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Kelingking beach is very, very beautiful.
The beach is also known as the T Rex beach, because the shape of the cliff next to it looks a lot like a dinosaur T. rex, Tyrannosaurus rex. Even though this place is super touristy – it’s among top 3 places in Nusa Penida after all – it really does live up to the hype. In life the beach looks the same as impressive as on Instagram. The best part is, that even here you can avoid crowds — if you’re ready to walk extra, and if you plan your visit to Kelingking beach (Pantai Kelingking) well.
Let me help you to plan your visit to this beautiful beach.
Table of Contents
1. Kelingking Beach, Nusa Penida: Basics
Nusa Penida is a small island next to Bali.
And Kelingking beach is the best known of Nusa Penida beaches.
STARTING POINT: parking lot next to the beach viewpoint.
TIME: 30 minutes – 1 hour, if you aren’t going to the beach.
More if you plan to walk down to the beach, and spend some time there.
DIFFICULTY (visiting Kelingking beach viewpoint): easy.
DIFFICULTY (going down until the beach): moderate / challenging.
TIPS: come before 10 am or after 4 pm. It’s the best time to visit Kelingking beach to avoid the crowds. Bring enough water if you’ll be going all the way down to the beach.
2. Kelingking Beach Deaths
This place truly is super beautiful.
But there are also some dangers you should be aware of:
- cliffs;
- steep descent to the beach;
- huge waves and strong currents on the beach.
Just in the last 2 years there have been several serious accidents, including these 2 fatal ones when a Vietnamese tourist was swept out in the sea and a Russian woman fell of a cliff.
Be careful when getting close to a side of a cliff. In many places there aren’t any handrails or anything.
Be extra careful when descending. Do it only if you aren’t afraid of heights. Kelingking beach stairs are steep. For the most part there aren’t any steps whatsoever. There are just rocks. And the handrails are some sticks.
I, personally, felt very OK there.
Don’t swim there. Unless you feel confident about your swimming skills in a place and conditions like these, where there are strong currents and huge waves. And be careful when taking selfies with the huge waves.
I felt confident about my ocean swimming skills, until I almost drowned in Bali.
3. How to Get to Kelingking Beach
Let’s split this into two.
Getting to the famous viewpoint and to the actual beach itself.
And let’s start with the first part.
3.1 How to Get to Kelingking Beach From Bali
I’ll repeat myself, this beach is not in Bali.
It’s on another island, right next to Bali – Nusa Penida.
The easiest way – booking a day trip to Nusa Penida.
If you are alone or there are two of you, it will cost you roughly 1 000 000 IDR (around 65 USD) per person. That will include a transfer from/to hotel, a return ferry ticket from Bali to Nusa Penida, a tour in Nusa Penida and a lunch.
Another option – create your own Nusa Penida day trip.
Go to Sanur (there are many boat companies) or to Kusamba (Ganga Express).
Book a ticket. Go to Nusa Penida. Rent a bike or car with driver.
It’s a 20 – 60 minute ferry journey, depending from where you depart. With Ganga Express it took us something like 18 minutes to travel from Kusamba to Nusa Penida, and cost 150 000 IDR for a return journey.
A bike costs another 70 – 100 000, a car with a driver – around 350 – 500 000 IDR for a full day.
The ferry schedules vary and change.
But mostly it works more or less like this.
You leave Bali at around 8 or 9 am, and depart from Nusa Penida at around 4 or 5 pm. This is enough to visit a couple of top Nusa Penida tourist sites, including Kelingking beach.
Getting around in Nusa Penida can be super slow.
3.2 Getting to Kelingking Beach
The road to Kelingking beach is OK.
Getting there from the main town / Sampalan beach takes around 1 hour (more – if there are a lot of tourists).
Get to the place. Leave the parking. And right there you have this.
This is the place where most of tourists stop. They don’t go any further. They take photos and leave.
If you walk for 5 minutes, you have a better view and fewer tourists.
If you walk more, you can be all alone.
Then there’s a sharp turn to the right, and the trail soon becomes even steeper.
Like this.
In many places it feels a lot like rock climbing.
