Max and I spent two incredible weeks in Bali Island! When planning our trip, we knew we wanted time explore Nusa Penida. There are so many stunning photos of the island so we knew we wanted to see Nusa Penida in person!
We planned to do a day trip to Nusa Penida from either Seminyak or Uluwatu. Upon arriving to Bali Indonesia, we saw a number of places that offered a day trip to the island so we figured it was a pretty popular tour. We decided go for it and book a tour for our last day in Seminyak.
If I’m being completely honest, the tour was disappointing. I honestly didn’t really realize what was in store. Had I done a little more research, I would’ve been better prepared for the day, mentally. My understanding is all Nusa Penida Tours are set up and scheduled similarly regardless of the company you book.
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BOOKING
As I mentioned, there are a variety of Nusa Penida day trips you can book from Bali. There are two main tours to choose from depending on the sites you want to see. The two main tours are the East and West tour of Nusa Penida. On the West tour you’ll visit Kelingking Beach, Angel’s Billabong, Broken Beach (Pasih Uug) and, Crystal Bay. Whereas the East tour stops at Atuh Beach, Diamond Beach, Thousand Island Viewpoint, the Tree House, and Teletubbies Hills. We did the West tour of the Nusa Penida Island.
You can book your Nusa Penida day trip online or in person at one of the information booths in town. I believe it’s cheaper to book online as we paid $50 USD per person when we booked but the tour is $25 USD per person online.
Booking is per person and includes lunch as well transportation for the day.
TRAVEL TIPS
Before I get into our tour, I want to go through a few of my top travel tips for visiting Nusa Penida Island.
- I’m going to be completely honest, I found the Nusa Penida day trip to be too crammed to be enjoyable. If you only have time for one day in Nusa Penida, do it but go prepared. I would consider skipping a spot so you’re able to spend more time at each spot.
- If you decide to go on the day tour, bring snacks and plenty of water :)
- I highly recommend spending 2-3 days on the island. This will give you so much more time to explore and enjoy the island.
- The roads in Nusa Penida are rough. They’re barely paved with quite a few potholes so prepare for a bumpy ride! If you get car sick easily bring something for motion sickness. I don’t get motion sickness at all and was struggling.
- With that, the traffic on the island is horrendous. Tours are private so every group is in a separate car. Most tours follow the same path which causes a ton of traffic.
- If you’re looking for a quicker way to get around the island, rent a scooter! You’ll be able to bypass a lot of the traffic. Be careful though because the roads are crazy!
OVERVIEW OF THE DAY
On the day of our tour we were picked up around 6:45 am. We were pleasantly surprised it was a private shuttle as we anticipated having to make stops along the way. We got to the ferry around 7:15 for our 8:30 transfer to Nusa Penida.
Around 8:15 we started walking to the water to board our ferry. As we began boarding we realized there wasn’t a ramp to get onto the boat. People were walking into the water to hop onto the boat. Being short, I walked about thigh high to get on the boat! I’m mentioning this because for some reason I decided to wear pants! Luckily they were loose and I was able to yank them up. Okay moving on now, the ferry was a quick 30-40 minute ride. We got off the ferry and met our tour guide for the day which was private as well.
When booking our tour, it said we would have an English speaking guide. Our tour guide admitted pretty quickly he didn’t know English. This wasn’t a big deal to us but, I want to give an honest review of our experience.
Anyway! Just after 10:30 am we arrived to the first location, Kelingking Beach. We had approximately 25 minutes here before hopping back in the car for the next location. We both could have easily spent 2-3 hours at Kelingking Beach. The views are absolutely spectacular! The water is piercing blue, it’s just gorgeous. We would have loved to have time to walk down to the beach to explore and relax.
PSA: Watch out for the monkeys! They like sneak up out of no where :)
I honestly can’t remember how far away the next location was but I’ll estimate it was 45 minutes to 1 hour from Kelingking Beach. We were able to see both Angel’s Billabong and Broken Beach during the second stop since they’re within walking distance of each other. Both sites are incredible; I cannot get over the color of the water! We had roughly 30 minutes to see both spots before heading to lunch.
Our lunch spot was maybe 15 minutes from Angel’s Billabong. Lunch was really good! We were given a short menu and could pick 1 item and one drink. I got noodles with chicken and Max got rice with chicken. Both were delicious and felt authentic!
After lunch, we left for Crystal Bay Nusa Penida, our final stop of the day. It was an hour drive to Crystal Bay but we were able to spend an hour at the beach. The beach was relatively busy but absolutely stunning! The water was crystal clear and my husband and I would have loved to have more time here.
After about an hour at Crystal Bay we got back in the car and drove to the ferry which was about a 30 minute drive. Our ferry was at 4:30 pm and actually left about 15 minutes early which was great. When we arrived back to the Island of Bali, our driver from the morning was waiting for us which was really nice!
In conclusion, while I absolutely loved Nusa Penida Island it’s honestly not worth the day trip. You’ll spend the majority of your day in traffic with only a quick break at each location. I hate being negative about a tour but I want to be honest so you’re prepared! There’s so much to see on the island, you don’t want to rush it! I recommend setting aside at least three days to fully explore Nusa Penida.
If you’re planning a trip to Bali don’t miss these articles below!
Safe Travels,
Sarah :)
I’ve linked a few travel essentials for your trip in Bali Indonesia. Let me know if you have any questions below and I would be happy to answer!
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