Activity Summary
Sunday 6th November - Day 66
Travel to Nusa Penida
Monday 7th November - Day 67
Explore Nusa Penida on Dirty Kev
Kelingking Beach
Tembeling Beach and Forest
Angel Billabong
Broken beach
Amok sunset
Tuesday 8th November - Day 68
Snorkelling - Manta rays, fish & corals
Wednesday 9th November - Day 69
Nusa Lembongan & Ceningan Island on Plateless Pete
Panorama point
Mangrove forest
Devils tear
Dream beach
Nicola lesson on how to ride a bike
Sketchy ride around Ceningan Island
Blue Lagoon
Secret point beach
Summary
Nusa Penida
The island has a rough around the edges feel, not particularly touristy in the sense of people staying on the island but rather has many flock from Bali or Lembongan on day tours. It is much more natural and the roads were certainly an experience trying to navigate to viewpoints. Bike is an absolute must.
We were however very happy we stayed here rather than Lembongan and certainly that we didn’t do a day tour. The snorkelling was sensational and would definitely be recommended.
Nusa Lembongan
Has a feel much akin to Bali but is actually relaxed and much nicer beaches. Easy to get around, again need a bike, but certainly not masses to keep you entertained longer than a day unless vegging out in the sun is your vibe.
Accommodation
Nusa Penida
Santiago Guna Bungalow - 4 nights - £3.61/n/p
An interesting accommodation setting. The road to the bungalow is very close to the pier so it was ideal for us to travel between islands but felt very rough and ready. The bungalow is perfectly comfortable, plenty of space but potential for mozzie bites firmly restored.
Travel
Nusa Penida
Uluwatu hotel -> [grab] -> Sanur port -> [larger speedboat] -> Nusa Penida (Banjar Nyuh Pier) -> [walk] -> Homestay
Diary
After the successful surfing the day before Luke was keen to get back for a morning surf sesh. However his knees had been rubbed raw and his foot was quite sore so decided to sack it off and smash some breakfast at Drifters before handing back the bike and checking out. We got a grab taxi and made our way over to Sanur port. Given it was a far drive we set off quite early for our 2.15pm speedboat and spent the time chilling in a decent local cafe.
The speedboat ride was far easier than our previous experience in Koh Lanta thankfully. The speedboat was quite a bit bigger and the weather was on point so no drama incurred.
We walked to our homestay, a little bit off the main road and down a fairly beaten track but easy enough to get to the main pier.
After catching up with some family we ate at Wyn’s Penida cafe, much cheaper than Bali, and did little else in the evening.
Our day plan was to explore and bike around Nusa Penida. It’s a much much larger island than Lembongan so we felt a day tour would be better suited from Penida although the former is definitely more touristy while Penida is much more rough and ready with a more natural setting feel to it. Overall the decision we made was the correct one - the day tours we heard to Nusa Penida from Lembongan sucked.
As a quieter island both of us were again comfortable biking around. Barring that, it would have been impossible anyway so we had fuck all choice. As we had been so successful in prior instances, Luke decided to arrange a bike with the homestay owner. Unfortunately we were presented with the worst bike of the trip and with these glaring failings have learned a lot about what to look for in a bike going forward. Unfondly we named it Dirty Kev and somehow didn’t manage to fall apart or severely burn Nicola’s leg from the missing engine cover.
After getting some very disappointing breakfast round the corner (the island really doesn’t have stand out cuisine on offer being so small) we set off on the long windy roads around the island. For the most part they were absolutely fine, Luke taking it very easy on the roads and letting aggy drivers past by pulling over. What made it very very challenging (and not an ideal place to learn) were the quality of the ‘roads’ as we approached the tourist spots. They ended up being steep and the large loose rocks made a clear and stable route impossible. Luke, having started his training in far safer Thailand (really didn’t expect to write this) really felt like he was building up in ever increasing difficulty to hit god mode level here.
Our first stop was Kelingking Beach, the instagrammers wet dream and Luke’s absolute nightmare. The view of the beach was great but the queue of people day touring from the vanity cesspit of Bali along with a technical ride across rock and stone meant Luke was emotionally drained then was raging. It was quite easy to move straight past the tour guides perched in trees to take the most unrealistic shots of the ‘perfect’ spot as there was a long and pretty difficult route down to the actual beach. Not many had attempted it given it had been wet and apparently required bum sliding down and we weren’t going to given Luke’s slice down his foot. After huffing and puffing around the viewpoint we noticed a number of people perched opposite the cliff face so we wandered over that way. The view was far better, quiet and we could finally appreciate our surroundings. A quick ice cream to recharge rounded off the spot and we continued on DK.
Enter god mode difficulty. Tembeling Beach and Forest is a spot that none of the day tours in their cars venture down and this made it very appealing. However the track down for 15 minutes was insanely difficult. The loose rocks on very steep gradients meant Nicola had to jump off once and walk but otherwise was a job well done. It was completely worth it however. There is an artificial pool next to some swings (they love a swing in island Indonesia by the way) so we spent some time chilling here. A group of 4 German lads managed to lose their drone at this point so that was both pretty gutting and hilarious.
The beach itself through an eroded cavern in the rock face and the locals had spent a long time creating mini towers of stones against the backdrop of the sea and cliffs. Great spot for a photo and was our favourite location of the day, despite the treacherous route.
After the excitement of riding around we decided against trying to make it across the east side of the island given the distance. Our last spot was the Angel Billabong, a naturally formed roach pool, and Broken beach where the sea had carved out a cave in the rock face for it to collapse and leave an (largely) inaccessible beach. We had a quick walk around, Nicola chowed down on a cornetto and then we set off for some early food. Nicola thought the whole place was slightly less preferable to Pembrokeshire.
