Nusa Penida.. An Island Paradise!

Nusa Penida is a small, picturesque island in Indonesia, south of Bali. Several companies operate passenger ferries to Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan islands from Sanur beach in Bali. We visited Penida in May 2018. You can buy the tickets online (here) or directly at the counters on the beach. We got the tickets online and opted for a fast boat operated by Angel Billabong cruise company. We collected our passes at the counter at Sanur Beach and waited to board the boat. All the passengers were asked to remove the footwear and drop it in a bag prior to boarding and were asked to collect them after reaching Penida. I opted to sit on the deck to enjoy the 20-25 minute exciting boat ride and finally we reached our destination.

Sanur beach in Bali. Boarding Point at Sanur beach for the ferries to Nusa Penida.

We reserved our 2-night stay at Song Cang Bungalow using Booking.com (here). We chose this accommodation as it fits our budget and the online reviews were decent. Song Cang Bungalow is about 50 minute drive from the port. Soon after we got down the ferry, we found few guys offering motorbike rentals at the port. For a motorbike, we paid around 170.000 Indonesia Rupiah (around 1000 INR) for a 3 days, fuel cost not included. If it is just the two of you, I highly recommend renting a bike instead of a car as it is more fun to ride a bike on the island, by the sea and the cool breeze hitting your face. We really enjoyed the whole experience.

The drive to Song Cang Bungalow from the port along the coast was scenic. Entrance to Song Cang and the stunning view from the cottages.

I have been dreaming for a while to visit this island paradise and finally we made it! I must say the beauty of Penida went beyond my expectations and truly unmatched! As we reached Song Cang, I was pleasantly surprised by the location of the cottages. Every cottage had a balcony sit-out facing the ocean and the view was of course spectacular! It was very peacefully quiet that we could hear the waves crashing all the time! We didn't have to go anywhere but just wake up in our bed to watch the sunrise! The cottages were basic with air-conditioning, attached bath, very clean and well maintained. The stay cost us about 2500 INR per night with delicious breakfast served in our cottage. I absolutely recommend staying here if you are looking for budget options!

Drive to Suwehan village. View from the cliff and a Balinese temple in Suwehan.

It was 3:30 PM by the time we reached our accommodation. We quickly dropped our luggage, freshened up and decided to drive to Suwehan village (about 45 minute drive), south of the island to watch the sunset. I recommend downloading Google maps before your travel. It works well on the island. Also a sunscreen is a must if you are stepping out on this island. It was clear and sunny day but half-way through when we crossed the hills the weather turned really cloudy. It was then that we realised we were running out of fuel! So stupid of us right? We luckily found a small village down the hill and tried asking some locals for fuel. They didn't understand English but after 5 minutes of us trying to explaining the situation, they finally understood we were in need of fuel. We were directed to a house nearby where a lady sells fuel in bottles. Though we paid slightly higher price, we were still happy that we found fuel. It was already 5:30 PM when we reached Suwehan beach, and it was still cloudy in that part of the island. We had to climb down several stairs down the cliff to get to the beach but we decided to enjoy the view from up there and start back before it was too dark. We winded up our little adventurous ride on the first day of the island with a nice dinner at a sea-facing restaurant Ogix Warung which was close to where we stayed. I found it was a little over-priced and the food was just okay.

Mornings at Song Cang Bungalow.

We woke up to a beautiful sunrise next morning. Spent sometime soaking in the morning sun, had a good, filling breakfast (Pancakes and Scrambled Eggs) and we were all set to explore the island. I was really looking forward to visiting the Kelingking beach, northern part of the island again a 50 minute drive from Song Cang. The best part of our stay on the island were the long rides across the island every morning and evening! Kelingking is one of the most photographed locations and a dream to many Instagrammers! When we reached, I understood why! It really felt like a dream! It was a surreal experience to stand on tall cliffs and looking at the waves crashing below. We reached Kelingking at about 10:30 AM and there were already many tourists waiting in the queue at the location for that perfect Instagram picture!

Kelingking beach! Dream come true!

There is an option to hike down the cliff to get to the "Secret beach" below! I really wanted to get there and managed to convince my husband who thought it was a bad idea. I don't blame him as the hike seemed very risky as it is steep path down the spine of the cliff and the railings are made of bamboo sticks tied with ropes fastened to the limestone rocks on the side. It is completely up to you if you are up to take the risk. There have been few cases of tourists falling off the cliff reported in the past! It was a 50-60 minute hike down to the beach and we were super tired, so we decided to spend the afternoon at the beach relaxing! The hike offers some stunning views along the way and the secret beach is truly one of the best beaches I have been to!

Hike down the Kelingking. (Below) Secret beach at Kelingking

It was almost 3:30 PM and we decided to slowly start hiking up the cliff. It was a tiring experience but we somehow managed to go back! We celebrated our victory with tender coconut water and had some Nasi Goreng for lunch at a food stall close by. We decided to head to Crystal Bay beach to watch the sunset. Drove past many coconut trees to get there and the sunset was simply magical! On the way back to our hotel, we had dinner at Penida Colada, one of most highly rated cafes on the island. Absolutely loved the food, the vibe and ambience of the place.

Magical sunset at Crystal Bay beach!

Today was our last day on the island and we had a return ferry a 2:00 PM back to Bali. We decided to spend the morning at Atuh beach. Woke up early and drove to Atuh beach. The Google map location led us to the opposite side of the Atuh beach which had no access from the cliff. We didn't have much time and also super tired from the previous hike at Kelingking, so we decided to just drive further to Dolphin's point. It was absolutely scenic and we spent about half an hour soaking in the morning sun and the stunning ocean view! We even met some local fisherman with his sons who were waiting for their morning catch. They were really friendly and spoke a little bit of English so we had a pleasant conversation.

View of Atuh beach from the top

Stunning views at Dolphin's point

Scenic routes everywhere on Nusa Penida

Lunch scenes at Penida Colada! One of the best beach bars on the island! Highly recommended!

We drove back to Song Cang and it was time to check out. On the way back to the port we stopped at Penida Colada for lunch by the beach. We stayed far from the main tourist attractions so we couldn't manage to cover all of them. Nevertheless, we felt we had the best time of our lives! I was really sad to leave this beautiful island. To be honest, I didn't want to leave at all! I made a promise to myself that I would definitely come back here someday! We boarded the ferry back to Bali, carrying with us beautiful memories for a lifetime.

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