Nusa Penida

Nusa Penida is more than just home to the beautiful reefs, year round manta rays and seasonal Molas (aka sunfish). The island is HUGE - It has beautiful beaches, views to the mighty Mount Agung volcano on Bali mainland and has a stunning cliff coastline. There are plenty of awe-inspiring view points and lots of natural beauty spots for those of you who like to add a bit of adventure to your dry time.

Nusa Penida feels like the Bali of long ago, and although the island is just a convenient short boat ride from the main island, we'll be amazed if you don't love the traditional island-life vibes here. It also has a rich cultural heritage and has important temples for Balinese Hindus.

The three nusa islands - Penida, Lembongan and Ceningan make up the world class diving area that is on our doorstep. Powerful ocean currents sweep past the islands playing an important role in our incredible reefs and the seasonal changes in marine life that we experience.

Generally Nusa Penida is much drier than mainland Bali and you'll enjoy tropical temperatures throughout the year.

All year round the air temperatures are typically 30-35 during the day, and 25-30 at night, with humidity around 80-90% all year.

The good news? The diving is awesome all year round, whatever the weather!

With Bali being a predominantly Hindu region of Indonesia, we have some unique holidays here. Nyepi and Nyepi Laut are important ones for us to tell you about as they affect our operations.

The Saka new year is known as Nyepi here - The day of silence. During Nyepi everything closes down for 24 hours in the whole of Bali: The airport is closed, no boats are allowed to go to sea, and residents are not allowed outside of their house compound (tourists must stay inside their hotels). Local community guards patrol the streets to make sure that everyone adheres to these rules. During Nyepi everyone must stay quiet (no loud music or noises), and you are not allowed to use lights - On Nusa Penida the electricity is actually switched off for the whole island! The belief is that when the island is silent, evil spirits pass straight over, fooled into thinking that nobody is there.

On the eve of Nyepi there is a parade of Ogoh-Ogoh in the streets - members of the local villages spend hours and hours making the statues that they parade with. Definitely a great one to watch and you can be as loud as you like before the silent day!
Nyepi lasts from 6am for 24 hours. Nyepi is on a different calendar day each year and is normally in March.

Nyepi Laut means "sea silence" - It's not as extreme as the full day of silence, but on Nyepi Laut days no boats are allowed to go to sea and no in-water activities are allowed around the nusa islands - So that means no diving or snorkelling for us, fishmermen do not go to sea either! There are also no fast boat transfers or ferry between mainland Bali and Nusa Penida. We will let you know if the date of your stay falls over a Nyepi Laut day, it's usually in September or October. The rest of the island operates as normal during Nyepi laut so it's a great day to explore the island on land without day trip visitors from mainland Bali.

When venturing away from the North coast around the island the road condition is still good but with some very steep hills! Some of the roads to the island's view points are bumpy. If you're an experienced motorcyclist then you might enjoy exploring the island in this way, but if not then we'd recommend hiring a car and driver. Cars with drivers can be hired for tours around the island for single tours, half days and full days. If you're alone then you can also get scooter tours.