Three Days in Nusa Penida, Indonesia
We went to Nusa Penida from June 1-4, 2025. Here’s my scattered collection of thoughts from the trip in case they’re useful to anyone.
Getting there from Bali is really easy. No need to plan anything in advance. Just show up to this area near Sanur Harbour and there are a bunch of companies selling boat tickets that leave very frequently. We showed up around 11am, bought tickets, and were on a boat within 15 minutes. The ride was only 30-40 minutes, but the waves were ROUGH and I felt very sick by the end. I wish I had taken motion sickness pills before getting on the boat.
When you arrive at Nusa Penida, you have to pay a small fee (around $1 USD) to enter the island. So have some cash with you.
We stayed at Bagia Bungalows for 3 nights, which was incredible. We paid $29 USD per night on Airbnb, which included a room for 2 people plus breakfast for both of us. This place was in the middle of nowhere, about a 20 minute drive from the town. Usually I like to stay somewhere walkable, but there doesn’t seem to be much going on in town, so in this case staying in a beautiful isolated location was definitely the right move. Our room had a breathtaking view looking past a ton of greenery out at the volcano on Bali.
The food at the hotel was surprisingly great. Many restaurants offer a “fresh coconut” on their menus, but this place literally has someone cut one off the tree when you order.
I don’t think I would have liked Nusa Penida as much if we hadn’t stayed at such a beautiful hotel.
The hotel also organized two tours for us. One was basically just having a driver take us to all the big sites across both the east and west sides of the island. The other was a snorkeling tour to see manta rays.
Getting around the island isn’t exactly easy. The sites are far apart, and the roads are very poorly maintained. If you’re prone to motion sickness, driving around windy roads full of potholes isn’t exactly a fun experience. Dramamine is your friend.
All the beaches involve climbing down a ton of stone steps that are also very poorly maintained. I wore flip flops, but I really wish I had worn sneakers. The pretty shots you see on Instagram don’t show the reality of how exhausting it is to get down to any of the beaches.
I liked the east side of the island better, mainly because it was way less crowded. Diamond Beach and the area around the “Tree House” are both stunning when the sun hits them right.
On the west side, Angel’s Billabong and Broken Beach were the best parts. They were crowded, but they’re large enough areas that it didn’t really matter.
Kelingking Beach was an absolute nightmare. It’s the most famous viewpoint on the island, and it’s absolutely not worth visiting. Just like the other beaches, you have to descend a ton of uneven steps to get there. But this stair path is blocked by influencers every 20 steps holding up the entire crowd to get the perfect picture of themselves. Then when you go back up, it once again takes 3x as long as it should because of all people blocking the crowd to get their photos. In 2 years of traveling, I’ve never cared about influencers that much, but this specific location made me absolutely hate them.
The next day (my birthday!), we went snorkeling around Manta Point. Seeing manta rays was the main reason we came to Nusa Penida, and it was worth it. It’s mind-blowing to see how enormous they are. Full-grown manta rays typically have a wingspan of 10-12 ft (3-3.5 m), and I didn’t fully comprehend their size until seeing them with my own eyes.
The waves were quite rough, and this is the least relaxing snorkeling I’ve ever done. It was also insanely crowded. Still totally worth it because how awesome it is to see manta rays up close, but something to keep in mind. I also saw manta rays a week later in this area around Komodo National Park, and that was a much better experience.
Would I recommend visiting Nusa Penida? Ehh. It’s worth a few days if you’re in the area, but don’t go out of your way for it. I’m really glad we went, mainly because the hotel we stayed at was so beautiful and the staff made it such a great experience.
Most of the draw of this island is looking at beaches. While they are incredibly gorgeous, they’re a pain to get to (both in terms of driving and climbing), and I’m not sure if they quite justified the effort involved. Also, swimming isn’t allowed at many of them due to the dangerous waves, so they’re mainly just photo spots. I’ve been to plenty of other beautiful coastal areas on other islands that were a much more pleasant and fun experience. Seeing the manta rays was really cool, but that can also be done as part of a day trip from Bali or as part of a trip to Komodo.
Overall great experience, but I have no desire to return.
Here’s my full photo album.