104 Travel | Nusa Penida
A lone fisherman at Kelingking Beach on Penida ’ s wild west coast .
A colourful Balinese jukung boat moored up on a quiet beach .
The island ’ s biggest export is seaweed , which is cultivated and collected by hand .
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The two islands of Nusa Lembongan and Nusa Ceningan off the east coast of Bali are already popular tourist destinations , but despite dwarfing both in size , neighbouring Nusa Penida has remained curiously off the radar for visitors until recently .
It might be less than an hour ’ s boat ride from Sanur , but from whatever angle you approach , the first impression is one of an isolated island paradise that feels far removed from the mainland bustle .
I begin my trip in the harbour town of Toyapakeh , which is the principal entry point for most visitors going ashore . As I step off the boat and onto the soft white sand , I ’ m greeted by my guide , Pak Yudi , who has agreed to show me around for the next couple of days by way of a motorbike tour . Due to the island ’ s size and lack of anything resembling public transport , the bike proves to be a very efficient way to travel between sights , although cars can be easily arranged for those who may not be particularly confident on two wheels .
Penida ’ s main roads are surprisingly smooth , but as I discover on the way to our first destination of Raja Lima on the island ’ s eastern side , once you leave the asphalt behind , most routes through to the coast become fairly bumpy . The unsealed track twists and turns for a good few kilometres , before we emerge at a viewpoint that looks out across a number of steep limestone rock cliffs , pinnacles and islets . The scene is as dramatic as it is precarious , with sheer drops on all sides as we descend to a rocky promontory that is even more vertigo inducing . A lone tree house looks out across the water , which Yudi tells me is available to rent as a guesthouse . It ’ s pretty basic , but there ’ s no question that spending the night down here and waking up to a sunrise over Raja Lima would be quite an experience .
We leave the bikes and set off on foot to nearby Pantai Atuh , where a narrow set of steps wind steeply down to the halfmoon-shaped beach , hemmed in by a series of jagged limestone rock formations . After a paddle in the crystal-blue water , we