Getting to Nusa Penida: Which Harbour, Which Boat, and Why the Crossing Is Not Always Smooth

Nusa Penida is the big, dry, cliff-edged island south-east of Bali, separated from it by a strait that fast boats cross in about forty-five minutes. Getting there is easy. Getting there well means knowing which harbour to leave from, what the boat is like, and that the sea between the islands has moods.

Most boats leave from Sanur on Bali's south-east coast, and Sanur has a proper harbour now rather than the old beach launch. Departures run from around seven in the morning through the afternoon, with the first boats full of day-trippers and the later ones of people staying over.

Sanur is forty-five minutes from Uluwatu or Seminyak in early traffic, about an hour from Canggu, and an hour or more from Ubud. For a day trip that is the number to build around: the 6am alarm is the price of the earliest boat, and the earliest boat is the difference between Kelingking with a hundred people and Kelingking with a thousand.

Padang Bai, on the east coast, is the sensible port if you are coming from Amed, Candidasa or Sidemen, and it also serves Lombok and the Gilis. Kusamba, near Klungkung, is the shortest crossing, used by locals and some tour operators; the boats are smaller and the sea is felt more.

All three land you on Penida's north coast at Toya Pakeh, Sampalan or Buyuk, within a few kilometres of each other.

The fast boats are enclosed and seat forty to a hundred people. In the dry-season mornings the strait is usually calm; by afternoon the wind picks up and the return is bouncier. In the wet season, and on any day with a big southern swell, the crossing can be genuinely rough, and boats are occasionally cancelled.

Boarding at some harbours still means wading in from the beach with your bag held up, and the crew will take luggage from you. Wear shoes that can get wet, keep phones and passports in a dry bag, and if you are prone to seasickness sit at the back and take something before, not after.

The return boats in the late afternoon fill with the day-trip crowd, and turning up at the harbour at four hoping for a seat is how people end up staying an unplanned night. Book the return when you book the outbound; the tours listed here for Penida do that, and include the mainland pickup so Sanur at 6:30 is not your problem.