Nusa Penida, Bali, Indonesia

i mentioned i got ‘scammed’ for my return trip to Bali …. the guy lied to me about being able to catch a Ferry to Nusa Penida.   I still got there, but it took the whole day and could have been a very easy trip; and less expensive.   You want to trust people when you are traveling, but some of them will just tell you anything to make a sale.  It’s unfortunate.   i try to be prepared and know prices and transfers, but it’s not always easy to get the right information.   You can ask all the right questions; and still not get the right answers.   That will probably never change and it’s something you just have to get used to.
The problem is not the problem … the problem is your attitude towards the problem  :)      Good to remember especially when traveling.

The Map:
Nusa Penida is not the most popular island to visit.   Most people go to Nusa Lembongon… and there are more options for transport there.   But, i wanted to go to Nusa Penida … because .....i like to 'take the road less traveled'  :)     So i actually did go from Gili Air to Padang Bai, then to Nusa Lembongon, then Nusa Penida  :)

This is not a very touristy island and there are not a lot of lodging options.   It is wild, rugged, and largely untamed. Eventually i booked 3 nights at Penida Dive Resort.     This island is recognized as the place where you can see Manta Rays; they come here to a ‘cleaning station’  (i’ve talked about cleaning stations before).   But this has to be a big one because Manta Rays  (in the StingRay and Spotted Eagle Ray family) can get as large as 18-23 feet … that’s a big fish.   Like the Whale Shark they are filter feeder and eat large quantities of zoopankton, which they swallow with their open mouths as they swim.    That means they are not going to take a bite out of you.   In general, these large fish are seldom seen and difficult to study.
So that is why is wanted to come to Nusa Penida.    It is possible to dive, and also snorkel, and see them.    But we are talking about Wild Animals, so there are no guarantees; like the Whale Sharks that i waited 3 seasons to see.  I wanted to do a couple of dives and i thought it would be good to stay at the Dive Resort and get to know the staff.  
I booked a nice A/C room there for 3 nights. 

i arrived close to 5pm, got settled into my room, and met Andrea, who works there as their snorkel guide.   She was very nice and asked me if i wanted to go with her to the store in Sampalan, on her motor bike.    It was nice to get to know her right away. 

There really is no organized pubic transportation here, except to rent a motor bike, or to hire someone to take you on their motor bike.  I truly wish i knew how to ride one, it would make life much easier on some of these islands… almost no cars, but EVERYONE is on a motor bike.

I met Teressa, the Dive Master and signed up for 2 dives in the morning… to see if we could see the Mantas.   I also met Alli, from Georgia, via Australia.   She is traveling alone too; and also booked the dives. 

The boat ride to the Dive Site was surprisingly rough …. huge waves   … and amazingly spectacular !     That coast line of the island is lined with massive 700+ foot stone cliffs that drop right into the sea.   The waves were crashing and splashing.   There were lots of caves and crevices that have been worn smooth over thousands of years of wave action.    It was breath-taking to see ! 

And then all of a sudden there are huge rock formation out in the water.

Take a ride on the fast Dive Boat with me.   Also on YouTube: https://youtu.be/8gL7Y529U6Y

To see the Mantas when you are diving, you just go down to the bottom and wait.   i know it sounds boring, but i really liked it because there was lots of coral and fishes, and you could just move around as long as you were in sight.   You don't have to ‘follow the leader’ and make sure you don’t get lost.   We saw 2 Mantas, but they were at the surface and quite a long way in the distance, not too exciting.   But i was very relaxing and i loved it.    I didn’t take my camera since everyone else had one.    But Alli did take this photo of me at our Safety Stop

Our second dive was at PED Dive Site and was a Drift Dive.   It was a little too fast, only because we would have liked to spend more time looking at everything there was to see; but it was not uncomfortably fast.     I did have my camera with me and met another new fish.
THE Emperor Angelfish ... i'd been wanting to meet him since i'd already met the Regal

and a new Sea Star .. a Granulated Sea Star

I saw this Pyramid ButterFly Fish in the Philippines, but never got a photo,   They are really a very bright yellow, but the camera does not pick up the light ..... another note to self... duh, use the flash !

