Atuh Beach is the crown jewel of Nusa Penida Island (along with Diamond and Kelingking Beach). Thanks to the brand-new road it’s easily accessible. It offers a stunning white sand beach surrounded by the huge cliffs and remarkable rock formations. An arch sits directly out from the shore while several islets string off in the distance.
Atuh Beach is usually visited along with the neighbouring Diamond Beach and nearby Rumah Pohon Treehouse.
Come here to enjoy an epic sunrise from an astonishing viewpoint.
Get a local SIM card. While getting around we relied heavily on Google Maps for directions. We recommend Airalo eSIM, so you’ll have data transfer as soon as you land.
Note! Your mobile phone has to be eSIM compatible to use this option.
The nearby Diamond Beach
Diamond Beach has become even more popular than Atuh Beach nowadays, thanks to the iconic staircase, carved into the cliff, that leads to the Beach. The crystal-clear turquoise water, dramatic cliffs, and stunning rock formations make Atuh and Diamond Beaches a photographer’s paradise. Both are undoubtedly among the top sites in Nusa Penida. The Diamond Beach got its name from the diamond-like rock structures scattered around, but there’s one rock that really stands out. Read the full blog post about it: Diamond Beach on Nusa Penida.
Rumah Pohon Treehouse
Rumah Pohon Treehouse is one of the most iconic locations on Nusa Penida Island. After being discovered it quickly became Insta-famous. The Treehouse used to be a simple rustic accommodation on Airbnb, but it became famous as a photo spot. Nowadays visitors are allowed and the sole photography business brings more money to the locals running it than Airbnb-ing ever did.
Just a little stroll further is the Thousand Islands Viewpoint that leaves you awestruck. The view is incredible, you can even see a small empty beach sitting at the bottom of the cliff. It’s paradise. The Rumah Pohon Treehouse and it’s Thousand Islands Viewpoint is in close proximity to Diamond Beach, only 3 minutes’ drive by scooter. Read more about this in the full blog post: Rumah Pohon Treehouse & Thousand Island Viewpoint on Nusa Penida.
How to get to Atuh Beach
Atuh Beach lays on the far East Coast of Nusa Penida, and is a smaller sister of the neighbouring famous Bali, Indonesia. The island is quite big and it can take over an hour to cruise from one side to another depending on where your accommodation is located.
I’ve pinned the location of Atuh Beach on the map of Nusa Penida below, so you can see where it is in relation to either your accommodation on the island or other points of interest.
- One of the best ways to visit many of the best Nusa Penida’s epic sites in one day is on this Ultimate Nusa Penida Day Trip Tour from Bali – they pick you up in the morning from your accommodation in Bali, take you across to Nusa Penida Island by speedboat, and then bring you back to Bali in the evening after an incredible day of adventures. Remember to tell them which spots are on your Nusa Penida Bucket List and they will make it happen!
- You can also rent a scooter and drive around the island yourself.
Price for rental: Rp 70k – 100k (US$5) a day.
NOTE! The roads on Nusa Penida are, mildly said, in bad state. Lots of holes, ignorant van drivers, gravel parts… We’d avoid this option if you’re not experienced scooter driver. - The option we once did (and would highly recommend it) is you can rent a car on Nusa Penida with private driver – great option to visit multiple spots safely in a day with a group of friends.
More information about Nusa Penida Island.
Tips
- Arrive as early as you possibly can.
- Day tours to Nusa Penida arrive to the parking lot atop Atuh and Diamond Beach at 10am, so make sure to arrive before this time. It gets crowded after.
- Most of the crowds are there for the Diamond Beach, which gained more popularity than Atuh thanks to becoming an Instagram famous photo spot and having a Giant Swing. You can read about Diamond Beach here. *povezava na Diamond Beach blog post*
General information about Atuh Beach:
- Rp 5000 parking fee for scooter, Rp 10,000 for car
- Rp 35,000 entrance fee per person (same ticket as for Diamond Beach)
- It takes around 15 minutes to get down to the beach.
- The first part is flat concrete path, well maintained. Second part are rocky stairs, narrow and steep.
- The main access to the beach is from the Southern side (next to Diamond Beach VIewpoint). There is Northern entrance as well, free parking and no entrance fee, but we wouldn’t recommend taking it – it’s more of a goat path than an actual staircase.
- There’s around 1 hour drive from the main harbour Toya Pakeh to Atuh Beach parking lot. The parking lot is shared with Diamond Beach.
- Try not to be disturbed by the amount of trash laying around. Even though you pay the entrance fee (and thousands of other visitors do too) nobody picks up the trash people leave behind.
- There are some warungs (local restaurants) and bar stalls at the beach, so you can count on having a drink, snack or lunch while enjoying the day.
- Occasionally, the ocean will bring some debris onto the beach. That is often not taken care of, so it might ruin the otherwise picture-perfect beach.
Arch-shaped cliff rock
It’s visible from the photo that there’s a cliffed rock in the sea with an arch in its cleavage. If the sea conditions permit and the swells are not too strong, you can swim to it and climb onto it. It offers an entirely different perspective of the surrounding landscape and is also, for the bravest adventurers, a fantastic jump-off point into the crystal-clear water below. Ask the locals at the beach for the location of appropriate depth to jump.
Swimming at Atuh Beach
Swimming on the gorgeous beach sounds dreamy, but it can get dangerous. The waves and currents during high tide are usually strong enough to swipe away even the most skilled swimmers. Occasionally, but very rarely, smack of jellyfish might wander into the bay, so before swimming, ask the locals about the situation.
Our advice: check the tides beforehand if you wish to swim on the beach.
We can confirm it’s awesome, especially on a hot day 😉 the water is always fresh and almost always crystal clear as well.
We would advise against staying at the beach (not necessarily the viewpoint above) until dusk for two reasons: 1) ascend would be extra treacherous in low visibility. Perhaps bring a flashlight with you if that’s the plan. 2) If visiting with your own vehicle it might be dangerous to drive back to your accommodation in the dark. Although the roads are new, they’re still covered with holes and gravel, and there aren’t any streetlights.
In general – just be careful. 🙂
BEST NUSA PENIDA DAY TOURS FROM BALI
If you are staying in Bali… you can join a group and take a day trip on a speedboat to explore the highlights of Nusa Penida. Trips usually take whole day, but everything is organised. So you can literally wake up in Bali, they pick you up in your accommodation, you grab a speedboat to Nusa Penida, you can snorkel with Manta Rays and visit lots of the amazing beaches and viewpoints … in just one day.
Manta Ray Snorkelling Tour on Nusa Penida (from Bali): Snorkelling with Manta Rays is a once-in-a-lifetime experience and one of the best wildlife encounters we’ve had in our lives. The Manta Rays are majestic and friendly animals with a wingspan of 5m. The gentle giants cruise around you while you snorkel amongst them.
This tour includes pick-up and drop-off from your accommodation in Bali and all transports and tickets are included.
Nusa Penida Highlights Tour (from Bali): This tour is the most highly reviewed Nusa Penida tour there is. You’ll visit all the best spots, like Angel’s Billabong, Kelingking (T-Rex) Beach, Broken Beach, Rumah Pohon Treehouse & Thousand Island Viewpoint. Also included is snorkeling at Crystal Bay! It’s a total win and we highly recommend it.
MORE NUSA ISLANDS BLOG POSTS
There are loads of adventurous things to do on Nusa Penida, but we also wrote detailed guides for all of the epic things you can do on Nusa Lembongan and Nusa Ceningan. You can explore more of our guides by clicking one of the links below.
