Ah Lembongan. Just off the south east coast of mainland Bali, you'll find the small trio of tropical gems that make up the Nusa Islands; Penida, Cenigan and Lembongan. Wanting a little getaway for Connor's first weekend here (it'd been 6 weeks since we'd seen eachother!), I planned a surprise few days in beautiful Lembongan for us. I'd been once before a couple of years ago and never forgot the sheer beauty of the quaint island or how special it was and was so excited to return.
We spent our time on Lembongan and Cengian islands during this trip, choosing to come back to explore Penida more fully on another trip as we still have plenty of weekends left for exploring. And for the 3 days we were on Lembongan and Cenigan, there was totally enough to see despite how small the islands are.
I heard someone say Lembongan is like Bali but 15 years ago, an unspoilt tropical paradise. Now I never had the chance to see Bali that long ago, but can totally see a more peaceful difference between the two. Cleaner, quieter and still shrouded in natural beauty in the form of tropical winding roads, crystal clear beaches and coves filled with turquoise waters and some seriously impressive view points. Of course, it's not totally tourism-devout, in fact that's probably the main source of work for the island's locals. But differently to some parts of Bali, it's not overloaded with it, a lot of the time cruising around on the scooter we were the only ones on the road.
And that's truly the best way to explore these islands; climbing the winding roads to epic view points, dancing through the shadows of the palm trees and finding hidden beaches off the beaten track (literally, some of the side roads here are pretty bumpy!), riding over the famous yellow bridge to Cenigan and then hopping along it's smattering of quaint shore side beach bars – its tropical island life down to a tee.
Getting here from mainland Bali is super easy. We had the pleasure of being hosted by Blue Water Express for our journey, which made the whole process totally smooth and hassel free, from our private pickup in Canggu to being dropped to the door of our hotel in Lembongan. Not to mention the early morning sail as the sun rose up into the Bali sky was pretty spectacular, complete with views of the volcanos and luxe seating to catch up rays up on top deck. Being handed anti-seasickness tablets was a lovely first too!
For our time on the Islands, we stayed at the wonderful Ohana's resort. I'd followed them since their opening last year had been dying to try out this gorgeous hotspot ever since. Situated right on the beach, Ohana's is the coolest little beach club on the island. A beautiful pool, surrounded by a trendy lounge, lawn and bar it's the perfect spot to spend the day sipping sangria, sprawled across one of the day beds! We had the pleasure of staying in one of their stunning suites located at the back of the property, waking up and sauntering a few feet into beach-club paradise every morning was a wonderful treat for sure. Come sunset they light a beautiful bonfire and you'll have the best seat on the island to watch the red sun disappear beneath the ocean. Whether you come for the day or for a few nights – it's a total must during your time on Lembongan.
Another must on these islands is a snorkelling trip. The Nusa's are surrounded by tropical reefs with a wealth of wildlife, from crazy colourful coral and enormous schools of tropical fish to reef sharks and mantas – it's an amazing underwater world here. If you saw my IGTV you'll know I narrowly missed being super close to a manta, but we managed to capture a bit of it on the go pro. And still, it was amazing to see so much natural sea life. This was the only part of the trip, however, that did get a little bit too busy with tourists as a lot of the boats head to the same spots every morning, so I'd suggest doing an afternoon or private trip if you can! But we still had amazing time with Ketut's Warung Snorkelling (next to Ohana's) nevertheless.
The rest of the trip, as I mentioned, we spent scootering around Lembongan and Cenigan. Some more hotspots include the Devils Tear on Lembongan, and amazing spot to watch some powerful waves make some magic in an open cave off the north coast. If you look closely at my image you can even see the mist creates beautiful rainbows here! Over in Cenigan is another spot called the Blue Lagoon, its name speaks for itself, but I've never seen water so pastel and turquoise as in this vast natural formation – and if you're a total dare devil (I wimped out, personally) there's a spot to cliff jump during high tide!
In Cenigan, we also fell in love with a beach bar called The Sand. You'll probably recognise this one from Instagram, with it's gorgeous views across the bay between the islands and cute white decor complete with hammocks and pink swings! The menu is also pretty reasonable here for a beach bar and if you go during the day you'll be there for high tide too (when it looks it's prettiest). Saying that, strolling right out a few dozen meters whilst the water was only knee hight was pretty cool as well. We came back here a couple of times we loved it so much... and not just because of the resident puppy, ahem.
