Nusa Penida: Day Trip or Over Night?
- Victoria
- May 5, 2023
- 7 min read
Updated: Oct 17, 2023
If you're considering a visit to Nusa Penida, make sure to read this to help decide if you should do a day trip or stay overnight.
Indonesia is the largest archipelago in the world, it consists of five main islands and over 18,000 smaller ones with close to a third being uninhabited. Thanks to Instagram, Nusa Penida has sky rocketed in popularity as an island to visit other than Bali. This beautiful island is located a short boat ride off the coast of Bali and can be done as a day trip or a longer adventure. (If you're heading to Bali, make sure to read this 4-day itinerary!) We chose to spend 3 nights to make the most of the ferry ride over, but that might not be the best choice for everyone.
When to visit Nusa Penida?
Like the majority of South East Asia, Indonesia has two seasons. Here in Canada, we are used to four but they only have wet and dry. The wet season is considered the ‘off season’, as most travelers do not want to be exploring for days on end in the rain. The dry season is considered ‘peak season’ as it’s perfect for beach days.
Our trip happened to coincide with the wet season, it’s just how it lined up with our parental leave and missing the worst of winter in Canada. The benefits to traveling at this time is less people and lower rates.
The majority of people will recommend you visit in the dry season (April-October), however it depends on what you want. We were lucky and the rain did not really interfere with any of our activities. If you are unwilling to take that risk then you’ll want to go in the dry season.
How to get to Nusa Penida?
Most visitors will make Bali their primary destination in Indonesia, and it's an easy ferry ride from there to Nusa Penida. There are fast boats that operate daily to Nusa Penida from Sanur Harbor in South East Bali. We chose a hotel in Sanur that had luggage storage so we could head to the smaller island with less items to carry. It's important to note that depending on the tide and weather, you may have to board and de-board the boat in the water. Wear clothes and shoes you don't mind getting wet and have easy to carry bags.
You can book the fast boat online in advance, or head to the harbour to negotiate for a rate. Your Bali driver, or accommodations may also be able to book it for you or help you negotiate.
How to get around Nusa Penida?
Even if you have not been to Indonesia, I am sure you have seen pictures or heard stories about how commonly used scooters are here. You should only rent one if you know how to, and are comfortable, driving one! Traffic can be very different here than your home country and if you are not familiar with a scooter you will be dangerous to both yourself and those around you. The roads on this smaller island are not as maintained as the larger more popular islands, drive carefully and always wear your helmet.
If you are not renting a scooter to get around then you can book a car for the day. Local drivers will be waiting at the port and you can negotiate a day rate. We chose to arrange a tour through our hotel for simplicity sake. The driver picked us up at the harbour, took us on a tour that included lunch, dropped us at our hotel and then took us back to the port on the day of departure.
What to do in Nusa Penida?
Day Trip
If you go for a day trip, you will have pick up from your hotel in Bali, the ferry ride to and from Nusa Penida, lunch and an English speaking guide. You will still have several tours to chose from even if you are only going for a day. The most common one for one day will be the Instagram tour which I will highlight further down as we did that one. The other two common options will have the highlights and then are divided by geography, you can do a west island or an east island tour.
West Nusa Penida Tour
Crystal Bay (snorkeling)
Manta Bay (snorkeling)
Gamat Bay (snorkeling)
Keling King Beach
Angels Billabong
Broken Beach
East Nusa Penida Tour
Crystal Bay (snorkeling)
Manta Bay (snorkeling)
Gamat Bay (snorkeling)
Teletubbies Hill
Rumah Pohon Tree House
Diamond Beach
Atuh Beach
Our Overnight Itinerary
Day 1: Instagram Tour
This is the most common tour for Nusa Penida, you'll hit up the most photographic spots to get your perfect spots. Our guide picked us up from the ferry and we got to dive right into the tour.
Our first stop was Diamond Beach, don't be fooled by the name though as it's not always the best for swimming. Our guide advised us against going down to the beach as someone had drowned just the week before. There is a strong current here so please follow the locals advice on swimming locations.
