Most travellers will tell you that you need a scooter to get around Nusa Penida, which is not entirely true. From a monetary perspective, hiring a scooter will only set you back 80000 IDR daily, while renting a car for the day is relatively expensive in comparison. Nevertheless, after reading about the Russian woman that fell to her death in February 2018, as well as the generally treacherous condition of the roads, neither of us were willing to take our chances. I had a scooter accident in Phuket in 2007 that left me with a broken ankle, a large wound on my abdomen and multiple scars, prohibiting me from enjoying the rest of my 3 week holiday. I don’t drive a scooter in Australia, so I figured I probably shouldn’t drive one here.
It’s also important to note that most travel insurance policies won’t cover you if you don’t have a motorcycle licence in your country, or if the motorcycle is greater than 50cc. If you’re considering hiring a scooter in Nusa Penida, we suggest you check your travel insurance first as not only will the vehicle damage not be covered, but treatment for any injuries sustained from the accident won’t be covered either.
After arriving at Toya Pakeh harbour on the public boat from Lembongan, we paid 150000 IDR for a 16km trip to our resort in Klungkung. The hotel staff agreed to drop us off in town where we immediately saw the restaurant Warung Lonto which also offered tour information. The young man who took our order spoke good English and organised a guided tour of the island for 600000 IDR including pickup and drop off from our resort. The tour included Kelingking, Angel’s Billabong, Broken Beach & Crystal Bay. Adding Atuh beach will cost you an extra 200000 IDR as it’s on the other side of the island. We made sure to reach Kelingking before 8.30am and managed to have the viewpoint to ourselves.
Beware however, the walk down to Kelingking Beach in the morning is not for the faint hearted. Not only is it steep, but the path was guarded by a troop of aggressive monkeys that had to be chased away with sticks by the locals until they were placated by the morning offerings to the nearby temple.
If your priority is seeing Angel’s Billabong, it’s best to organise your tour so you that you reach the viewpoint at low tide, which is when the natural infinity pool is visible and when the risk of being swept out into the ocean is at its lowest.
Whilst we did miss the feeling of driving around a tropical island at our own pace, we wouldn’t change our decision. There were several stretches of our trip, totalling around 10km, which involved driving on rubble either up or downhill and whilst an experienced scooter operator might have been perfectly comfortable, we certainly were not. In the end we were able to reach all of the breathtaking viewpoints that Nusa Penida is famous for, without significant compromise. Other benefits of hiring a driver on Nusa Penida include avoiding sunburn during hours of scorching heat and having somewhere secure to store your valuables, especially bulky and expensive camera equipment.
There are several warungs at Toya Pakeh harbour that can also organise a tour, which is probably your best bet if you’re looking to bargain. Otherwise, you can organise tours online with Yourpenida.tours by contacting them via their email or on Whatsapp.
We stayed at Daphila Cottage, beautiful, new and basic accomodation owned and operated by locals.
Thank you, very informative! Tht links really helped
Glad you found it helpful!