This Red Toothed TriggerFish has a great tail and lives in deeper waters, too deep for snorkeling; so you're only likely to see them diving.

This is me after 2 GREAT relaxing comfortable dives !

Andrea invited Alli and i to have fresh fish dinner on the beach that evening.   The local guys cooked

We were treated to an incredible BBQ fish with a fantastic sweet spicy sauce and rice.    We sat and ate with our fingers, pulling the meat from that fish and stuffing rice in our mouths.    I’ve seen the locals doing it all the time, it was fun  … and so delicious.  

Then they sat around playing the guitar and a wooden drum box and singing local songs.   What a great evening.

I did notice that there were all local guys there…. no local girls  …. :(

The next day Alli left; she is on a faster track than i am!    And Andrea arranged for one of guys to take me to Crystal Bay on a motor bike to snorkel; it’s supposed to have beautiful coral and great snorkeling in crystal clear waters (of course).   I envisioned spending most of the day there; snorkeling, taking a break on the beach and snorkeling again.   But the Sea Gods had a different idea in mind.   The waves would have made a surfer happy; and the current was really strong, making half of the Bay ‘off limits’.    I told my driver that 2 hrs would probably be enough.     Obviously this is not my photo, and it did not look like this that day

In spite of the waves, i could have stayed longer.   It was rough, but i found an area over the coral that had good visibility.   Yes, the waves were crashing over my head and i was being tossed around, ....like a fish; but that doesn’t bother me as long as i have new fishes to meet.
I really enjoyed myself, and yes, met lots of new fishes once again, yippee !

TWO new ButterFly Fishes  ... a Tear Drop ButterFly Fish ... this is a perfect name ... look at that 'drop'  .. somebody had a great imagination when they named this fish !

a Meyer's ButterFly Fish, small quick little buggers

another surprise.... un-noticed until now, there is a little triangular shaped Juvenile Brush Tail Tang in the middle

Another SurgeonFish !
Powder Blue SurgeonFish   .... love love love this fish !

I also saw two new UnicornFishes .... this is a Big Nose UnicornFish--Dark Phase ... recognized by their blue lips. So why not call them Blue Lipped UnicornFish ?

The other ? ....  White Margin UnicornFish ...

Have you ever seen such a funny face on a fish .... i'm calling him the Jimmy Durante Unicorn Fish !

As i look at these photos again… the water was amazingly clear

and what an wonderful variety of fish and healthy coral .. Crystal Bay has it all... even with rough seas !

That evening i was invited to join the group to go to Penida Colada’s  … what a cleaver name !    ...that's 'Penida' as in Nusa Penida ...  :)

I booked to be here 3 nights … but again, i was enjoying myself and extended my stay by another night  :)     I wanted to do an island tour after seeing the awesome photos that Alli took on her tour the day she arrived.   Thank you Alli for allowing me to share these.

Pretty amazing, huh?   Again, i didn't do any research.    This island has way more to offer than just the POSSIBILITY of seeing the Mantas!

But at last minute notice, we couldn’t find someone to take me on a tour.    And i learned that the Dive Boat was going to go out again in the morning to a different Manta Dive Site.      i decided that since my reason for coming was to see the Mantas; i should do that instead.   This time i decided to snorkel instead of dive.   Yes, you can possibly see the Mantas while snorkeling too.

The next morning we headed out again…. it was much further than we went the other day.   At 10:15 this is where we got into the water.

....and looked for Mantas.   …. nothing.    If you thought it sounded boring to sit at the bottom and wait for Mantas, ...that was exciting compared to 'bobbing' at the surface, literally doing nothing.    The bottom is too far to dive down and there were only a few fishes that occasionally came close enough to the surface to see.

