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Published: December 24th 2019
Kelingking (TRex) Beach
You can see the outline of the TRex!After our much needed sleep, we had to be up bright and early to catch an Outrigger catamaran to Nusa Penida, an island off the southern coast of Bali. Paige and I had done some research and the views on Penida were reported as awesome. Our taxi was coming at 645, so we did a quick stop at the Hyatt Club for some food and coffee, before heading to the port which was only 15 minutes away.
Nusa Dua, where our hotel is located, is very manicured and the visuals are carefully managed. Similar to Hilton Head, Cancun or Hawaiian tourist areas, it is beautiful but feels like you could be in any beautiful beach resort area in the world. No matter, it was a great way to ease into the real Bali, which we would see the rest of the trip.
We arrived at the Outrigger, which was to depart at 730. But by 8am, the boat was only half full, so we waited. Finally, a couple of large buses pulled up full of Chinese, who streamed onto the boat. We finally left at 830a and after a quick hour, arrived at the Outrigger pontoon of the Penida
coast. Everyone but us was on an all-day water sport tour, where they stayed on the pontoon for food, snorkeling, banana boats, etc. We took a small long-boat to shore and quickly found our driver, Gooday, who would show us the various sites we had chosen.
During our research, most of the highlights were within 8-10 miles of each other, but showed anywhere from an hour to 2 hours in getting there. We quickly learned why….as the road was basically one lane, extremely curvy with insane ups and downs. For those of you who have done the Road to Hana on Maui, this makes it look like a superhighway.
On the hour long drive to our first stop at Angel’s Billabong and Broken Beach, we passed by small villages, guest houses and warungs (cafes). It was obvious that this was a popular area, as we were just one in a long line of tourist cars on the narrow road. We arrived and paid the 40 cents to park and walked to Angels Billabong, a flat rock pool that opened to the ocean. There were a lot of tourist and some who braved the long steep stairs for a
swim.
It wasn’t the most interesting, so walked over a trail to Broken Beach, which was much more beautiful. There is a portion of the rock facing the ocean that broke away, creating an arch that allowed the water to crash into a cove. The colors of the water changed depending on where you were standing and it was cool to walk the circle around the cove, allowing us to see it from all angles.
Our next stop was Kelingking Beach, otherwise known as T-Rex. Once you see the picture, you will understand why! This is another beautiful view of various blues of the crashing ocean below. Paige decided to brave the long steps down to another view point with supposedly even better views. Due to the intense heat (it was about 90 degrees) and humidity, Ken and I decided to hang under some shade and get her trip report when she climbed back up.
One thing we have found is that the Balinese build steep stairs that are tall. For those of us that are short, climbing them is a challenge. So, by the time Paige returned, she had done some intense cardio along with a
stair workout that was better than any gym. By the time we got back in the car, we were hot, sweaty and ready for the AC.
Our last stop was at Crystal Beach for some much needed swimming to cool us down. We parked and walked past a bunch of baby pigs and found the nice beach with the normal beach stuff of tables, chairs, umbrellas and beverage stands. We floated in the blue water and enjoyed our beautiful surroundings, before heading back to the boat for the trip back to Bali.
The evening equally relaxing at the Hyatt with Ken and I getting massages (they were incredible) and having a wonderful dinner in the outdoor Italian restaurant. Ha, yes, we did Italian. Since we are heading to the “real Bali” tomorrow, we figured we will have local food from this point on…so pasta it was! After another long day, there was no late night activities, and it was time for bed.
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Darella Banks
non-member comment
Amazing pics
Always enjoy hearing about your adventures and the pictures are amazing. Looking forward to more!