Nusa Penida, not your usual island.

Nusa Penida is located on the south-east of Bali. A relatively under developed island, it's a huge contrast when you compare to Bali where you get plenty of shopping options, clubs and restaurants to choose from.

A day trip from Bali is very doable and for the majority of the travellers who doesn't want the hassle of planing everything yourself, you can book through Klook here.

Here I will list out some things I wish I had known before this trip and my experience on the island as a photographer. What you need to know before the trip

Bumpy roads!

Certain part of the island have very poor road conditions, be expecting bumpy journey about 30% of the journey.

Be prepare to get wet!

Even you don't plan to get into the sea to swim, be prepare to get wet anyway. As there are no proper dock for the ferries and boats, you are expected to wade through the sea before you can board your boat. There are times the water level can be as high as waist level! The trick is to wait for the right time, when the waves are retreating. Wait awhile to observe how others board and you will understand how to board when the water is at its lowest, don't rush!

Plenty of sun!

There are very little shelters around the island so prepare lots of sunscreens!

Proper footwear!

If you plan to go down to Kelingking Beach, or at least go down the cliff which I definitely recommend, prepare a proper footwear and travel light as the steps are quite steep and sometime slippery.

The West Side

Although there are plenty of scenic locations around the island, scenic spots on the west side are the more famous ones, and I guess easier to access too.

They are namely Angela Billabong, Broken Beach, Kelingking Beach, and the Crystal Bay.

Personally, I find all of them really beautiful and worth a trip down except Crystal Bay which I think is too crowded with tourist. Unless you plan to snorkel or soak in the sea, there aren't anything you can really do over there, It's too crowded for me.

Broken Beach. A beautiful spot where an arched tunnel allows beautiful ocean to flow into the pool.

Kelingking Beach. Impressive is one word to describe this place when I first arrived. There is a small viewing tower that you have to pay to go up. Although it's views are nice up there but not as great as the ones that are free further down. Seriously, don't bother to go up.

If you are up to the challenge, walk down the steps to get a better view of the famous landscape made famous by social media. You don't need to get very far, maybe just 10-15mins down and you get view like this.

And the best view is?

There's no doubt the view of the cliff at Kelingking Beach is beautiful, jaw dropping beautiful. But the best view is once you get up in the air. That's when you start to realise how amazing the cliffs along the coast actually is.

I almost forgot to fly a drone here as I'm so in awe with the beauty in front and only when I got back to the car that I realised I'm missing a drone shot of this place! The driver is kind enough to wait and he even brought me to a good spot just for piloting a drone. I max out two batteries of my Mavic Pro here.

Check out the short video I've made below with my drone!

I can imagine a helicopter ride along the coast would be so spectacular! Bad news for drone pilots though.

The beauty awaits

Nusa Penida starts to get famous about 2 years ago according to the local I spoke to. So things will start getting better for tourist over time, better infrastructure on the island will make the travel experience a more pleasant one. A proper dock for boats is the top priority in my opinion, not many people like to be soaking wet while taking a 30mins boat ride and continue to be wet while travelling on the island.

So should you still make a visit with the bumpy roads, and wet ferry rides? Absolutely yes! With better infrastructure means more tourist, with views like this, I can imagine it's going to get really really crowded. So why not visit while it's still relatively not well known as it should be?

To save the hassle of planing and booking, you can book through Klook like me. You can choose to have a hotel pick up and return. A personal driver with car to drive you around, ferry tickets and lunch are also included as standard.

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