I noticed there seemed to be tiny flashing lights in the water… red, blue, yellow.    They reminded me of Lightening Bugs aka FireFlies.    I know there are creatures that light up in the night, but i've never heard of anything in the daylight.   They were impossible to take photos of, but that didn’t stop me from trying... i was bored  :)

We were in the water for almost 50min, and i was afraid they were going to tell us it was time to leave.   But the divers had not surfaced yet, so i continued to snorkel, although almost everyone else was on the boat … typical, i’m always the last one in the boat  :)   We continued to ‘bob’ another 10min and finally someone from the boat started pointing… they can actually see the Mantas from the vantage point of the boat.   i swam as fast as i could in that direction … all the time searching below me.    i wasn’t sure what to expect … certainly not a Manta this close... or large !

It only hung around for 3min according to my camera clock.   A short time, but so exhilarating !

At 11:24 it returned again … this time it stayed longer

and as i was watching it, i saw ANOTHER one as their paths crossed 

They were estimated to be 9 feet.    It looked massive to me, yet so graceful, … just slowly ‘flying’ through the water.   These 2 were around for 10min …. i have some video.    Also on YouTube:  https://youtu.be/pF7YK6ix3tc

We hung around for a few more minutes; i saw a Clown TriggerFish down at the bottom and dove down to visit.   I saw one of these on my dive in Siquijor, but this is a better photo   :)       That was a bonus !

And that wasn’t the end of the trip.   Our next stop was PED Dive Site again.   While the divers did a drift dive, we did a drift snorkel.   And, i saw another new fish !
This is an Orange Band SurgeonFish - Sub Adult

You might remember my posting the Adult version from my snorkeling at Gili Air... i can see the similarities

Nusa Penida's subsistence industry is SeaWeed farming.  All along the shore they are farming SeaWeed ….. i looked inside the ‘fence’ and saw this

Short intro on SeaWeed Farming:   They tie short sections of weed at regular intervals along nylon cord.  When ready, it is sorted, laying it out to dry in the sun for 2-5 days.  After drying it is packed in bags and transported for processing and final shipment to the World market.


i also saw this yet-unidentified yellow fish ... with awesome pectoral fins !

Most of these islands have a very shallow ‘beach-reef’ surrounding them, too shallow for big boats.   Every island has their own way of dealing with transporting people from the sea to the land.    In the Philippines, you walked in the water and climbed onto a smaller boat (that seemed rather 'tipsy'), that took you to the larger boat in deeper water.

In Indonesia, you walk in the water to a smaller boat, that takes you to these ‘floating docks’, then you get on the bigger boat.    Sometimes these floating docks also transport you to shallower water, and then you walk in water.    You almost always 'walk in water',  so be prepared.   This is one of the ‘floating docks’ ... it's rather extravagant i think....… with a rather large ship using the facility.

i know the big cruise ships do something similar, if they haven't been successful in destroying the surrounding reef to build a substantial Port.   Now you know my feelings on that subject  :)    Thankfully i haven’t seen any large cruise ships around here.


My last evening, two of the guests were going back to Crystal Bay to watch the SunSet.    I was invited to ride along on the back of the motor bike.    This is a far different scene than the one i saw a day ago … this evening, so calm and serene !

They arranged for me to get back to the mainland in the morning via Fast Ferry and had a driver pick me up and take me back to Ubud to pick up the rest of my baggage and spend one more night.   It’s amazing how easy and fast it can be if done properly.   A motor bike took me to Sampanlan, where i again saw the majestic Mt. Agung on Bali.

The ferry left from Sampanlan at 7:50am, we arrived at Kusamba at 8:20 at this ‘port’.   A black sand beach with nothing there,  except yet another challenge to get people from sea to shore.  

We moved from our ferry to a ‘floating barge dock’ …. just grab a rope guys and help me haul in this ‘floating dock’ and get these people on shore.   Amazing !

I was back in Ubud before 10am.   Kutut was happy to see me, i think; or happy to get my baggage out of his home. Since he did not have a room available, i stayed in the same complex in WHouse, owned by his brother.    They grew up in that very spot in Ubud.      My baggage was delivered to my room.

That's the end of the Nusa Penida story.... more on Ubud in the next post.