Nusa means “island” and Penida means “priests” in Balinese. Translated it m.

means the island of priests and it isn’t necessary to refer to the island as “Nusa Penida Island” – it would just be redundant!

The island is known to local Balinese as the black magic island. Long before it became a tourist attraction for its natural beauty, Nusa Penida was once believed by locals to be inhabited by dark spirits, banished to the island by the priests of Bali. However, even with such negative connotations, Nusa Penida remains an important religious destination. This is because Bali’s spiritual belief dictates balance in the universe, in which both good and evil are necessary.

Nowadays, Nusa Penida is known mostly for Kelingking Beach, Angel’s Billabong, and Broken Beach, but you can still visit temples where the dark spirit is worshipped – and kept at bay. I will elaborate more on that below.

If you want to see the entire Nusa Penida and enjoy your stay slowly, you would need 2-3 days on the island.

But if you only have one day to spare, a day trip to Nusa Penida from Bali is very doable. You can get to Nusa Penida via a speedboat from Sanur in the morning and come back in the afternoon. I’ve done this before and got to see a good part of the island!