This place reminded me of the South-East Asia of my childhood. Still relatively undeveloped, and with essentially just a single lane sealed road running the circumference of the island (which the locals have managed to convince themselves is a dual carriageway!). This is a place where everyone used to be a fisherman 5-7 years ago, but now most seem have converted to a more lucrative and reliable field – driving tourists around the island. However, the villages are still relatively undeveloped, and the island still does not have the mega resorts and mega developments that are prevalent in Bali. There is still plenty of corn, papaya and seaweed farming going on. in short, this place still hasn’t lost its rural, undeveloped charm (at least in early 2023 when we were there).
A typical road on Nusa Penida
We sourced our driver and car via Klook for $60AUD per day. The booking interface was slick, the tour company and driver were very pro-active in confirming the booking and the driver was friendly and on-time. Thanks for showing us around your island home Made, it was brilliant. Our driver, Made even pointed his village and house as we drove past and assisted us with carrying our 2 young kids around some of the more strenuous walks.
We stayed at the Sagara Penida which is the less developed Eastern side of the island. The other benefit to staying on the Eastern side of the island is the amazing sunrises you get to experience from the comfort of your accommodation. The Sagara Penida is built onto a hillside so has nice views of the sea and sunrise.
Ocean View Family room at the Sagara Penida. Note the ocean views. It has a spiral staircase leading to a second-level which has a second bed. Shot taken from the spiral staircase.
Sunrise from our balcony. Note the bed hair!
The Sagara Penida is located right next door to a fishing village. Every sunrise we would see the fisherman launch their traditional boats and go fishing in the lagoon. Good to see the traditional way of life still hasn’t been eroded here.
The accommodation itself was pleasant enough, however it is let down by some basic failings – for example, the flyscreen window in our bathroom was broken, letting in an amazing amount of mosquitoes. It took a couple of calls to reception to get it fixed and even then it was only fixed by plugging the holes with a bath towel. On the plus side, the staff here are lovely and go out of their way to make sure you have an enjoyable stay. They can serve breakfast in your room which is convenient when you have young kids. There is also an on-site restaurant which can deliver to your room after you are done sightseeing for the day. That ended up getting a lot of use, as after a hot day sightseeing we didn’t really feel like walking far for dinner. The banana pancake was fantastic and I think we had this every day we were there!
Banana pancake – looks ordinary, tastes extraordinary!
There are a few big ticket items to be seen on Nusa Penida – T-Rex Beach, Diamond Beach and Broken Beach.
Atuh Beach – a long, very steep descent down uneven stone steps gets you to Atuh Beach. It’s on the other side of the cliff from Diamond Beach, but safer from swimming as the currents aren’t as treacherous. Some enterprising locals have set up little cafes and stores on the beach so you can have snacks and lunch here as well.
Diamond Bay – limestone cliffs and pristine water. The vantage point from the clifftop is fantastic – you can see manta rays if you are lucky.
The water at Diamond Bay – see if you can spot the Manta Ray. Although the water looks inviting, it’s best not go on in. Many tourists have died trying to swim at Diamond Bay.
Diamond Bay from above – it’s hard not to love Nusa Penida with scenery like this
The Cactus Beach Club near our accommodation – one of the trendy new developments springing up around the place. Beach club was nice, food was a bit expensive but the location was stifling, not a breath of fresh wind.
Goa Putri cave – a Hindhu temple built into a large cave system. The cave itself is pretty much right next door to the Sagara Penida. You will need to hire a sarong from the convenience store opposite the cave and go up a steep flight of stairs. The cave itself is accessed via a very small crack in the rock which then opens up to a massive cave system.
Deeper inside the Goa Putri cave system – it’s good to do something different other than the beaches
Broken Beach – so called because a gap in the rock allows the waves to come crashing through the sinkhole
Gap in the rock at Broken Beach which allows the waves to enter the sinkhole
A rare glimpse of the intimidating Mt Agung (a volcano) from just outside our accommodation
Kelingking Beach – Otherwise known as T-Rex Beach. If you look carefully you can see a precarious pathway down the T-Rex’s back and neck that leads you down to the beach
I don’t think I could ever get tired of the sunrises on Nusa Penida – shot from the balcony of our accommodation. You can’t beat that for convenience.