodgy man-made 'steps' and bamboo hand rails that may or may not detach at any time. Thankfully the view from the top alone is enough for most and if like us you get there as early as humanly possible, you might get to see giant manta rays circling in the water below as well as beating all the tours which arrive only an hour or two later.
2. Angel's Billabong/Broken Beach:
I'm mentioning these together because you can't see one without the other really. Angel's billabong is a large natural rock pool that sits on the edge of the sea, once a popular spot for people to swim, its now forbidden due to how dangerous it can be when the waves crash over the edge, pulling out the water. Definitely worth seeing just for its beauty alone. Broken beach on the other hand is a tiny beach set deep down within the cliff face, again its not actually accessible to people, unless you fancy scaling some jagged rocks, best to just view the beach and the opposing sea arch from above! If you're lucky, as we were, you might even see pods of dolphins playing between the two sites.
3. Atuh Beach
Atuh beach was pure and utter heaven, a crescent shaped beach with cliffs on each side and water the colour of pale turquoise. The drive to Atuh beach was long and winding but an adventure in itself, you get to pass through tiny little remote villages and roads lined with palm trees. Once you arrive you have to make the steep climb down to the beach but once at the bottom you'll be rewarded with the most relaxing day spent on a sun lounger drinking some Bintang. Be warned the water was rough and the current was strong so it isn't an ideal swim spot for weaker swimmers.
4. Crystal Bay/ Manta Point
So before you even get to Crystal Bay beach, you'll arrive into a forest of photo worthy palm trees and coconut trees, the question is... if you don't get your fed up boyfriend to take photos of you walking through a line of palm trees, did you even go to Asia?
HA moving swiftly on.. Crystal Bay is probably one of the most popular beaches in Nusa Penida and its evident when you see how many people will be there but surprisingly it didn't put us off, I still enjoyed my time there and because the cove is sheltered it made swimming and snorkeling (which is incredible here) easier and more enjoyable, now being someone who doesn't like crowds for too long, we did sneak off to another hidden beach which you can get to by a set of steps which are on the left hand side of the beach.. the hike to the hidden beach only took about 15 minutes but we couldn't believe we had it to ourselves when we arrived! Ideal for relaxing after visiting Kelingling or Angels Billibong as Crystal bay is back along the same road from both.
Just off from the Bay you'll find the famous Manta point, known for its abundance of Manta rays (funnily enough), who come to feed at the surface very early each morning. Now you need to be there EARLY if you want any hope of swimming with these alien like creatures but oh my god, is it worth it! The experience was unlike anything I'd done before and I encourage everyone to do it, although it can be a bit daunting for some to jump into the water when you see a VERY large, very fast moving shadow beneath your boat (I went badly head first over the side with excitement, on the other hand and nearly brained myself). Worth noting the water is also full of jellyfish, which the mantas are actually eating. They didn't REALLY sting but me no likey regardless..
5.Thousand Islands Viewpoint
If you make it to Atuh beach I strongly recommend adding in a detour to go see the thousand island viewpoint. Now I say detour, but it was actually quite a journey to get there because Mapsme didn't know where the hell it was and we certainly didn't, but we eventually got there with a bit of luck and the view was absolutely worth it! As the name suggests its numerous 'islands' just along the water, that make for an impressive sight from above. There's also little tree houses nestled among the cliff that you can rent for a night if you're feeling really adventurous! unfortunately we couldn't as my boyfriend had tried his hardest to take off the top of his toe earlier on a rock, so movement was limited while there..
THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT THING TO KNOW ABOUT NUSA PENIDA:
Wait for it....The roads are HORRENDOUS! Take this as a warning, Nusa Penida has some death roads. Now I'll say it louder for the people at the back, do NOT attempt to drive a bike there if you're not a confident driver! We had heard horror stories even before arriving and saw some accidents ourselves which confirmed the roads in Penida are no joke, especially the ones leading to both Kelingking beach and Angel's Billabong. In fact its a loose term for road, its more like trying to drive on a surface of a cheese grater while big tour vans try push you to the edge of the road which has a sheer drop the other side.. basically it's not for the faint hearted but weirdly enough, the 5k of white knuckle terror that was the road to Kelingking was an adventure all on its own, a terrifying adventure, but still... Be safe kids!
Final Word of Advice:
Nusa Penida for us was that rugged island adventure we'd wanted out of Indonesia, we were told it was like stepping back in time compared to Bali and we definitely revelled in that fact. The people were warm and welcoming and every day offered up a new exciting activity for us. As much as people are drawn to Bali, and I can of course understand why, I highly HIGHLY encourage you to also give time to the incredible island of Nusa Penida, you might just find it wins you over all on its own.
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