Private: #33 Nusa Penida & Nusa Lembongan / Penida & Lembongan szigetek (Indonesia / Indonezia)

English version:

From Labuan Bajo the original plan was to fly to Ende on the east side of Flores island to spend a few days there and most importantly to visit the Mount Kelimutu. Kelimutu is another volcano which is famous of its colour-changing crater lakes. After the Tambora-fiasco though we were not ready for this, so I decided to rather go backwards to the gorgeous Nusa Penida island which is situated 20 kms south east from Bali. We flew back to Denpasar in Bali then a taxi took us to the harbour in Sanur. From Sanur we jumped in a public boat which is normally the cheapest option to travel and eventually arrived in Penida island after 45 minutes. There are 2 other islands next to Penida: Lembongan and Ceningan.

Because Penida is close to Bali, quite a lot of tourists come here hence it was a real challenge to book a room in the last minute, literally from the boat. At first we stayed in the Sandat Bungalows only for a night because they were fully booked from the next day. The place looked very nice, but because these are bamboo huts and there is a bike repair garage in the neighbourhood where they test bike engines from 5am in the morning, We didn’t have a good experience. But we scooted a few hundred meters in the morning and found the lovely Krisna Guest House which was our final home on Penida for the remaining 5 nights.

Krisna Guest House is a dream. Clean, quiet and the food is the best one on the island. They even have a large pizza oven, so very well prepared. Check this food out: fried chocolate ice cream. I guarantee if you try it you won’t want to stop eating it.

So, what can you do on Penida? You can scuba dive in many good dive spots. The water is a little bit colder than the usual in Indonesia. I would say around 25 – 26 degrees but it’s crystal clear. Between Penida and Lembongan – if there is season – you can dive with mola molas and on the west side there is a spot called Manta Point which is actually a manta ray cleaning station therefore you have 90% chance to see these beautiful creatures all the time.

I dived there and was amazed by these oversized lazy underwater ballet dancers.

You can also check out nice beaches on the island. The most famous one is Crystal Bay which is indeed a gorgeous beach with nice palm trees and a rock in the middle. Our favourite beach though was a secret beach on the east side of the island. It takes a good 45 minutes to get to the other side of the island and when the asphalt road finished, you have to go for another 45 – 60 minutes on very crazy and steep dirt roads. This is not a trip you would do every day, but well worth it. The beach is called Suwehan Beach which is probably the most beautiful beach I have ever seen in my entire life. When you arrive, there is a car park and you can and should buy some drinks or anything you want to take down to the bay because that’s your last chance. Then you take a lot of stairs down and you are on the beach. It’s impossible to describe what you will see and experience there. Powerful and gigantic waves, white sand and almost zero people, mainly locals.

Apart from the beaches, the main attraction of Nusa Penida island is a natural swimming pool among volcanic rocks, called the Angels Billabong. Thanks to the reviews, Instagram posts and pictures on the internet I had super high expectations with regards to this attraction. But it was a disappointment because you have to drive an hour on bad dirt roads then you end up seeing this small little pool with a lot of tourists making selfies inside. It’s not ugly but I wouldn’t call it the main attraction of this island. There are much more cool stuff here.

The sunsets on the island are of course fantastic. You can see Bali from here and the Agung volcano – our old friend – which always makes the sunset very special. My favourite place to watch the sunset was the Amp Bar where you can enjoy the sunshine and use their pool for a small amount of minimum order in the bar. The stuff here is top notch, I loved them a lot.

And the last activity I want to mention is the island hopping to see the other 2 small islands: Lembongan and Ceningan. We used the public boat here too from the harbour to get to Lembongan. It was roughly a 20 mins ride. Lembongan and Ceningan islands are connected together with a nice little bridge. We spent a day on Lembongan but didn’t really like it compared to Penida. There are some nice beaches there, such as the Dream Beach and the one at the Mahagiri Resort on the north but the atmosphere wasn’t very nice. Penida is more expensive but definitely a better place so I am happy that we stayed there and spent a fantastic 6 days on that island.

Magyar verzio:

Labuan Bajobol az eredeti terv az lett volna, hogy elrepulok Endere Flores-sziget keleti oldalan, hogy eltoltsunk nehany napot arrafele illetve hogy meglatogassuk a fo attrakciot, a Kelimutu-hegyet. Kelimutu egy masik vulkan, ami a folyamatosan szinet valtoztato krater tavairol hires. A Tambora-fiasko utan azonban nem alltunk keszen egy ujabb vulkanturara, ezert ugy dontottem hogy inkabb visszafele vesszuk az iranyt es elrepulunk a gyonyoru Nusa Penida szigetre, ami 20 km-re fekszik Balitol del-keleti iranyban. Igy hat visszarepultunk Denpasarba Balira, ahonnan eltaxiztun a sanuri kikotobe. Sanurbol egy “public” hajora pattantunk ami altalaban a legolcsobb opcio es 45 perc mulva vegre megerkeztunk Nusa Penida szigetere. 2 masik sziget is van Penida mellett: Lembongan es Ceningan szigetek.

