Nusa Penida is one of the most famous islands in Indonesia due to its iconic viewpoint at Kelingking Beach. At the top of the cliff, you have sensational views of the rock formation and beach with monkeys lining the safety fence. If you want to visit the beach itself, you have a steep set of stairs down the cliffside that take about two hours roundtrip. When deciding where to go next on our Indonesia trip after the Gili Islands, Nusa Penida seemed the obvious choice due to this famous beach. Yet, once we looked into the island itself, we realized it wasn’t as developed as we expected. After our experience in Lombok, we decided to book our accommodation on the neighboring island, Nusa Lembongan.
Lembongan and Penida are only a 10 minute boat ride from each other. While Penida has most of the famous nature spots, Lembongan is more developed, offering a greater choice of hotels, restaurants, shops, and touristy beaches. Local businesses sell day trips to Penida to visit the most iconic places on the island. Plus, it’s connected to Nusa Ceningan by bridge, a small island filled with beach bars and cliffside views. It ended up being a great decision on our end. In fact, the only issue we had wasn’t related to the three islands, but rather the journey to get there.
We left Gili Air with the sun shining and one-to-two feet waves. We had a two hour boat ride ahead of us to get to Nusa Lembongan. The staff of the speedboat offered everyone on board sea sickness tablets prior to leaving, which should have been our first warning sign. As the Gili Islands disappeared in the distance, the ocean started to get rough and the skies above started to darken. I have a fear of drowning, which can get triggered by rough rocking on boats. Within an hour, the boat was encountering 10-to-15 feet waves. Indonesia in the winter has some of the biggest waves in the world and we were experiencing them firsthand. With each wave, the boat would sail high into the air and crash down with a bang. It felt like I was on a rollercoaster. We were all inside the cabin with the door closed but it was terrifying to watch foamy waves crash onto the door and the deck outside. By this point, half the passengers were clutching sick bags and the crew ordered everyone to the back of the boat. I have never experienced such large and aggressive waves before and started plotting my survival plan if we capsized. Thankfully, we arrived at the islands in one piece and I decided I never wanted to do that boat ride again.
Similar to the boat ride, much of our time on Lembongan and Penida was rainy. We weren’t able to snorkel with manta rays, but we did get to witness some of the largest waves I’ve ever seen from incredible viewpoints on Ceningan. We went to a famous surf and cliff jumping spot at Mahana Point and watched 20-feet waves swell and roll onto the beaches. The locals had closed off the cliff jump platform so no overconfident thrill seekers could get hurt. 10-plus meters above the water, we were still getting splashed by the largest waves. Nearby, we went to Klyf Club Blue Lagoon, which (you guessed it) overlooks a blue lagoon. It also had a pool that would have been overrun with partiers had it not been raining. This meant Matt and I had the pool to ourselves.
We managed to book our day trip to Penida on the one day it wasn’t raining. We had four stops: Kelingking Beach, Angel’s Billabong, Broken Beach, and Crystal Bay Beach. The highlight was hands down Kelingking Beach, but the other three were gorgeous in their own right. It was cloudy for half the day which meant the ocean wasn’t as vibrant, but it was still fascinating to see the rock formations at Angel’s Billabong and Broken Beach. I especially liked Broken Beach, a circular bay created from a natural arch in a seaside cliff that allows ocean water to flow in. At the end, we got to spend a couple hours swimming at Crystal Bay Beach. The waves were big and Matt enjoyed body surfing them.
I was glad we got to see all three Nusa islands on the trip. They’re not the most common destinations for travelers. Most people typically only have time to visit Bali and the Gili Islands. Backpacking means we get the privilege of time to see areas that are off the beaten path. While the Gilis were still my favorite Indonesian islands, there’s something incredible about stepping foot on a tiny island you know you may never have the chance to be on again.
Rianna and Matt’s must-dos in Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, and Nusa Ceningan:
- Mahana Point Cliff Jump on Nusa Ceningan, waves permitting (There is also a restaurant and bar for casual observers.)
- Klyf Club Blue Lagoon on Nusa Ceningan
- Coconut Beach on Nusa Lembongan
- Day trip on Nusa Penida (You can choose to visit either the east or west side of the island. We did the west.)
- Kelingking Beach (If you only do one beach, this is the one.)
- Crystal Bay Beach
- Broken Beach
- Angel’s Billabong
- Manta Point on Nusa Penida (Sadly, we didn’t get to do this one due to rough weather.)
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