Only there’s always something to hold on.
So, it’s kind of okay.
4. Kelingking Secret Point
Yes, you can visit the main viewpoint and you can climb down the stairs.
But that’s not the only way to take in all this beauty.
Leave the main viewpoint. Go to the right. Follow the cliff. And some 10 minutes later you’ll end up in this place – the Kelingking secret point (in the photo above). People walk there, so there is a trail to follow.
But there are no any handrails or anything for your safety.
Remember this and be extra cautious when approaching the side of the cliff.
If you slip, you’ll fall and die.
5. Kelingking Beach Hike: My Experience
I have been to this place several times.
But all the photos I’m using in this guide are from my last visit to Nusa Penida. It was the end of July 2020. The island had only opened to visitors after the COVID-19 breakout. And we had this rare opportunity to experience Nusa Penida island without tourists.
I know how busy it can be here, and I know how epic it feels without crowds.
At first we went down to the beach.
If you can, and you’re confident about yourself, then do it. It’s clearly one of the top things to do in Nusa Penida. There are only a few things that are nearly as cool as this.
We had the beach all to ourselves for a couple hours.
We finished our Kelingking beach trek. Had a lunch in cafe next to the viewpoint.
And headed to the secret point.
To have a different look at the same beautiful place.
I had this idea of walking from Kelingking beach to Broken beach.
On the map these two places look so close.
So we tried to do it.
We left our scooter in the parking.
And at first it seemed like we’ll be able to get there.
But we couldn’t. It was taking longer than planned. Partly because we wanted to stop a lot to take photos and shoot videos. And because we would need to cross a few private territories (or look for an alternative trail).
So, we returned for a dinner.
And watched this beautiful sunset at Kelingking beach.
Spending a total of 6 hours here.
No, 30 minutes you get on a regular day trip is not enough for Kelingking.
Have you been to Nusa Penida? Was it a day trip from Bali? Did you visit Kelingking beach? What was your experience?
1-Minute Nusa Penida Guide
1. How to Get to Nusa Penida?
How to get from Bali to Nusa Penida?
There are no airports, so you have to take a boat.
Take a ferry from Bali to Nusa Penida – and travel on your own. There are ferries from Sanur, Kusamba and Padang Bai.
Or book a day trip to Nusa Penida. Here’s one great option.
2. Where to Stay in Nusa Penida?
Wherever you stay everything is 1-2 hour drive away.
The busiest is the area between Sampalan beach and Toya Pakeh Harbour.
Write Hostel – cheap, popular hostel near the pier and the beach.
Singabu Bungalows – very popular and well-rated bungalows near the beach.
3. What to Do in Nusa Penida?
Check out Kelingking beach and Diamond beach.
Swim in the natural pools of Angels Billabong, and watch the waves at Broken beach. Go swimming at Crystal Bay.
Walk the steep stairs to Peguyangan waterfall.
Go snorkelling at Gamat Bay and swimming with manta rays.
Take a day trip to Nusa Lembongan.
4. How to Rent a Scooter in Nusa Penida?
Just get off the ferry, and you’ll be able to rent a scooter.
There are several scooter rentals at the port.
It’s about 2-3 times more expensive than in Bali.
Here it costs more like 100 000 IDR / day.
Book Your Trip Like a PRO
1. Book Your Flight. Find cheap flights using Kiwi.com, Momondo.com. Or subscribe to Dollar Flight Club, if you don’t want to be searching for the flights yourself. Kiwi currently is my first choice.
2. Book Your Accommodation. Booking.com, Agoda.com and Airbnb. I use Booking and Agoda at least a dozen times a year, and Airbnb – when looking for a long-term stay. My best tip is to ALWAYS compare the price. Sometimes the same hotel is cheaper on Booking.com, other times – on Agoda. Always compare the price!
3. Buy Your Travel Insurance. Ekta and SafetyWings are two companies I can recommend. Ekta offers some extra benefits, that will be important for those doing some higher risk activities (make sure to choose the right plan!), while SafetyWings is better for digital nomads. SafetyWings is also very affordable.
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