East Nusa Penida, Bali

Having plans to visit Bali? Don’t forget to add Nusa Penida on your bucket list.

Nusa Penida is the largest of three islands off the south eastern coast of Bali, the others being Nusa Lembongan and Nusa Ceningan. There are basically 2 sections of the islands that you could explore, one day each. West Nusa Penida’s point of interest are Atuh Hill, Atuh Beach, Bukit Teletubbies, and Rumah Pohon. In this post, I’ll write more about my recent trip to East Nusa Penida.

How to get there?

Every trip to Nusa Penida starts at Sanur Port. There are many fast boat options that cost Rp 125.000 for a two-way ticket.

The boat schedule is as follows:

Sanur – Nusa Penida (8.30/16.30)

Nusa Penida – Sanur (7.30/15.30)

It will take about an hour to step on the white sands of Nusa Penida.

If you join a tour, itu usually includes a two-way ticket, a car and a driver for about Rp 350.000/pax (it could be cheaper if more people are in your tour). But if you’re on a budget and wanna save some money, you could rent a car for Rp 500.000 and drive around on your own.

(The Pier – Captured by Faris Sarma)

1. Kelingking Secret Point

This is one of the icons of Nusa Penida. Taking a picture here is clearly a must. Kelingking secret point is called so for a reason. The access to the beach is quite hard cause we have to go down the cliff through a steep sandy stairs. You must, I repeat you must use shoes here! Cause when I went there I used slippers and it was really hot so my feet was burning like hell. I didn’t reached the beaches but my friend did and told me that it was awesome (but then complaint about their sore muscles). And I suggest you to prepare your physic before going down here, maybe a few jogs will do. The tides are high and you could see the waves cover almost all the sands but it’s worth it to see the clear blue beach. If you don’t wanna go down, admiring the waves from above is also a good option.

(Kelingking Secret Point – Captured by Adi Agustha)(The track down to the secret beach – Captured by Adi Agustha)(The wild waves – Captured by Adi Agustha)

(Enjoying the view from above)

2. Broken beach

I know you’re all wondering why it’s called broken beach. So if you see the picture below, you’ll notice that there is a hole in the middle of a cliff. The hole was made by waves crashing like crazy. And as a result, a broken beach was formed. It’s mesmerizing to hear the sound of the crashing waves and seeing how the waves spread across the beach.

3. Angel’s Billabong

This is located near Broken Beach. To reach this place, we have to walk through a desert-like area (quite cool though).

(The road to Angel’s Billabong – Captured by Adi Agustha)

Angel’s Billabong is a nature-made pool with calm waters and a view straight to the sea. You should bring spare clothes if you wanna take a swim in this majestic pool.

Cause I was to busy enjoying the view, I forgot to take a picture of Angel’s Billabong itself, but managed to take a picture of my self with the cliffs.

(Source: justgola.com)

The waves crash to the cliffs like crazy and a rainbow was formed (SUPER COOL). So I could watch a rainbow form every 10 minutes.

(Enjoying the waves and rainbow – Captured by Faris Sarma)

(Travel buddies)

4. Snorkeling

This is a must-do activity and you have to spare half a day for this. For Rp 200.000/person, you will get a snorkeling kit and a visit to 4 snorkeling points.

A. Manta bay

This is the bay where the mantas like to play. They’ll appear early in the morning so you must wake up earlier. You don’t wanna miss this moment. As soon as we arrive here, people were shouting and pointing at the ocean, indicating that a manta is nearby. When I jumped in the ocean, I was surprised to see a couple of mantas passing by. It was AWESOME. I suggest you swimmers to not use the life vest to make it easier to chase those mantas.

B. Crystal bay

This is a place to visit during the sunset. But snorkeling here is also fun. There are variety of fishes and reefs here. The guide will throw a couple of breads to attract the fishes.

C. Gamat bay

This bay is known for the yellow fish species. A ton of these fishes will swim around you. But there are also other fishes here. If you don’t like to swim, you could feed the fishes from the boat cause the water is clear.

