If Mother Nature were to send you nudes, Nusa Penida is what they would look like!
Holy *%$# this place is insanely beautiful! Apparently, Nusa Penida is a more recently found gem from the travel blogger/Instagram community. Many people that were around Bali 3-4 years ago never heard of Nusa Penida. Now it’s one of the most iconic places in Indonesia, and for obvious reasons.
MY TRIP:
Boat from Sanur
(prices range but try to buy in person rather than online. There are more boat times and routes in person that are not shown online and you can bargain a cheaper price in person)
Nusa Penida Trip
I do not recommend going with this tour group, I’m only linking it because I got so many questions about it, but again I reallllly don’t recommend it.
They shot themselves in the foot because the amount of things they promised on this tour was just undoable, and I didn’t know that when booking.
Price: About $55 per person - but we got a discount for more people being added.
* I do want to note that they did give us a small refund for the underdelivering which we appreciated.
Here is what we did on our tour with Nusa Penida Trips:
3 Snorkeling Spots
I love snorkeling so I would never turn down a boat trip to snorkel, but if you are tight on time or funds, I would recommend saving your snorkeling for the Gili islands – way better!
Tree House Molenteng
This is a well known spot on Instagram! It's a great location for a photo but other than the hike there isn't much to do. You get an awesome view of Diamond Beach though!
Warung Resturant
Lunch was included on this tour which was cool. I didn't really try any other restaurants on Nusa Penida island so I'm not sure how this compares, but in comparison to the entire Bali trip this was probably our least favorite meal. But it is a convenient spot to have lunch when visiting the Angel Billabong!
Angel's Billabong
I wish I had more time to spend here! The moment I saw it I just wanted to get into my bikini, tan on the rocks, and enjoy the natural pools created from the rocks. We went around 4pm and there was hardly anyone there. If I was a local, that would be my weekend hangout spot for sure!
Broken Beach
This is right next to the Angel's Billabong. There’s not much you can do here since the beach is off limits, but it’s insanely beautiful and a cool place to have a picnic, read, drone, walk around or just simply take in its beauty. It’s also right next to Angel Billabong so you can enjoy both that day!
Kelingking Beach
How insane is this mountain shape? It seriously looks like a t-rex and it’s the coolest thing ever! Although this spot is known for its Instagram-able view, it also is a great spot to watch the sunset (it gets packed with people) and the beach below is really breathtaking (not just in its view but it quite literally takes your breath away trying to get down a million slippery, sketchy rock steps haha).
Crystal Bay Beach
We went to this beach for sunset, which is apparently the best spot. I was nice because well every spot in Bali is nice haha but it wasn't a MUST see spot
Manta Cottages with Sea View
This hotel was included in the tour so I’m not sure how much the hotel stay alone was per night, but I do not recommend this hotel. I don’t want to bore you with the details but in a nutshell it wasn’t clean, it smelled, there was no warm water.
SOME OTHER PLACES TO CHECK OUT:
Teletubbies Hill
Diamond Beach
WHAT I WOULD HAVE CHANGED:
I would have stayed for one or two extra days (we only stayed for one day/night) so I could properly enjoy each location and take each more chilled. Each location mentioned above is pretty spread apart and since the roads are SO bumpy it’s better to take the driving in small doses at a time.
TIPS:
Roads are insanely bumpy and the taxis do not have great shock absorbers lol… I literally felt like I needed a chiropractor just from my one day of driving around Nusa Penida. We all did haha! This probably makes us sounds like prima-donnas but you’ll only get it when you experience it for yourself. It is next level bumpy.
Getting a driver is highly recommended. The roads can be a bit confusing and, as I mentioned, the roads are so bumpy, so I can’t imagine taking a scooter. A driver is 100% worth it when on this island and it isn’t expensive at all.
There’s not much to do other than see those spots. Unless you want to chill on the beach, but even then, I would recommend going to the Gili islands for that.
February isn’t a bad month to travel to Bali! We read on Google that January and February were the most rainy months in Indonesia and to rather go closer to high season. I’m so glad we didn’t because the prices were better, we only had one full day of rain the whole 9 days we were there (it rained twice at night but didn’t affect our plans), and it was so nice not to have the place over populated – especially if you were like us and only planned on going a couple weeks prior.
OVERVIEW:
I would recommend this place to anyone! It’s so beautiful it hurts. That being said, I do think it’s more of a one time destination. I would go back because, as mentioned above, I don’t feel I fully did it right or enough, but I’m satisfied for now because I’ve seen it. I think over time more restaurants, hotels and vibey bars will pop up which will make it even more nice. It was a bit too quiet for my personal liking to spend a lot of time at, and the roads were uncomfortable to travel on which made it a little less enjoyable. If that confused you, my point is, you should visit it! But I do believe it will become a better and better destination with time.
Make sure to read my other blog posts from Bali. I have some tips that may apply to other locations you are planning to travel to in Indonesia!
Other Indonesia blog posts:
