Nusa Penida Itinerary (1 – 4 Days): How to Escape the Crowds

I had one main intention for my Nusa Penida itinerary: explore widely but avoid the crowds as much as possible.

Located just off the southeast coast of Bali, Nusa Penida shot to fame over the past couple of decades after images of its T-Rex-shaped beach went viral on Instagram.

However, as I discovered over 5 days, Nusa Penida is much more than its famous ‘Instagram’ spots.

I wanted my Nusa Penida itinerary to be a little different. I wanted to see what made the island so famous, but I also wanted to get off the beaten track.

That’s why I’ll include the best places to visit in Nusa Penida to escape the crowds, and whether or not I think its big attractions – like Kelingking Beach, Diamond Beach and the Rumah Pohon treehouse – are worth visiting.

While you’re here, you might want to check out my guides to the best beach in Nusa Penida and Manta Bay Nusa Penida.

Disclosure: This post includes affiliate links. If you decide to click through and make a qualifying purchase, I will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you – thanks for your support.

Where is Nusa Penida?

Nusa Penida is an island located between Bali and Lombok in Indonesia.

It’s less than 20 miles from the southeastern side of Bali; direct ferries run between Bali (mainly from Sanur) and Nusa Penida.

Nusa Penida is also the largest of three Nusa islands: Nusa Lembongan is best known for its luxury resorts, whereas Nusa Ceningan is the smallest and most uncrowded of the three.

Is Nusa Penida Worth Visiting?

The big question is whether Nusa Penida is worth visiting.

After Instagram images of Kelingking (T-Rex) Beach and Diamond Beach went viral, it has become incredibly crowded.

For me, the appeal of Kelingking Beach is the dragon’s back: the precarious stair hike that traces the narrow ridge to a beautiful, tropical beach.

Not many people are willing to attempt the hike – no wonder, as the final parts require you to scramble down using narrow footholds and bamboo poles – which makes the beach beautifully unbusy.

However, recently, construction began for a 182-metre glass elevator from the clifftop to Kelingking Beach. It’s bound to make the beach busy, as well as get in the way of the current scenery.

I’m a little bit concerned that, now, any old Joe will be able to reach the beach. Having seen the dangerous waves first-hand, I suspect that there will be more casualties than usual.

Is Nusa Penida still worth visiting? It is, as long as your expectations are reasonable.

The crowds are most noticeable on the ‘set’ east and west tour itineraries, especially at Kelingking, Diamond Beach, Broken Beach, Angel’s Billabong and the Rumah Pohon treehouse.

The best way to explore the island is to hire a scooter or a private driver to visit the big tourist sites as early as possible.

If you can get off the beaten track too (and I hope to help you do so), you’ll really reap the benefits.

How to Get to Nusa Penida

As I explain in my guide to how to get to Nusa Penida, Nusa Penida is easy to reach by fast boat.

Here’s a quick summary of the best ways to reach the island from various local destinations:

For most people, the easiest way to reach the island is to take the fast boat from Sanur.

Sanur is located on the east side of Denpasar and easily accessible by Grab car from Canggu and Uluwatu.

Where to Stay in Nusa Penida

There are many places to stay in Nusa Penida, from hostels and dive hotels to resorts. The best resorts in Nusa Penida include MAUA and the adults-only Atalaya Villas.

I visited the island on a budget, so I stayed at the hostel Nuansa Penida. I really liked this as a base, because it’s on the west side of Nusa Penida near Amok Sunset Bar and Crystal Bay.

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How to Escape the Crowds in Nusa Penida

• If you’re an experienced rider, hire a scooter. You can get an early start, overtake tourist vans and control your own itinerary.
• If you’re not an experienced rider, hire a private driver instead; this is easily done through GetYourGuide and starts at £40+.
• Visit busy destinations as early as possible: Kelingking Beach, Diamond Beach and Angel’s Billabong.
• Consider less-visited places: Suwehan Beach, Tembeling Beach and Forest, Guyangan Waterfall, and Goa Giri Putri Temple.

Can I Do A Day Trip to Nusa Penida?

You can absolutely do a day trip to Nusa Penida from Bali. However, it may feel rushed.

In one day, you’ll need to reach Sanur Port, take the fast boat, and then transfer to a minivan to visit the main tourist destinations.

The best way to book your Nusa Penida day tour is on Klook, where you can select the west or east coast and add on snorkelling with manta rays if you fancy it.

Nusa Penida Itinerary For 1 – 4 Days

☀️ Day 1: Snorkelling and Amok Sunset Restaurant & Bar

1. Snorkel with manta rays at Manta Bay

As well as having incredible beaches, Nusa Penida also offers the chance to snorkel with manta rays.

These large, gentle rays have a wingspan of up to five metres and circle around naturally formed plankton ‘feeding stations’ around the island.

The main reason that I suggest that you do this on the first day of your Nusa Penida itinerary is because sightings are not always guaranteed, so if you don’t see one the first time, you can always book onto another tour later in your trip.

The only way to get to see manta rays is to visit Manta Bay on an organised snorkelling tour (unless you take a diving tour for certified divers to Manta Point).

These tours visit several of the best Nusa Penida snorkel spots: Manta Bay, Crystal Bay and Mangrove Point.

There are two main tour types for Manta Bay:

• The morning Manta Bay tour: features three snorkel sites.
• The combined tour, which adds on an afternoon tour of west Nusa Penida (Kelingking Beach, Angel’s Billabong and Broken Beach).

If you only have two days in Nusa Penida, I recommend that you take the combined tour – you can skip to day two to see the itinerary.

If you are spending three or more days in Nusa Penida, you can carry on to Amok Sunset Restaurant & Bar.

2. Visit Amok Sunset Restaurant & Bar

Included in the tours? No

Time needed: 1 – 4 hours

Amok Sunset Restaurant & Bar was a last-minute find; I tagged along with a group of people who had already booked a table, not realising exactly how spectacular it was going to be.

Located on the west coast between Gamat Bay and Crystal Bay, the bar-restaurant is one of the best sunset spots on the island but also well-equipped for an afternoon of TLC.

It has a large swimming pool, bar and traditional ‘bale bale’ bamboo roofs, all overlooking Mount Agung and the sea.

We ordered several rounds of cocktails and sampled some of the Western-Balinese dishes on offer. They were delicious.

Most of the year, the sun sets around 6pm in Nusa Penida.

However, the restaurant is open from 11am. After a morning of snorkelling, I would head here to unwind before the next two jam-packed days of tours.

It can be popular, so I advise that you book lunch (before 3pm) and dinner (after 3pm) tables in advance: the Amok Sunset reservations can be made online.

☀️ Day 2: Nusa Penida West Coast Itinerary

The second day of your Nusa Penida itinerary is reserved for the west coast – my favourite side of the island.

There are two main ways to explore the west coast.

1. Explore on your own (by scooter or private driver).
2. Take a guided tour (group or private).

If you are already in Nusa Penida, you can approach any tour desk to book a tour.

For peace of mind, though, you might want to book the Nusa Penida west coast tour online.

Through my hostel, Nuansa Penida, I tagged along on a group tour and also visited the west coast a second time by hiring a private scooter driver.

The set tours visit Kelingking Beach (T-Rex Beach), Broken Beach, Angel’s Billabong and Crystal Bay.

1. Kelingking Beach (T-Rex Beach)

Included in the tours? Yes

Time needed: 1-3 hours

Kelingking Beach is arguably the most famous beach in Nusa Penida – hence why your best chance at beating the crowds is visiting before 8am.

I visited Kelingking three times: once before 8am (the best!), at 11am (it was very crowded…) and in the afternoon (also very crowded).

Kelingking means ‘pinkie finger’ in Indonesian, a reference to the shape of the ridge.

However, these days, it’s more commonly known as ‘T-Rex Beach’, like the spine of a dinosaur.

From the car park, a short downhill walk past restaurants and food stalls will get you to the main viewpoint.

This area is usually packed with tourists taking photographs, as well as a few monkeys looking for a chance to steal food and shiny objects

If you walk right along the coastline, there’s a slightly less busy viewpoint. It offers a different angle over the beach.

The second viewpoint – you can see the hike to the beach down from the ridge.

In my opinion, the best views are from the ridge hike (the dragon’s back).

From the top of the cliffs, you can start the hike down a steep set of stairs with wooden railings.

That’s the easy part: when you reach the midsection, the stairs gradually disappear, instead being replaced with footholds carved into the stone.

The final part of the hike is quite challenging, requiring good balance and some light scrambling, so it’s not for the faint-hearted.

There are some makeshift bamboo structures that you can hold onto in the toughest sections.

The beach itself is spectacular, with white, powdery sand and green foliage coating the surrounding cliffs. The waves and currents are very strong, though, so you shouldn’t attempt to swim.

To visit the viewpoint, you need less than one hour. To do the hike and spend some time on the beach, factor in at least two to three hours.