All in all, it was a super special few days, I was so sad to leave and can't wait to come back and explore Penida too. I can't recommend a trip here during your time in Bali enough, it's a slice of raw, unique paradise you won't find on mainland. Until next time Lembongan x
Ah Lembongan. Just off the south east coast of mainland Bali, you'll find the small trio of tropical gems that make up the Nusa Islands; Penida, Cenigan and Lembongan. Wanting a little getaway for Connor's first weekend here (it'd been 6 weeks since we'd seen eachother!), I planned a surprise few days in beautiful Lembongan for us. I'd been once before a couple of years ago and never forgot the sheer beauty of the quaint island or how special it was and was so excited to return.
We spent our time on Lembongan and Cengian islands during this trip, choosing to come back to explore Penida more fully on another trip as we still have plenty of weekends left for exploring. And for the 3 days we were on Lembongan and Cenigan, there was totally enough to see despite how small the islands are.
I heard someone say Lembongan is like Bali but 15 years ago, an unspoilt tropical paradise. Now I never had the chance to see Bali that long ago, but can totally see a more peaceful difference between the two. Cleaner, quieter and still shrouded in natural beauty in the form of tropical winding roads, crystal clear beaches and coves filled with turquoise waters and some seriously impressive view points. Of course, it's not totally tourism-devout, in fact that's probably the main source of work for the island's locals. But differently to some parts of Bali, it's not overloaded with it, a lot of the time cruising around on the scooter we were the only ones on the road.
And that's truly the best way to explore these islands; climbing the winding roads to epic view points, dancing through the shadows of the palm trees and finding hidden beaches off the beaten track (literally, some of the side roads here are pretty bumpy!), riding over the famous yellow bridge to Cenigan and then hopping along it's smattering of quaint shore side beach bars – its tropical island life down to a tee.
Getting here from mainland Bali is super easy. We had the pleasure of being hosted by Blue Water Express for our journey, which made the whole process totally smooth and hassel free, from our private pickup in Canggu to being dropped to the door of our hotel in Lembongan. Not to mention the early morning sail as the sun rose up into the Bali sky was pretty spectacular, complete with views of the volcanos and luxe seating to catch up rays up on top deck. Being handed anti-seasickness tablets was a lovely first too!
For our time on the Islands, we stayed at the wonderful Ohana's resort. I'd followed them since their opening last year had been dying to try out this gorgeous hotspot ever since. Situated right on the beach, Ohana's is the coolest little beach club on the island. A beautiful pool, surrounded by a trendy lounge, lawn and bar it's the perfect spot to spend the day sipping sangria, sprawled across one of the day beds! We had the pleasure of staying in one of their stunning suites located at the back of the property, waking up and sauntering a few feet into beach-club paradise every morning was a wonderful treat for sure. Come sunset they light a beautiful bonfire and you'll have the best seat on the island to watch the red sun disappear beneath the ocean. Whether you come for the day or for a few nights – it's a total must during your time on Lembongan.
Another must on these islands is a snorkelling trip. The Nusa's are surrounded by tropical reefs with a wealth of wildlife, from crazy colourful coral and enormous schools of tropical fish to reef sharks and mantas – it's an amazing underwater world here. If you saw my IGTV you'll know I narrowly missed being super close to a manta, but we managed to capture a bit of it on the go pro. And still, it was amazing to see so much natural sea life. This was the only part of the trip, however, that did get a little bit too busy with tourists as a lot of the boats head to the same spots every morning, so I'd suggest doing an afternoon or private trip if you can! But we still had amazing time with Ketut's Warung Snorkelling (next to Ohana's) nevertheless.
The rest of the trip, as I mentioned, we spent scootering around Lembongan and Cenigan. Some more hotspots include the Devils Tear on Lembongan, and amazing spot to watch some powerful waves make some magic in an open cave off the north coast. If you look closely at my image you can even see the mist creates beautiful rainbows here! Over in Cenigan is another spot called the Blue Lagoon, its name speaks for itself, but I've never seen water so pastel and turquoise as in this vast natural formation – and if you're a total dare devil (I wimped out, personally) there's a spot to cliff jump during high tide!
In Cenigan, we also fell in love with a beach bar called The Sand. You'll probably recognise this one from Instagram, with it's gorgeous views across the bay between the islands and cute white decor complete with hammocks and pink swings! The menu is also pretty reasonable here for a beach bar and if you go during the day you'll be there for high tide too (when it looks it's prettiest). Saying that, strolling right out a few dozen meters whilst the water was only knee hight was pretty cool as well. We came back here a couple of times we loved it so much... and not just because of the resident puppy, ahem.
All in all, it was a super special few days, I was so sad to leave and can't wait to come back and explore Penida too. I can't recommend a trip here during your time in Bali enough, it's a slice of raw, unique paradise you won't find on mainland. Until next time Lembongan x
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