Nusa Penida day trip — Kelingking, Diamond Beach and the treehouse

1. 
   Stop 1

   Kelingking Beach viewpoint

   Kelingking is the photograph everyone has seen of Nusa Penida: a green headland shaped like a dinosaur's back, with a white beach at its foot and water the colour of a swimming pool on both sides. The viewpoint is a short walk from the car park along the top of the cliff, and the view is there in every direction — the headland, the open sea and the surf breaking two hundred metres below. The path down to the beach is steep and takes most of an hour each way; most families stay at the top, take their pictures and move on. Come in the morning if you can, when the sun lights the cliff face.

2. 
   Stop 2

   Diamond Beach

   On the east coast of the island a staircase has been cut into the limestone, and it takes you from the cliff edge down to a beach of white sand with pointed rocks standing in the shallows — the diamonds that give the place its name. The stairs are the attraction as much as the beach: every turn is a new view of the bay, the palms and the cliffs opposite. The sea here is for looking at rather than swimming, because the current is strong, but the sand at the bottom is the quietest place on the island to sit for a while.

3. 
   Stop 3

   Rumah Pohon treehouse above Atuh Bay

   Next to Diamond Beach, on the cliff above Atuh Bay, stands a small wooden hut on stilts among the trees — the Rumah Pohon, or treehouse. You climb a wooden ladder to its balcony, and from there the whole bay opens out: the beach below, the rock islands offshore, and the cliffs running away to the south. It is the most photographed spot on this side of the island, and the guide times the visit so you are not waiting in a queue for the ladder.

Rather plan the day yourselves? Take the car and the driver-guide on their own: eight hours for 500,000 rupiah or $30, and you choose where the day goes. Ask about the driver service · How the driver day works

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