Nusa Lembongan - Best Place to Visit in Bali

The panoramic view on our scooter ride

We woke up at 6am to a beautiful dusky pink sunrise on the beach. We had breakfast on the beachfront tables - omelette, bread, fruit, orange juice and coffee. It was lucky we were early because it was soon packed out. a group of women were trying to lure a sickly cat from out under the table. The cat came over to us so we gave it some milk and it became our friend.

Our snorkelling trip left at 8am, island time. Another family joined our boat with three young girls. The driver was also called Made, he took us first to a place just off the top of the island past the mangroves. The water was crystal clear ( you could see the fish from the boat) and filled with bright coral about 2 metres below.

The view from the boat - taken on my phone! 

I didn't like the shallowness of the water at first, as you were really among the fish. With all the boats arriving or going past causing lots of waves, I got out and sat with the youngest daughter who was afraid and refusing to get in. The second spot was seeing Giant Travally - it was in deep water and the fish were massive!

The third was the best spot, in a secluded bay. The water was clear but deeper, maybe five metres. Apart from a few jellies and biting sea lice, we were free to roam around the coral reef. There were all sorts of tropical fish, some quite big. The coral wasn't as bright as I remember it in Fiji as a child, but there was endless amounts of it. Josh was probably in the water for an hour here.

The last spot had a stream of jellyfish on a current, in a deep bay with a huge swell smashing onto the beach. This one was cool just to hang and float above the reef, 10metres below. After circling right around the island we arrived back at midday.

Starving, we ordered pizza and G&Ts at the resort. From where we were, we could see the layer of brown smog over the mainland, out of the island it seemed clear and fresh. We were quite content in our shady waterfront table until a towboat filled with tourists pulled up and left their bags directly in front of us.

I had wanted to try the top reviewed restaurant on TripAdvisor on the island, but it was on the complete other side. There aren't any taxis on Nusa, so I figured we could get a scooter. I also wanted to stop in some of the bays we'd seen on the boat trip - smashing waves and cliffs. The hotel staff were so good, they organised a bike instantly. I told Josh we'd take a map but after discovering a landmark next to the restaurant - Warung Putu - a bridge to the next island, I thought we could wing it but following the coast. The first thing we found was a panoramic view of the beach and volcano in the background.



We found Dream Beach next, then looped in the wrong direction to Sunset Beach and a blowhole in the rocks.

There were all these rock pools above the swelling ocean. It was sunset so groups of tourists were arriving on scooters or buggies. Then we tried to retrace our steps back and ended up going through some very narrow streets behind the local village and temple. There was a massive ceremony happening everywhere we turned with people wearing white robes and carrying offerings.

Realising we were back to where we started, we attempted once more to find the bridge. The road linked to a main one and eventually we saw the bridge! Hilariously after all that effort, the restaurant was closed.

We settled for an earlier one that was pretty good, overlooking a bay with fishing boats in teal water while a pink sky set above them. We ate calamari, prawns, bin tang beer and nasi goreng.

Josh admitted he liked the scooter trip (although things had got tense when we realised we were lost), and he liked seeing the local village and remote beaches off the main tourist trail. I felt glad he finally saw what I like about travelling, the adventure of discovering new places - it was nice to be on the same wavelength.

Our ride home was through the dark but I knew the way now (having lapped all the roads several times). Past the village there was a big group of guys in cargo pants trying to flag down traffic but I told Josh not to stop. It was fine, but a little bit alarming in the dark. The most lost we got was trying to find the hotel! We circled the beach road but it wasn't there! Finally we clicked, we had to zigzag a street back. I recognised the shops and we found the 'driveway'.