D. GT Point

At first I was scared to jump but as soon as I was underwater, large fishes swam across me and it’s pretty cool. There is also an observation boat where you could go inside and see the fishes from the underwater window.

I hope this post help you guys who are planning to travel to Bali and wanna visit somewhere quite new. Have fun and see you all on my next post!

Pantara Island

Visiting the beach is one of my obsession in life. Beautiful sunsets, the sound of the crashing waves, the magnificent underwater world, it just blew you away. A perfect place to relax and pause from our busy lives. That is why it is a must for me to visit this natural blessing, just to keep me alive. (seriously, I LOVE BEACHES)

In the middle of my hectic semester, I managed to escape and sail to the furthest island in Pulau Seribu, Pantara Island.

The journey begins at 8 am from Marina Ancol, where we entered the ferry and felt the sea breeze on our face. About 2-3 hours later, an island emerge. As we walked across Pantara’s pier that was surrounded by a clear blue ocean, acoustic music was playing and tropical fruit punches was waiting. Island life, here I come!

(The scent of the sea made me happy)

The cottage has huge windows and a terrace near the beach, perfect for a person like me who just likes to sit and stare at the air (while listening to music of course).  It took me about an hour to explore the island by feet. There were mangroves with little fishies swimming around. I was surprised to find abandoned cottages and buildings with holes on the roof at the back of the island (it’s kinda scary, like a horror movie about a person stranded on a haunted island).

Lunch time! All of the food was served on a floating restaurant that has a deck straight above the ocean, where we can see the fishes while eating (and feeding left over food to them). The food here was okay, not that great. But at least it has a view and live music. FYI, this place doesn’t have any mini markets so I suggest you to bring your own snacks.

(The Floating Restaurant)

Next agenda, snorkeling. Don’t worry about the snorkeling kit, it’s provided by the tour. Of course, jumping from the pier is the best way to enter the ocean.

I was so surprised to see that some of the coral reefs here are still healthy and has a lot of different fishes. As you know, the current issue about reefs are the massive coral bleaching caused by the raise of sea temperature. Last year, when I visited Labuan Bajo (Nusa Tenggara Timur), one of the snorkeling point was warm and a lot of corals were bleached. It was a sad thing to witness and the bleaching is ongoing until god-knows-when or until us human beings commit to reduce the effects of global warming.

Okay, moving on. The reefs ….. c’est magnifique! I was thrilled when I spotted a clown fish and it’s anemone, and also a purple crab near my feet (yeah, it definitely startled me). A tip from me is you should bring a lot of biscuits to feed the fishes. They literally swim around me when I release the biscuit in the sea. I was grinning all the time cause it was just …. okay now I’m speechless but you get my point right? I swam a bit further from the deck and then I saw a school of fishes! Like OMG it is really cool hahahahahhahaha (<— this laughter represents my extremely happy self). The lifeguard told me that fishes has territories so if you explore a different place you will find a different fish.

We also went canoeing (which is also included in the package), super fun. I also fed the fishes when canoeing. Love the fishes. love them so much!

Tired? Don’t worry, there is a coffee break at 4 o’clock. And what comes after that is….. a sunset cruise. With a traditional boat, we circled the island and enjoyed the sunset.

I spend the night at the pier cause there are weird fishes spotted there. If you want, you could bring a flashlight to observe the dark sea. Don’t forget to end the day with laying on your back and just observing the stars.

I really recommend you to visit this place cause it is peaceful, not like most commercial islands in Pulau Seribu. The underwater world is wonderful and easily accessible. So if you wanna turn that frown upside down, visit Pantara Island.

 

FYI, the reception here is really bad so you will be disconnected to social media. But isn’t it great to have a break from our phones once in a while?

Tour Info:

A 2 day 1 night tour, about 2 mil rupiah (include: boat return, 4x meal, cottage, coffee break, sunset cruise, snorkeling kit, canoe)