Hidden gems in the heart of Nusa Penida
Tembeling Forest, Pools and Beach are secret gems worth exploring. They’re tucked away at the end of a thrilling scooter journey through the woods. The whole site is adventurous, not crowded, a scene straight from a jungle film.
On the way through the Forest, you’ll go inside a canyon and then move down the winding stairs leading to the Tembeling Natural Pools.
Following the trail further you reach Tembeling Beach. Although it’s not the best beach on Nusa Penida, it’s worth a visit. The beach is flanked by towering cliffs and has a small stretch of sand. While the sea here can be a bit rough, the natural pools offer a safer option for swimming. Be sure to keep an eye on the currents and stay safe.
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.
How to get to Tembeling Forest, Pool & Beach
The Tembeling trinity lays in the middle of Southwestern Coast of Nusa Penida, little sister of more known 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.
We’ve pinned the location of Tembeling 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.
Starting point of Tembeling area is “Pos Ojek Tembeling”.
About the access…
Driving towards Tembeling area you will eventually reach a parking lot (“Pos Ojek Tembeling”) from where the road just seems to deteriorate so badly, you’ll reconsider driving it. Usually there will be some locals at this parking lot, warning the visitors about the poor state of the path ahead. You’ll have 3 options: continue with your scooter/motorbike, walk or hire one of the locals for the ride.
If you aren’t 100% confident on the scooter and your brakes aren’t 100% functional, we’d suggest you would walk. It will take about 45 minutes to walk from this point to the beach. But you will arrive safely.
If you decide for the local-ride option they will charge you Rp 100,000 per person. The ride will not be comfortable, since the path absolutely prevents that, but you will arrive safely.
If you opt for driving on your own, here are some information: the path is very steep, is single file and often so rocky that you are walking pace anyway just trying not to fall off. This is probably be the worst drive on Nusa Penida and it can be dangerous.
Regardless of how you get to this point, you will soon reach a second parking lot. There are steps from this point on. Another 5-minute walk will bring you to the Tembeling Natural Pools and then Tembeling Beach.
Tembeling Forest
At the top of the stairs, on the right-hand side, is a Tembeling Forest. As you hike through the jungle, you’ll pass some old Balinese shrines and a greenish natural pool along the way. This pool is not meant for swimming – save that for the Pools by the Beach.
Tembeling Pools
There are two natural pools, with the first one being the largest. The beach blue pool is not exactly natural since it is fortified with concrete and fed by a flow of directed water. But the surroundings make up for it. This pool is just before the beach, almost like an infinity pool.
It’s possible to cliff-jump into these pools. The larger jump is about 5 metres, and the pool below is deep enough not to touch. Just make sure to always do a depth check first.
General information about Tembeling:
- Rp 5000 parking fee for scooter, Rp 10,000 for car
- Rp 10,000 entrance fee per person
- The path leading to Tembeling area is in the worst state in entire Nusa Penida. We would strongly recommend not to drive it on your own, even if you’re an experienced driver in Asia. The way down is steep, but the way up could be treacherous for your scooter power. Our advice: only attempt the drive yourself if you have a proper motorbike.
- You don’t need to drive down the sketchy, rocky 3-kilometre-long path yourself. You can park your scooter, ‘hire’ an experienced local for Rp 100,000 per person (negotiable) and they take you to the forest. The ride is, nevertheless, bumpy, steep, narrow and overall adventurous!
- You can also walk the 3-kilometer distance, it takes around 45 minutes.
- There are two natural pools, with the first one being the largest. The beach pool is not exactly natural since it is fortified with concrete. But the surroundings make up for it.
- The beach is not the best location for swimming. In fact, you’ll never see anybody swim as the ocean floor is full of sharp rocks, corals and wide variety of animals. The waves are not kind either, we’ve never seen calm ocean here. The swells and current alone are a reason for not swimming, let alone the rocky bottom.
- Monkeys! You might encounter wild monkey in the Forest. They’re not harmful to visitors if you leave them alone. Don’t touch them, don’t pet them, don’t try to hold the baby monkeys. They’re not aggressive, but IF they bite it’s rabies and serious infection straight away.
We would advise against staying at the site until dusk for two reasons:
1) way back to your vehicle 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 in fairly good state, 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.