2. Broken Beach and Angel’s Billabong

Included in the tours? Yes

Time needed: 1 hour

Broken Beach and Angel’s Billabong are two more popular spots on the set Nusa Penida west coast itinerary.

They are located a 10-minute walk from one another, and surrounded by restaurants, so you can visit them both at once.

If you’re riding a scooter, take note that the road there is very difficult (potholed and made from gravel).

By car, it’s easy. Once you’ve parked, you’re just a couple of minutes’ walk away from Broken Beach.

Don’t be fooled by the name: there’s no beach here, but there is a gorgeous natural rock arch that appeared after a sea cave collapsed.

Through it, the ocean enters a circular cove (not accessible on foot). If the sea conditions are calm, you can also walk around the surrounding cliffs, keeping well away from the edge. Doing this, I spotted manta rays in the ocean.

Angel’s Billabong is a natural sea pool located a short walk away from Broken Beach.

If the weather is sunny, this sea pool is incredibly clear. However, after rain, the water is very murky.

It’s a beautiful place to unwind when the water is clear, although you’re best off staying on the rocks, far away from the ocean.

Large waves sometimes come over the edge of the pool and have sadly carried people out to sea. When I was visiting, I saw a few people get knocked down and hurt, despite the pool being calm for the previous half an hour.

3. Tembeling Beach and Forest

Included in the tours? No

Time needed: 2 hours

Tembeling Beach and Forest is an offbeat spot on the west coast of Nusa Penida. If you want an adventure – and not too many crowds – it’s a nice place to visit, although not overwhelming.

Actually, considering how hard it is to reach, I was a little bit disappointed. It’s a small wooded area with a man-built pool and a very little forest.

The turquoise pools are very relaxing. However, there’s no beach here – just the crashing waves on the rocks.

We shared the pools with only a handful of people, so it was quite nice.

However, if your trip coincides with the arrival of a tour group, I expect the pools would quickly feel overcrowded.

When you arrive, I recommend that you pay the locals for a scooter ride to the beach.

I went down by scooter with a friend and it was very challenging; the narrow dirt trail has a steep drop on one side and it’s very steep in sections. Riding back up is very difficult.

4. Crystal Bay

Included in the tours? Yes

Time needed: 1-2 hours

Crystal Bay is often hailed as the best sunset beach in Nusa Penida.

It’s also one of the easiest beaches to get to, as it’s within 20 minutes of most hotels in the west-coast area of Toyapakeh.

If you have already done your Manta Bay snorkelling tour, you might recognise it. It’s usually the final stop on the snorkelling tours.

You can also go snorkelling directly from the beach; some of the beach warungs hire out snorkelling gear.

I headed to the beach for sunset after my west coast tour and grabbed some nasi goreng from one of the many basic restaurants on the beach.

They set out plastic chairs and sunloungers so that you can wait for the sunset to arrive – it’s an easy, cheap and scenic way to end the day.

☀️ Day 3: Nusa Penida East Coast Itinerary

That brings us to the third day of your Nusa Penida itinerary.

With manta ray snorkelling and the west coast under your belt, all that’s left is to explore the dramatic east coast of Nusa Penida.

It’s famed for Diamond Beach and the Rumah Pohon Treehouse, although my favourite spot is the uncrowded Suwehan Beach.

It takes over an hour to drive from the west to east coast, so this might be a good time to take advantage of hiring a driver or joining a group tour.

Again, group tours can be booked online or in person – these are some of the top-rated tours:

• East Nusa Penida sunrise tour – get out early to beat the crowds.
• East tour from Bali – includes transport from Bali.

1. Diamond Beach

Included in the tours? Yes

Time needed: 1-2 hours

Diamond Beach is a location that you’ll either love or hate.

Why would you love it? The dramatic beach has diamond-shaped limestone rock formations, alongside gold sand and turquoise waters. It’s quite breathtaking when the sun is out.

Plus, ever since locals carved out stairs into the steep cliff face, there is a daring path (protected on one side by roped wooden railings) that adds to the adventure of it all.

Why would you hate it? The crowds can feel incredibly stifling, especially along the staircase, where everyone wants to get the perfect Instagram photograph.

The earlier you can reach the beach, the better, especially because the beach faces east and gets the best sunlight in the morning.

It was a little bit dark around 11am!

Similarly to Kelingking, you can reach the bottom of the cliff by hiking down the stairs. The descent takes around half an hour.

When I reached the beach, it was very empty. Not many people have the time – nor the energy – to do the climb.

Of course, hiking took a little longer and got my blood pumping.

There are a few basic restaurants at the beach, but swimming is dangerous; there are big waves and strong currents.