The highest rated place for food was Amok sunset and was quite a drive away from our homestay. The trickiest part was again the final 10 minutes across rough roads and we didn’t really fancy doing it in the dark so decided to get there and be done before 6pm. When we arrived at just before 5pm it turned out the place was basically fully reserved which baffled us. They managed to squeeze us in somewhere as long as we were going to be finished quickly which was no problem. It was a nice place and the food was decent but really weren't sure how the groups were going to make it back down the shitty road after drinking late at night. Decided not to ask. Mocktails for us and we were home before sunset and crashed out.
Not perturbed by the Dirty Kev allocation, we decided for ease to also arrange our manta ray snorkel tour with the homestay. It was a little more pricey but the lack of tour operators locally meant for sheer ease it suited us. We followed the guys sister to the start point after Luke embarrassingly reversed the bike into and clattering the homestay gate. DK was fine and he didn’t mention it again thankfully.
We arrived at the snorkel tour so much earlier than it set off. This tended to be a recurring thing and drove Nicola potty. But we sat patiently, got our snorkels and fins and finally set out with a boat of about 20 people. From Luke’s perspective it was comfortable, able to sit on the edges and take in the sea breeze and sunshine. Nicola’s insides were betraying her however as it wasn’t the calmest of days and this also proved to be a challenge when in the water as well. She eventually settled after moving away from the more open sea spots.
The snorkel tour went to 4 different locations. The first was looking for manta rays, of which we only managed to see 2 and they were very deep. The sea was choppy and visibility was not great so we were not able to fully appreciate this part of it. The next 3 spots however were absolutely stunning. The corals and fish around the beach areas were really good but none of this compared to those located around the rock edges of Nusa Penida. The corals and fish were immense and even saw a sea snake and sea cucumber. Nicola says it’s the best snorkelling she has done and it certainly was surprisingly great. She also forgot to suncream her butt so that had a cracking burn line that lasted a week and made sitting on a bike somewhat uncomfortable.
The snorkel tour finished for midday so after a quick lunch stop, Nicola went off for a massage while Luke chilled back at the homestay. Nicola eventually returned 2 hours later having had a pretty disappointing back massage but made up with foot and head massage so she was pretty chill otherwise. Honestly nothing beats a Thai massage.
The last of our days in the Nusa islands was a day trip to Nusa Lembongan. We set off fairly early to make the most of the day and walked over to Toya Pakeh Harbour which has the local taxi boats over to the islands. The system is fairly straightforward, pay the 50k fee and wait until there’s enough people for the trip to be worthwhile and we didn't wait long before boarding.
After prior boat journeys Nicola had been getting more anxious each time. The day was very calm and the journey between the islands was very easy and relatively quick but before we knew all this one of her great fears played out - the engine kept cutting out on the journey. What should have been a very quick journey turned into a rather long one as the engine failed 4 times, the worst being when in the middle of the two islands. Nicola = not a happy bunny.
Eventually we made it to the yellow bridge drop off point and we secured a bike from a shop front nearby (this time using our new found knowledge to get what we needed). Although this bike had no plates and when Luke enquired they laughed in his face and said ‘no police’. Turns out most didn’t have plates so this bike was more fondly called Plateless Pete.
Lembongan was so easy to drive around. Not busy, smooth roads and everything could be done in a nice simple circle. We stopped at panorama point, which was a bit of a let down, before getting some lunch near Jungutbatu beach.
In the north east corner of the island is a mangrove forest so not quite sure how good this would be we sauntered over there. A helpful local gave us a quick tour of the area, explaining that it can be seen by kayak or punting style driven boat so we naturally went for the relaxing punt me down the river option. Great decision. The forest was unbelievably quiet, the mangrove forest very cool and we were able to just relax and take it all in. Felt like we weren’t in the madness that is Indonesia anymore which was refreshing.
Back on the bike we went the full length of the island (in not much time at all) to dream beach by accident. We were looking for the Devils Tear but went the wrong way so on realising this we opted to sit in a bar, have an iced lemon tea and watch the world go by for a bit on the incredibly beautiful dream beach.
Next we scooted over to the tear where Luke sensing the potential for a unique photo op against the millions of his basic bitch posing, decided to turn it into devils fart. Nicola threw the potential of a devil's queef into the mix but was not willing to act on it much to the disappointment of all those who read this because it would have been magical.
Near the dream beach was a large flat area that had signs saying it was ideal to learn how to ride a scooter. Therefore Luke gave a quick crash course to Nicola in all that he knew of scooter riding (not much) and she went off for a while tearing up the training wheels. Slight new found appreciation from Nicola for Luke for the challenges of going up steep rocky paths with two on a bike.
We were buzzing from the ease of the day so far and our last parts of the day were to go to Ceningan island, connected by a narrow yellow bridge that when crossing on a bike made Luke poop his pants a little when faced with another bike the other way. Once on the island Nicola suggested we take the bike round the main road. Turns out the middle of the island was sketch AF and at one point had to have her walk up a particularly gnarly bit. However there was a nice view at the top of all this.
We wanted to get back well before the last taxi boat across to Penida at 5pm so we had a short walk around the blue lagoon and secret point beach before taking off back across the yellow bridge and onto a boat. This time the boat didn’t break down at all which made it all the easier.
We packed in the evening and prepared for what was going to be a pretty horrible day of travel to Lombok.
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