From Dream Beach to Nusa Ceningan

Travel Day 668 – Nusa Lembongan and Nusa Ceningan, INDONESIA

Since we had explored Nusa Lembongan on foot over the past two days, today it seemed appropriate to get a scooter and see the rest of the island…

Dream Beach on Nusa Lembongan

But first we had to visit the little warung and try the famous local breakfast that the nice lady had promised to save for us. Luckily she really did save something and so we had the most delicious sticky rice with brown sauce and ground coconut. But we also had some sweet banana fried in a light batter, some pink squishy stuff and even two types of sweet porridge. The whole meal including a freshly made fish soup for desert left us in such a delighted mood that not even the fact that it was impossible to rent an automatic scooter cheaply could worsen it…

Actually Nusa Lembongan was so small that making due with a shift gear seemed not even a real problem. And so we made our first stop Mushroom Bay again, but this time the opposite end with all the tourists. While the beach was nice and sandy, unfortunately all the expensive hotels seemed to be located here as well. But at least the rooms here were also built in a stilted straw hut style, even if a fancier version than what we were renting for small money on the other end of the island…

The Surf and Cliffs of Nusa Ceningan

While spending the morning at Mushroom Beach was perfect, eventually more and more tourists arrived, motivating us to jump back and the scooter and explore the other beach further south, Dream Beach. This beach was, even if smaller, set in a much better location, framed by cliffs and green vegetation. Probably due to its remoteness, Dream Beach was comparatively empty, although one guesthouse and restaurant were overlooking the white sandy cove and pounding sea…

Even if Dream Beach was not a good place for swimming because of the shallow rocks in the water, it still was the best beach on the entire island and the perfect place to laze away the afternoon in the warm sun. Once the appetite for sun and sand had ceased, it was back on the scooter to explore some other areas on the island. First there was another settlement called Lembongan Village and then we found a pedestrian bridge, crossing over to the next smaller island, Nusa Ceningan…

Sunset over the Ocean, Nusa Ceningan

Admittedly there wasn’t really much to see on Nusa Ceningan, but it was fun to drive up and down the steep trails while enjoying the views over the area and distant Nusa Lembongan. Eventually we made it all the way to the southern tip of Nusa Ceningan, an area with tall cliffs and pounding surf. From here it was actually possible to do some cliff jumping, but for us it was simply the perfect place to sit down and listen to the waves while the sun was slowly setting over the ocean. And with that ended another perfectly beautiful day in Indonesia…