An adventure-filled vacation with children on Bali's rugged neighbor

When I imagined Bali, I always pictured the mystique of its temples, beautiful beaches, and green rice fields. But I never expected to be amazed by its enormous cliffs. Nusa Penida is a small island located half an hour by boat from the coast of Bali. Officially, this island belongs to Bali, just like the islands of Nusa Ceningan and Nusa Lembongan. Nusa Penida is about twenty kilometers long and twelve kilometers wide, making it easily explorable over the course of a few days. The north side of the island is rugged. Today, we're taking a tour by van along its most beautiful cliffs and viewpoints. We're stopping at the most popular and impressive cliff and its accompanying beach: Kelingking.

The green vegetation on the cliff, the purple of the flowers, and the chalk white of the beaches and rocks. The colors contrast beautifully with the azure blue of the sea. I could watch this for hours. Below us, we see that you can walk to the beach via a narrow path over the rocks. Since we heard that this is not without its risks, we decide to stay up top with the children. We'll visit beaches later. We continue our journey in the small bus and get off a few more times to marvel at the enormous cliffs that not only rise high above the water, but also extend far down into the sea.

Atuh Beach

The final stop with the van is at Atuh Beach. A lovely beach where we can relax after our adventurous journey along the rugged cliffs. To reach Atuh Beach, we hike down a challenging path over the rocks. On the left, we can already see Atuh Beach. On our right, we see another beautiful beach. This is Diamond Beach, another a beach surrounded by cliffs. People don't come to Diamond Beach for a day at the beach, but mainly to take beautiful photos. Atuh Beach turns out to be perfect for an afternoon at the beach.

 
When we arrive down below, we see some tables, colored umbrellas, sun loungers, and bean bags. It's quiet. Only a handful of people actually descend to relax on the beach. We settle down on a large bean bag and can immediately smell that we'll be having a lunch of fresh fish this afternoon. The fish from the barbecue comes out warm and crispy. It's delicious. Then the children think it's time for action. The sea here is too wild for swimming, but perfect for jumping over waves. It provides great entertainment. I try to snorkel, but to the amusement of the rest of my family, I keep getting washed ashore by the high waves. I decide that snorkeling will have to wait until we go to Crystal Beach the next day.

Snorkeling at Crystal Beach

On our last day on Nusa Penida, we are picked up by a truck with a large, covered flatbed to sit in. We load our belongings and take our seats on the benches. Bouncing up and down, we leave the grounds of our bungalow and head to Crystal Beach. Back home in the Netherlands, we would never sit on rickety benches in the back of a truck like this. I would've probably found it very irresponsible then. After an adventurous hour-long ride, palm trees along the beach come into view. We have arrived at Crystal Beach. On the beach, we see only a small number of people, and the sea is calm. We see some snorkelers by boats anchored offshore. It's time for us to get into the water, too.

 
For the children, this is their first time snorkeling. I look forward to finally showing them the beautiful underwater world. Carefully, we glide through the water, gently placing our feet to move forward. When we have swum a bit away from the beach, I see my daughter pointing at something. A large school of tropical fish swims past us in the distance. This turns out to be just the beginning of a wonderful underwater experience. The diversity of fish species is enormous. We enjoy the large and small fish in yellow, purple, blue, and orange. Fish with stripes and fish with spots. Satisfied, we emerge from the water after fourty-five minutes. The children are full of stories. We, as parents, are glad that we can show them these unique places.
 
Curious about more family adventures in Bali? Read also: 'Experience Pure Bali: 5 Unique Experiences with Children'.