Kelingking Beach(Pantai Kelingking)

Located along the western coast of Nusa Penida Island, Kelingking Beach – also called T-Rex Beach and Pantai Kelingking – is a beautiful and popular curve-shaped white sand beach.  This beach is located in the Indonesian province and island of Bali.  There are multiple steep cliffs around this beach and they are popularly called “T-Rex cliffs” because they vaguely resemble the popular dinosaur Tyrannosaurus Rex. 

TripAdvisor listed Pantai Kelingking Beach as one of the best beaches in the world as part of its annual Travelers’ Choice awards in 2024.  In addition, Conde Nast Traveller also featured this beach in its article “The Best Beaches in Bali for Big-Hitting Waves and Powder-Soft Sands” in 2023, and it is also a favorite of Randall Kaplan, the world’s foremost beach expert who is known as Mr. Beach.

Kelingking Beach Nusa Penida does not have lifeguards or any other amenities.  However, there are a few restrooms on the clifftop area above it, along with a few snack shops. Please note that the restrooms here charge a fee of 5 Indonesian Rupees (IDR) for use.

Kelingking Secret Point Beach offers many fun activities including sunbathing, beachcombing, swimming, fishing, surfing, boating, jet-skiing, surf-skiing, water-skiing, parasailing, scuba diving, kayaking, canoeing, and wildlife watching. 

The turquoise waters here are ideal for strong and advanced swimmers because it frequently has dangerous waves and rip currents, especially at high tide – the water here is calmer between April and October.  Expert surfers also sometimes visit here because this beach offers thrilling surfing waves.   Scuba divers also visit this beach to explore its vibrant marine biodiversity – you can see many kinds of marine animals here including manta rays, turtles, and many kinds of fish. 

If you are a beginner swimmer, please avoid swimming at Kelingking Beach because of the turbulent water conditions – drowning-related deaths have also occurred here.  In addition, there are sharp corals and rocks here that can cause serious injuries. 

There is a cave near this beach that you can explore at low tide.  If you like taking excellent Kelingking Beach photos with excellent views, there are multiple clifftop viewpoints nearby that offer amazing photos of the Nusa Penida shoreline.  The best time to take pictures here is during the Kelingking Beach sunset.  If you plan to take pictures from the cliff-top viewpoints near the beach, we recommend being careful because there are no railings here, and any fall from these steep cliffs can be fatal. 

Kelingking Beach does not offer wheelchair access to visitors with disabilities.

Getting to Kelingking Beach can be difficult and dangerous because of its rugged access trail – to reach this beach, you need to first reach the island of Nusa Penida.  You can get a ferry to Nusa Penida from the Balinese port town of Padang Bai – the ferry from Padang Bai to Nusa Penida starts around 11 am and costs around $15.  It takes around 40 minutes to reach Nusa Penida by ferry.

As an alternate transport option, you can also take private fast boats from Bali to Nusa Penida – some popular boat concessions include Gili Ferries, Maruti Express Fast Boat, and Tanis Fast Cruise.  A boat to Nusa Penida usually costs around $30 and it takes around 20-30 minutes to reach Nusa Penida by boat.   

Once you reach Nusa Penida’s ferry port, you need to drive to Kelingking Beach’s parking lot – it takes around 30-45 minutes to drive from the ferry port to Kelingking Beach.  There are street signs near the beach that offer helpful driving directions.  We recommend driving a motorcycle to this beach because the roads here are a bit narrow.   

Once you reach Kelingking Beach’s parking lot, you need to pay a parking fee of around 10,000 Indonesian Rupees, which is equal to around 61 United States Cents.  After parking and paying the fees, you need to carefully walk down a steep, long, narrow, and rugged access trail that will lead you down along the cliffside to Kelingking Beach.  There is just a simple wooden railing for support along the trail, along with a few ropes – hiking down to the beach takes between 45 to 60 minutes.  Please also note that the beach’s access trail can also get slippery because of rains between November and March.  The best time to visit this beach is during the dry season between April and October because the access trail is relatively drier and safer.

We recommend that you visit Kelingking Beach early in the morning because it can sometimes get crowded, especially between April and October.

The name of this beach – Kelingking – has multiple apparent origins – the name “Kelingking” translates to “little finger” in the local Indonesian language and it refers to the little finger-shaped cliff near the beach.  Another translation of the word “keling” roughly translates to “Indian” in the local language – this refers to the legend that the ancestors of the local people here originated from India.

There are many attractions near Kelingking Beach within a 31-minute drive.  Palaung Cliff is a cliff whose cliff-top area has a viewpoint – this viewpoint offers amazing Instagram-worthy views and photographs of the Penida Island shoreline and the Badung Strait.  Pura Paluang Car Temple – also called the Pura Mobil – is a unique temple that is located within a forest – this temple has two unique car-shaped stone shrines.  These shrines were originally made out of wood and no one actually knows the reason or time of their construction.  Seganing Spring – also called Seganing Waterfall – is a gently-flowing coastal waterfall that has multiple rocky pools and springs.  You can also wade in some of the pools here – if you are planning to visit here, please note that the rugged access trail can get slippery.  Tembeling Beach is a beach that offers many fun activities including sunbathing, beachcombing, and wildlife watching – there is a forest near the beach that you can explore and this forest also has rocky pools that you can wade along.  If you are looking for another attraction near this beach, Angel's Billabong is a coastal area with many beautiful rugged cliffs and rock formations – you can sunbathe here and also take Instagram-worthy photographs.  In addition, you can also explore the rocky pools here during low tide – there is a popular rocky beach near Angel’s Billabong named Broken Beach that also has a beautiful rock arch.  Angel’s Billabong and Broken Beach are popular local attractions.

If you get hungry, there are many great restaurants near Kelingking Beach.  Warung the Farmer offers many excellent local dishes including nasi goreng, pancakes, fried rice, and spring rolls.  The Lebah Villa and Resto is a hotel with a restaurant that offers amazing dishes including pizza, pasta, pancakes, local Indonesian dishes, and eggs.  Kelingking Bar and Restaurant offers a variety of Indonesian and International dishes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner including chicken parmigiana, seafood, mie goreng, sandwiches, burgers, and curry.  Coasta Kelingking offers many delicious dishes including smoothie bowls, fried rice, grilled fish, and eggs with toast.  If you are looking for another good and affordable restaurant near the beach, Warung Madeva offers delicious local Indonesian cuisine including ayam baker, mie goreng, and bakso, along with sandwiches and burgers.

If you are looking for a hotel near Kelingking Beach, there are many great nearby options.   The 4-Star hotels here are a 40-minute-drive away.  The 4-Star Atalya Villas – Nusa Penida offers many amenities including a pool, spa services, bike rental facilities, a restaurant, and complimentary breakfast.  Another great upscale hotel is the 4-Star Semabu Hills Hotel which offers many amenities including a restaurant, a spa, a pool, poolside sun loungers, and car rental facilities.  The other hotels are located within a 10-minute-drive from Kelingking Beach.  Kelingking Parama Resort is another great hotel that offers many amenities including an infinity pool, a garden, a bar, a restaurant, and car rental facilities.  A more affordable hotel near the beach is the 3-Star Kelingking Mesari Villa and Spa that offers many amenities including a garden, a terrace, and two pools.  If you are looking for another good and affordable hotel nearby, Kelingking Sunset Point Hotel & Spa offers many amenities including a pool, a restaurant, sunloungers, outdoor sitting areas, and a garden.