Next up we went to Rumah Pohon Treehouse, an extremely popular photo stop. This is definitely an Instagram versus reality location, as there will be a long line to get your photo. We actually chose not to go to treehouse itself because of this and how hot it was. You have to walk down a lot of steps to get to the treehouse and there is no shade. There is still a nice look off point along the coast and some props for photos. If you're set on getting your photo, get there early, bring lots of water and your sun hat.
Kelingking Beach is another tricky beach, our guide actually told us that we wouldn't be swimming at any beach we went to. He advised we stick to a hotel pool. There are options to swim at many places but he recommended against it. We did meet some people had swam here and they said it was an unique experience with the towering cliffs, but the waves were extremely powerful.
his Beach is such a popular destination as the cliffs form the shape of a T-Rex. Can you see it? If you want to visit the beach itself, and not just the look off point then you will once again be in for a long climb down and back up. We chose to just grab our photo up top and admire the view. We have heard the sunset here is amazing, let us know if you check it out!
Lunch was included in our tour and at this point we were feeling hungry! The guide advised us that we still had options for where to go for lunch as they partner with multiple restaurants. There was a set menu we could order from, and anything extra would be a separate charge. There were several local and western options to choose from so don't worry if you are a picky eater.
After lunch, we went to Angels Billabong, a natural infinity pool framed by rock cliffs. We did not see anyone swimming while here, although I have heard it can be done. Nusa Penida really offers some amazing coastal views and you will not be let down. The road to this spot is probably the worst we have encountered, it was quite bumpy and uncomfortable. The viewpoints are lined by little shops and restaurants, if you want to buy souvenirs this will be a good spot.
It is possible to walk to your next spot, Broken Beach from Angels Billabong. This naturally carved-out bridge stretches over turquoise waters creating an incredible view. Once again, no swimming at this beach! You can walk along the arch to get a full panoramic view of this natural ocean bowl The sun was at it's highest at this point so we chose not to venture out of the shade.
Having seen the big highlights, it was now time to check in. The hotel we stayed at was fantastic, it's quite small, only five rooms. They all overlooked the yard with the pool and it was walking distance to many restaurants.
Day 2: Snorkeling Tour
One of the main reasons behind coming to Nusa Penida was for the opportunity to snorkel with Manta Rays. We'd heard that snorkeling at Manta Point Nusa Penida was one of most epic experiences people could have. (Keep in mind we went here before our boat tour in Flores) There's an abundance of tour companies to choose from, with most only offering half day tours. Our research showed that most of them left around 8 or 9 am so we got to the Bay early. The tour includes all snorkeling equipment, although I recommend bringing your own, and it will stop at at least 3 different snorkeling sites
Unfortunately, we seemed to have picked the wrong tour. We ended up sitting at the beach waiting almost 3 hours to go on the tour. It seemed we were waiting for people coming for a day trip and their boat was late. They took us to Manta Point, only to say the water was too choppy for us to go in. After seeing our disappointment, they said we could go in if we wanted, however the waves were way to large.
The other spots we got to stop at were alright, Toya Pakeh Wall and Crystal Bay. The guides have a bag of bread that you can feed the fish with. I felt relieved this wasn't an overly expensive tour, and would suggest you make sure to discuss departure time with the tour group you're booking from.
Day 3: Snorkeling Tour
Since we did not see any Manta Rays we decided to go on another snorkeling tour - with a different company. We went to 3 of the same spots as the tour the day before, and one new one. Unfortunately, there were no Manta Rays at Manta Point again. After discussing it with many people who had been to Nusa Penida, it doesn't seem very common to see them. Those we did would often only see one or two and they weren't around fro long. If seeing Manta Rays is a bucket list item for you then I would recommend visiting Flores (full details on that our by clicking here). From our experience, it's much more likely you will get to see them and the overall experience is well worth it.
Overall we had 3 relaxing days in Nusa Penida, seeing the instagram highlights, snorkeling and realxing by the pool. Knowing what we know now though, it would have been much better for us as a day trip.
Bonus:
There is more to see and do on Nusa Penida, especially if you rent a scooter or aren't travelling with a baby. Here's a few more places you can consider adding to your tour or exploring on your own;
Atuh Beach
Teletubbies Hill
Goa Giri Putri Cave
Banah Cliff
Peguyangan Blue Stairs & Waterfall
Tembeling Beach & Lagoons
Mmmm those bagels look delicious