Penida nagyon kozel van Balihoz, ezert rengeteg turista erkezik ide igy nagyon nehez volt utolso pillanatban szallast foglalni. Szo szerint az odavezeto hajo ut alatt probalkoztam ezzel. Elso otthonunk a Sandat Bungallo volt mindossze 1 ejszakara, mert ok is teljesen be voltak tablazva a kovetkezo napokra. Ez a hely gyonyoru volt, de mivel bambusz kunyhokrol beszelunk, ami teljesen atengedi a kulso zajokat es mellettunk volt egy motor-szerviz ahol hajnal 5-tol teszteltek a blokkokat igy nem volt valami jo elmeny ott ebredni. Masnap reggel egy par 100 meteres robogozas utan azonban megtalaltuk a csodalatos Krisna Vendeghazat, ahol a tovabbi 5 penidai ejszakankat toltottuk.

A Krisna vendeghaz egy alom. Tiszta, csendes es a legjobb kajakat keszitik a szigeten. Meg egy nagy pizza-kemencejuk is van, szoval jol fel vannak keszulve. Ezt a kajat kapd ki: sult csoki fagyi. Kiprobalas utan garantaltan nem lehet abbahagyni.

Szoval mit muvelhet az ember Penidan? Buvarkodhatsz egy csomo kiraly buvarhelyen. A viz egy picit hidegebb mint altalaban Indoneziaban. 25 – 25 fokos, viszont kristaly-tiszta. Penida es Lembongan szigetek kozott – amikor szezonja van – merulhetsz mola molakkal, a sziget nyugati oldalan pedig a Manta Pontnal manta rajakkal. A Manta Pont valojaban egy manta tisztito-allomas, szoval itt 90% valoszinuseggel merulhetsz ezekkel a gyonyoru teremtmenyekkel.

En merultem is itt ezekkel a csodalatos tulmeretezett es lusta vizalatti balett tancosokkal.

Ellatogathatsz meg gyonyoru strandokra a szigeten. A legfelkapottabb a Kristaly Obol, ami tenyleg nagyon szuperul nez ki gyonyoru palmafakkal es egy nagy sziklakkal a kozepen. A kedvencunk azonban egy titkos beach volt a sziget keleti oldalan. Az odajutashoz 45 percet kell robogoznod a sziget keleti szeleig, ahol az aszfalt utat egy 45 – 60 perces brutal gaz es meredek fold ut kovetkezik. Ez nem az az ut, amit minden nap lenyom az ember, de egyszer megeri. A beach neve Suwehan Beach, ami talan a legszebb beach amit eletemben lattam. Amint megerkezel a parkoloba, tudsz vasarolni uditot vagy ragcsalnivalot. Itt erdemes is bevasarolni, mert lent az obolben mar nem lesz ra lehetoseg. A parkolobol tobb ezer lepcsofokot kell lefele haladni a beachig. A latvanyt megint csak nem lehet szavakkal leirni. Boduletes ereju hullamok, feher homok es szinte nulla furdozo, foleg helyiek.

A beacheken kivul Nusa Penida fo attrakcioja egy termeszetes, vulkanikus uszomedence amit Angels Billabongnak hivnak. A sok blog bejegyzesnek es instagram fotonak koszonhetoen nagy elvarasaim voltak ezzel kapcsolatban. Csalodnom kellett azonban, mivel a sok huho odaig nem erte meg. Egy orat kell robogoznod megint csak eleg gaz foldutakon, majd megerkezel ehhez a miniatur kis vulkanikus medencehez ami tele van szelfizo turistakkal. Nem csunya, viszont nem ezt neveznem a sziget fo latnivalojanak. Sokkal tobb es szebb dolog is van ezen a szigeten.

Penida naplementei is termeszetesen fantasztikusak. A szigetrol latod Balit es az Agung-vulkant – regi baratunkat – ami miden naplementet kulonlegesse tesz. A kedvenc naplementes helyem az Amp Bar volt, ahol elvezheted a napsugarakat es hasznalhatod a medencejuket egy kis minimum koltesert a barjukban. A szemelyzet elso osztalyu, imadtam oket.

Amit meg Penidan csinalhatsz, az az island hopping. Konnyeden athajozhatsz a masik ket szigetre: Lembonganra es Ceninganra. Itt is public hajot hasznaltunk a kikotobol, hogy atruccanjunk Lembonganra. Az ut mindossze 20 percig tartott. Lembongan es Ceningan szigeteket egy kellemes kis hid koti ossze. Egy napot toltottunk Lembonganon, de nem igazan szerettuk ahogy osszehasonlitottuk Penidaval. Vannak itt is kellemes strandok ugy mint a Dream Beach es a Mahagiri Hotelnel levo beach a sziget eszaki reszen, de az egesz hely hangulata nem igazan jo. Penida dragabb, de mindenkeppen a tuti hely a 3 sziget kozul igy orultem, hogy 6 fantasztikus napot toltottunk ott.