A hole in the ground or an amazing beach? Broken Beach - Nusa Penida, Indonesia

in #travel5 years ago (edited)

Broken beach is an incredible little cove in Nusa Penida. This combined with Angel's Billabong makes it a top tourist attraction on the Island. Every day many people come to visit this amazing place to see it for themselves.


Mystery girl is with me on this trip. Yesterday we took the boat and came to Nusa Penida. Upon arrival we got ourselves a scooter right at the pier. Well, it is very sketchy. Cash in hand, no contract, here's the key, I see you in 2 days. Which made us feel awkward, but hey it is what it is.

Luckily I have been traveling a lot in South East Asia. Getting the prices down and getting the scooter that I pick (not them) has become a second nature. We got a scooter with decent thread on the tires, good brakes and 2 helmets for 60,000 idr (€3.80) per day.

La Nusa Homestay

We arrive at our hotel close to 7 pm. Our hotel is called La Nusa homestay. The room we get is really great, a private bungalow with a view on the garden. The room is super clean and the staff is friendly and helpful. They even come during the day to give fresh towels and make the bed. We only paid 325,000 idr (€20) per night.

Book on Agoda

The booking doesn't include breakfast. However, the breakfast is super cheap. And there are so many options to choose from and it only costs 25,000 idr (€1.60).

Bali Fried Chicken

If there's something I learned while traveling is South East Asia, it is that they love Fried Chicken. You can get fried chicken on the street, KFC and many restaurants and chains. It is everywhere and people enjoy it. I have seen the signs BFC (Bali Fried Chicken) en JFC (Jawa Fried Chicken) many times. But I never stopped.

The first time I saw a shop, I thought it was some KFC knockoff. But then I started seeing them everywhere. It is a chain, just like KFC so I finally gave it a shot. And it was absolutely delicious. It's a lot better than any KFC I had before.

But now it's time to relax and get a good night sleep. Tomorrow we will be checking out the broken beach.

The broken beach

Breakfast at our hotel starts at 8 am. We are ready at 8 and order our breakfast. After this, we hop on the scooter and get going to broken beach. Distance wise, nothing is really that far in Nusa Penida. However the roads are really bad. It starts really great in town with good roads. But then the roads gets smaller and then potholes appear and before you know it there's no more asphalt, but only big rocks. Driving here is slow and bumpy.

By the time we arrive it is really hot outside. We are just before the first tourist wave hits. But we waste a little bit of time at the entrance. We go and buy some water, go to the toilet, forgot something in the trunk of the scooter and asked someone to borrow sunscreen. And… wham, the tourists hit. It also gets super hot, it feels like a desert.

A hole in the ground

I have seen many pictures of the broken beach before, but never from the sky. Also seeing it real life just shows that is a huge sinkhole with an opening for the ocean to come in. It's so spectacular to see.

I have my drone with me and take it for a spin. I want to see this one from the sky and it resulted in some really unique photos. At first there was a boat inside the broken beach. I was a little bit too late to snap a topdown shot of the boat. It had already left.

Angel's billabong

There are 2 tourists attractions here. The other one is the Angel's billabong. It's a spectacular rock formation that ended in what looks like an infinity pool with a view over the ocean. It is super unique and definitely a first for me. I haven't seen anything like this before.

The water in this whole area is so blue. It's absolutely stunning. I haven't seen water this blue on my whole 4 month trip.

Too hot, let's go to the beach

At this point it is getting too hot. We seek shelter in a restaurant near the parking lot. We get some food and fresh juice.

But now it is time to go cool down. We decide to go to Crystal Bay, since it is somewhat on the way back. Our plan is to go snorkeling, because we heard snorkeling is really amazing at Nusa Penida. So we want to spend a long time in the water.

Snorkeling at crystal bay

Crystal Bay is an amazing beach area in Nusa Penida. The waters are very clear, there are plenty of fish and coral reefs. As a result, Crystal Bay is an amazing spot for snorkeling.

When we arrive on the beach, we spend some time in the shadow and drinking fresh juice. The drive here is comparable to going to broken beach. The road is really bad, which makes the trip long.

After this it is time to go snorkeling. We rent snorkeling equipment at the beach and head in the waters. I don't have any pictures of this as everything happens underwater. But I can tell you a bit about them.

Sea life

Source: https://gekodivebali.com/en/bali-dive-sites/crystal-bay

There are so many colorful fish here in the water. It is absolutely beautiful. We are so surprised. We see coral reefs and blue plants on the bottom. These plants are opening and closing the whole time, like they are breathing. There are colorful fishes which really grab our attention.

At one point we get hit by a school of tiny fishes. Literally thousands of them, all swimming in the same direction. We are just surrounded by them. It's just wow! So breathtaking. It's so interesting how they all swim in the same direction and take the same turn at exactly the same time. Truly stunning.

There were 2 blue fish swimming in a spiral behind each other. There were big fish, small fish. It's so amazing.

Time to head back

After an extended period in the water, it is time to go back to our hotel. We grab some quick food on the way. We saw a really amazing restaurant on the way to crystal bay, coming from broken beach. It was filled with locals. But we couldn't find it anymore. So we settled with another restaurant. It was okay, but not the best Indonesian food we had.

Tomorrow morning we are waking up early. We requested a really early breakfast at our hotel and we are going to the amazing Kelingking beach. It's an amazing place! In the afternoon we are going back to Bali. We will be staying in Ubud again.



Reposted from beforeyoupack.net

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I was just in Nusa Penida last week, great spot!
I recommend checking out the cave temple while your there!

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How was Nusa Penida? I didn’t do the cave temple unfortunately

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I enjoyed it and will be back this year to completely explore it!

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Sounds like a great plan! I would love to visit again too

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Awesomeness I just added it to the bucket list! I'm next door in Malaysia so totally doable.. Looks amazing! I'm headed to Nha Trang and Dalat in a couple weeks, u have any tips and suggestions for this destination by any chance ?

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Check my previous posts about Vietnam 😉 Enjoy your trip! 😊

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Awesome I just booked at Mookas

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@beforeyoupack I'm here in nha trang looking to book a van or bus to dalat, do you happen to remember the company you booked with, sounded legit relaxing with Wi-Fi.. Won't to avoid a crazy ride lol.. All companies say 4 hours trip,that could be a nightmare depending on the driver 🤕

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Futa is a really good bus company. It’s super comfortable, I didn’t want to leave the bus 😂

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Awesome thanks so much man

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