Snorkelling & Beaches, Nusa Penida

The next day Jess woke up feeling a little better. Fingers crossed for Jess, we'd booked a morning snorkelling trip so Jess thought she would at least give it a go. We visited four locations over a duration of 3 hours; the first location (Manta bay) was a tad disappointing as we snorkelled around the boat for 5 minutes and then were told to get back on as there were no mantas. A little brief for our liking. Luckily we spent longer at the other locations. These were shallow coral reefs filled with all kinds of colourful fish and coral including a sea turtle! For the last spot we were dropped off in a strong current which pulled us along a shallow reef without needing to swim. We were then collected by the boat further along. We had a great time, although each snorkelling spot was rather busy with lots of boats which made us wonder what impact our actions may have on the coral ecosystem. We are concerned that if a restriction control measure is not implemented relatively quickly, this beauty may soon be gone.

After a quick trip back to the hotel, sadly another nauseous spell returned so we had a little time to relax. Feeling a little better later on and really not wanting to waste another day in the room, we rode to the east side of the island. First stop was Atuh beach and Diamond beach. After parking our motorbike, we were approached by a gentleman who offered to ride our motorbike the 45 minute ride to the neighboring beach (remember, convoluted roads) for a small fee so we didn’t have to walk back up and over into the bay. This involved handing over our motorbike and key to a complete stranger, however, not wanting to walk up and down the rock face (especially with Jess not feeling 100%) we reluctantly agreed after insisting we exchanged the keys for his ID cards. At this point, we can hear you all saying - Jess and Dan are you mad?! Yes, yes we are. So off he went with our motorbike at which point we were completely unsure whether we were ever going to see our motorbike again or if in fact it was a scam. Well… good news! The guy was legit and met us with our keys and motorbike on the other side of the bay at the top of the cliffs as agreed. We were extremely relieved as let's be honest, this was a pretty big risk we'd just taken.

We then explored the cliffs of Diamond Beach. Yet again, a sheer cliff drop with stunning views looking out into the ocean. The pictures speak for themselves. The afternoon did involve some uphill climbing which we took rather slowly, however as the day went on Jess gradually began to feel better. On the ride back and much to our shock, Jess started to feel hungry as if she actually wanted to eat food at last! Not missing the opportunity, we went straight out to dinner where we enjoyed nachos and burgers.

A great day all topped off by Jess starting to feel better.Read more