Back up on the clifftop, I also took a small stroll around the area to look at the views over Atuh Beach and its natural rock arch.

2. Atuh Beach

Included in the tours? Yes

Time needed: 1-2 hours

Next door to Diamond Beach is Atuh Beach, one of the few beaches in Nusa Penida where you can swim safely (check the conditions first) and relax on a sunlounger.

It’s also only accessible by a hike, but with just 166 steps, it’s not too difficult.

White sand, turquoise water, and a handful of restaurants make this a nice place to spend a couple of hours.

There is also a natural rock arch out in the bay, which adds to the scenery.

I skipped visiting Atuh Beach because I wanted to reach the more offbeat Suwehan Beach, but if you fancy propping your feet up, go for it.

3. Rumah Pohon Treehouse and the Thousand Islands Viewpoint – skip to avoid the crowds!

Included in the tours? Yes

Time needed: 1-2 hours

Rumah Pohon Treehouse is one of Nusa Penida’s best-known ‘Instagram locations’.

It’s quite obvious why: the wooden treehouse sits on top of a small tree overlooking a spectacular part of the east coast with dramatic limestone formations rising from the water.

There is a basic wooden ladder leading to the entrance, which is the most popular spot to pose for a photograph.

For me, it didn’t have any appeal. Firstly, you often have to queue for 1 – 2 hours to get a photo on the staircase.

You also have to pay for the staircase photo (75,000 IDR), a general entry fee (25,000 IDR) and parking (5,000 IDR), totalling 105,000 IDR (around £5).

At least the entry fee includes access to the Thousand Islands Viewpoint (renamed the Atuh King Five), which also has a great view of the coast.

It’s up to you to decide whether the viewpoints are worth your time, but I decided to skip it and visit Suwehan Beach instead.

4. Suwehan Beach

Included in the tours? No

Time needed: 1-3 hours

Now, here’s a destination that I think is worth a place on your Nusa Penida itinerary: Suwehan Beach Nusa Penida is a lesser-known beach set at the bottom of dramatic limestone cliffs…

And guess what? It has a diamond-shaped limestone rock formation, reminiscent of the ones at Diamond Beach.

I visited the beach with the help of a private scooter driver. The beach is not too far from Diamond Beach – a 20-minute drive – but it’s through a windy road in the Sebungah Hills.

You’re best off visiting with an experienced rider (or a capable car) because the road is steep, not well-maintained, and therefore difficult to navigate.

It was my driver’s first time to the beach too… and he was so delighted to visit somewhere new, that he hiked down with me and asked me to record a video of him to send to his wife.

The hike takes around 20 to 30 minutes on the descent and 30 to 45 minutes on the return trip.

The stairs were some of the best I came across on the island, so as long as you have a good fitness level for the return climb, you should find it easy enough.

I only met a handful of other tourists at the beach. At one point, my driver and I had the beach to ourselves for 20 minutes.

5. Teletubbies Hills

Included in the tours? Sometimes

Time needed: 20 minutes

The Teletubbies Hills are a nice addition to the end of your Nusa Penida east coast itinerary. They are easy to reach on your drive back to the west side of the island.

Named after their resemblance to the hills in the noughties TV program, the Teletubbies, they are quite beautiful.

My driver pulled us over to the side of the road to take a picture. There isn’t much else to do at the hills, but it was nice to see a different type of scenery.

The dense grass makes the hills very green. After longer periods of rain, they’re supposed to be especially spectacular.

☀️ Day 4 (Optional): Take a diving course

Nusa Penida is incredible for diving – the main draw is Manta Point, a diving site frequented by manta rays circling between plankton feeding stations.

I met several people who dived at Manta Point. Their feedback was that they loved seeing the creatures up close.

However, they mentioned that it’s a deep diving site with strong ocean currents, so it’s best to have quite a few dives under your belt already.

You don’t need to have diving experience to go diving in Nusa Penida; you can sign up for this half-day dive for non-certified divers, which visits coral reefs with calmer conditions.

It’s very unlikely you’ll see manta rays there, although you may see turtles, reef sharks and other sea life.

If you are already a certified diver, then you can take this tour, which includes two dives for certified divers, including one dive at Manta Point (conditions permitting).

There are plenty of PADI dive schools on the island that offer a variety of dive tours and courses.

FAQ

Suggested reading:

• How to get to Nusa Penida
• Manta Bay Nusa Penida – full guide!
• The best Nusa Penida snorkel spots
• Which is the best beach in Nusa Penida?
• The best resorts in Nusa Penida