Nusa Penida

Nusa Penida

Off the coast of Bali is a cluster of 3 islands, of which the biggest is Nusa Penida with a permanent population of about three thousand. Nusa Penida is known for its beautiful beaches, turquoise waters, as well as the manta rays along its coastline. Some people opt to spend a few days on the island, but I decided a day trip would suffice for us.

Klook is an online activities booking agent based out of Hong Kong, and is a popular site to book all sorts of activities in the Asia Pacific region. It may not always have the best prices, but it’s reliable enough for me to book our day trip to Nusa Penida through them. I was interested in doing the manta ray snorkel, but Mr. Yang (as Joe’s known throughout this trip) wasn’t. So we remained on land.

Our day started at 7am when we were picked up at the hotel and dropped off at the Sanur harbor for our 30-minute fast boat ride across.

There are several fast boat companies operating out of the harbor
Life vests clearly visible, however, unlike in most countries, there were no safety briefings prior to departure. I can’t even imagine the chaos on board if something were to go awry.

When we arrived safely on the other side, our Nusa Pineda driver was no where to be found. Luckily, the tour boss was able to find us a last minute driver who had limited English skills, and was quiet as a mouse, which made for a peaceful trip.

An hour and a half later, we found ourselves on the east side of the island. Diamond beach named after the shape of the rocks.
Reminds us of the turquoise coast of Türkiye.
Mr. Yang approved…

When I had booked the tour, I had inadvertently booked the “Instagram Tour”. Thinking that it meant a tour of the “instagrammable” sights. We soon found out that the drivers for this particular tour soon turn into aspiring photographers, videographers, and directors. They call out instructions like, “OK, next pose”, “turn your head this way”, “lift up your hand like this”. It was quite entertaining. Luckily for us, our driver wasn’t much of any of the above.

Directors atop the platform barking out orders.
A stab at creativity

The highlight of the tour is probably Kelingking Beach on the west side of the island.

The colors are simply stunning.
In hindsight, spending a night on the island would have been a good idea to allow for ample time to walk down the hundreds of steps onto the beach, and back up (RT hike is ~ 2 hours).
The advantage of having a local guide take your picture is that they can get into all sorts of vantage points that the regular visitor wouldn’t think of.
A “drone view” that we could never replicate ourselves without an actual drone.
A video to get a better feel for the place.

An unexpected highlight at the Kelingking beach were the 2-week old puppies I made a beeline for.

Luckily, Joe wasn’t around when I picked up the puppy. The voice of reason would have told me that the puppies may be dirty.
But how can anyone resist this?
The size of a smartphone.

Our last stop was Broken Beach.

“Broken”, for the arch.
Was hoping to spot a manta ray from above since we were close to Manta Bay, but today wasn’t the day.
Our driver’s personality finally started to show at the end of the tour. The heart was his idea.

Believe it our not, the entire tour lasted a whole day. By the time we arrived back at the hotel, it was already 5PM. Exhausted, hot, and disgustingly sweaty, we decided that we won’t be going on any more tours anytime soon.

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