Nusa Penida – Crystal Bay : Snorkelling Paradise For Underwater World Lover

The journey

Unlike Kelingking Beach, Broken Beach and Angel’s Billabong, the road leading towards Crystal Bay is more comfortable with no huge potholes and steep cracked roads. However, the journey is still quite long from Broken Beach, so the entire journey took us about an hour.

Not recommended for purely sight-seeing

I wasn’t particularly interested in Crystal Bay and was actually looking forward to seeing Atuh Beach, Pulau Seribu and Rumah Pohon Molenteng as well as Suwehan Beach on the east of Nusa Penida. However, things didn’t go as planned since Terry lost his spectacles in Kelingking Beach the day before. We ended up postponing Broken Beach and Angel’s Billabong to the next morning and sacrificing those places on the east.

Many bloggers rave about the palm tree but for someone from Malaysia where we see this all the time, I wasn't as impressed

Looks like Malaysia doesn't it?

Since we are not going to the east of Nusa Penida, we had ample of time left before leaving for Bali and decided to drop by Crystal Bay. However, upon reaching here, we found it to be a disappointment. The beach is small, and a little over crowded and there was nothing impressive in particular.

Crystal Bay Beach

Small beach and nothing much here

Seriously, I wasn't impressed

I wonder if the beach is named after the shiny sand?

We wanted to have breakfast there, but nothing caught our interest, so we headed back to our hotel, where we had brunch at the nearby Singabu Bungalow before leaving for Bali.

Dropped by Singabu for lunch before heading back to Bali

Pizza for him and Indonesian laksa for me

Tip: We left Nusa Penida at 1.30pm, as we wanted to reach Ubud earlier, planning to see a bit of Ubud. However, do note that the journey from Sanur to your next destination may take several hours, thanks to the crazy traffic in Bali. We ended up reaching our hotel around 4pm and upon checking in, it was already too late to see the attractions.  Given the circumstances, it may be more worthwhile to spend more time at Nusa Penida, to tackle the remaining three eastern spots and to take the 5pm boat to Sanur instead. What we didn’t foresee was the time it took us to get to Ubud, ultimately wasted half a day. Our initial idea of seeing a bit of Ubud doesn’t quite work out.

Snorkelling and Diving Paradise

Crystal Bay doesn’t excite me as it pales in comparison with other beaches I’ve seen all over South East Asia, but that could probably due to the fact that I wasn’t there for snorkelling or diving. If you are going for either of this, you’d probably be awed by the beauty under water.

The diving sites

The bay is partly protected by a limestone karst island called Pulau Batu Mejinong around 250 metres offshore and the neighbouring Nusa Ceningan Island. Thanks to this, Crystal Bay has relatively calm diving conditions. The water is crystal clear thus excellent for snorkelling. Crystal Bay is one of the few places in the world where divers and snorkelers can spot mola mola. The mola mola can reach a length of 3 metres and a weight of over 2,000 kg. They are usually found in deep and cold oceanic waters, but they come inshore from the deep cold oceanic waters to cleanse between July and September.

This is how a sunfish looks like (photo from Phillip Colla from Oceanlight.com)

Snorkelling trip can be arranged from anyway on the island or from Nusa Lembongan. A standard package of 4 hours (8am to 12pm) in 3 locations (Crystal Bay, Manta Point and Mangrove Point) only costs RP 200,000 per person. If you are in Nusa Lembongan or Nusa Penida, be sure to sign up for this. I also regretted not insisting to go for the snorkelling trip when Terry talked me out of it. 

Cost

We paid RP 2,000 for parking fee although we read that people normally got charged for RP 5,000. For the usage of toilet, a fee of RP 5,000 applies.

How to get there

Crystal Bay is possible the nearest attraction from Toya Pakeh harbour which is just a 40-minute ride away. However, it is an hour away to Broken Beach and Angel’s Billabong and 45 minutes away to Kelingking Beach. Most people choose to combine all four locations in a day, ending with a sunset on Crystal Bay. If you join a snorkelling trip from Nusa Lembongan, you can also request to be dropped here after your snorkelling trip and save the boat transfer from Yellow Bridge. The only problem is having to bring your belongings with you?

If you’re travelling over from Nusa Ceningan / Nusa Lembongan, you’ll most likely arrive at Toya Pakeh beach in Nusa Penida. If you are travelling from Bali, you’ll most probably arrive at Toya Pakeh harbour which is several hundred meters away. From either locations or anyway in the island, you can rent a scooter for around RP 80,000 per day. Coming in a big group? You can also hire a driver to drive you around for about RP 500,000 to RP 600,000. Staying in Bali but still want to do a day trip to Nusa Penida? Fret not, as there are also tour package available which includes return speedboat to Nusa Penida, driver and guide as well as hotel pick up and drop off. This can be easily arranged through your hotel in Bali.

Even though Nusa Penida is huge, the roads are generally narrow and rocky, making the journey by car not any much faster than riding a scooter. Every attractions on the island is 40-60 minutes away, but exploring the island with a scooter would still be my most recommended option.

Click HERE for A Complete Guide To Planning Your Trip To Nusa Lembongan, Nusa Ceningan and Nusa Penida

Best Time to Visit

Crystal Bay is good to be visited all year long, but for the chance of swimming with mola-mola, the best time of the year would be between July to September. If you are only here for sight-seeing instead of snorkelling or diving, it’s best to come at sunset as the bay faces the west. As this is a popular spot in Nusa Penida, expect more crowds in the afternoon.

The beach is quite in the morning

Epilogue

Though not one of the most beautiful beach I’ve been, Crystal is worth a visit if you are here for snorkelling and diving instead. Ditch the beach and head into the water for a remarkable underwater world adventure. After all, this is probably the only place in Asia where you get to swim with mola mola. Just be sure to visit during July to September if you are aiming for this beautiful sunfish. Otherwise, manta rays are probably available all year long.