LittleSandyBeach

The main tourist attraction on Nusa Penida is Kelingking Beach which is famous due to the coral cliffs that resemble the head of a T-Rex. So we headed there first, battled through the crowds of tourists on day trips and were blown away by the view….

They tried to install an elevator down to the beach below however halfway through construction there was so much backlash for ruining the natural beauty that it is being taken down…. You can walk down to the beach on a very steep, very busy, very rocky looking staircase…. So we quickly made our exit!

Just 20 minutes away is Broken Beach, another popular spot due to the unique circular, cliff enclosed cove. Local legend links the formation of the site to a story of divine punishment involving a village that was destroyed.

On our way back we had an amazing view of Mount Agung, an active volcano on Bali. It last erupted in 2019 spewing rocks and lava 3km away and disrupting air travel.

Just 5 minutes away from our accommodation we were recommended by our host a restaurant cleverly called Penida Colada. It was spectacular, very reasonably priced, amazing food and drinks directly on the beach.

We then visited another well known beach on the island known as Diamond Beach. It has spectacular cliffs above a white sand beach with turquoise water.

You can do a zipline over the cliff which we had great fun watching some other people do…

Just around the corner is another beach called Atuh Beach which is also accessible by another set of steep stairs allowing people to swim in a calmer environment due to the cove.

We were enjoying our lovely swimming pool with the sounds of nature when we spotted two Bali Myna birds in the palm trees. Having seen these in Singapore Zoo we recognised them and remembered they are only found on Bali. They are critically endangered so it was definitely a nice surprise. We are pretty sure they even have a nest with babies in the tree!

Every evening at Penida Colada they have a live band from 7.30pm so went down and enjoyed some of the music.

Later that evening we went into our bathroom and had a rather unexpected visitor… a Huntsman Spider! Their legs can span up to 30cm. We quickly got the bum gun and flushed it down the drain. Sorry spider.

If that wasn’t enough wildlife the next morning on our way down the mountain we had a baby King Cobra on the path, luckily it was more scared of us and quickly slithered away! On our last evening we went back to Penida Colada to enjoy the happy hour on the cocktails, they were great!

We had amazing time on Nusa Penida but this morning it was time to move again. We got a lift from our hosts to Buyuk harbour (fantastic name) to get on a ferry to Gili Air.

Gili Air is a tiny island and is part of the three Gili islands. It’s known for its laid back atmosphere and amazing beaches. There are no motorised vehicles on the island and it only takes 20 minutes to walk from one side to the other.

The snorkelling on the island is some of the best in the world with extensive coral reefs, home to a large population of turtles. It only took us 30 minutes to spot our first turtle from the beach!

We’re on the island for 3 nights so let’s see what we can discover!