Choosing an Island took a lot more time than expected! We knew we wanted to explore one of the Islands off of Bali and spent some time reviewing them and chatting to other explorers before finally settling on Nusa Lembongan. It’s a pretty little Island only 30 minutes by speed boat from Bali, but it didn’t quite have the crystal seas and white sands I had been hoping for. Still, it was a lovely place to see and we had a great three days exploring the Island which you can read about below, for those looking for how to get about and where to stay you will find that here.
Day One
On our first day we hired push bikes and attempted a cycle from JB beach to Dream beach. What a mistake that was! On the map it may look doable but they forgot to mention the hills…oh the hills!! After 40 minutes of sweating and praying we were nearly there we admitted defeat and glided swiftly back down the hills to JB beach where we poodled about at a much more leisurely pace before hitting the beach.
We then headed for happy hour cocktails at Linda Beach Resort right on the beach (the espresso martini wasn’t bad at all!) before heading next door to Agus shipwreck for one of the best prawn curry’s I had all trip, accompanied by some of the worst singing I’ve heard in my life from the restaurants performer…my tastebuds were tantalised while my ears bled! But it made for a very comical evening.
Day Two
After my morning yoga at the Yoga shack (you can read about that here) we attempted to see if our scooter driving skills had improved…they had not. After a fair few wobbles up and down the road we again admitted defeat and paid some workers from the hotel to drive us up to Devil’s tear lookout, which offered us a beautiful view out on the crashing sea below.
The day was made even better when I happened to spot a flip flop in the sea…with two crabs riding on it! Seriously you couldn’t make this up, it was an incredible sight. You can find the video on my Instagram account, worth a watch!
We then walked across to Dream beach which offered a nice cove with whitish sands but unfortunately nothing too spectacular. I managed a quick dip but the water wasn’t quite as clear as I had hoped and a little rough so we quickly headed up the stairs to Dream Beach Huts and lounged about enjoying the beers and views, which were pretty stunning from there.
They also have an infinity pool (although you may need to pay depending on the time of day, which is a bit of a faff) which we floundered about it annoying all the bloggers taking their 650th un-posed shot of the day. Lunch was pretty average, pricey and not much to it and the service did come with a hint of a snarl, I think it was pretty tense work overseeing the chancers trying to sneak into the pool! We chilled in the sun with our books and having arranged for the drivers to collect us before sunset, whizzed back on the bikes as the sun made its way down, stopping off at vantage points to enjoy the views.
For dinner we headed to Lemongrass in JB beach. We were lucky to get a spot as the tables soon filled up and you could see why. The dishes were plated beautifully and tasted great, I would recommend booking if you are planning a visit.
Day Three
After a rather long and unexpected stroll I finally found Serenity yoga for my morning session, which you can read about here. We then headed to the Mangrove forest which was about a 30 minute walk from JB beach area. In hindsight we should have cycled there..but that’s a tip for your trip!
As you find your way into the Mangrove forest you’ll spot a fair few places offering tours next to each other. We popped into a few but they all seemed a little pricey and were all rammed with large groups of tourists which didn’t appeal. We then stumbled on Captain Blaxy, who seemed like a nice chap and offered us a much more reasonable rate, so we decided to let him lead the way!
This (other than the crab/flipflop show) was probably my favourite part of the Island trip. Captain Blaxy (actually this was his son, the real Captain was out on a boat tour) was fun, informative and most importantly laughed at our jokes. He also spoke great English and told us lots of fun facts about the Mangrove forest, the little crabs that kept scuttling about in the dirt and tutted loudly with us at the bigger boats shunted their way past. I had such a lovely time and found it incredibly relaxing and calming being amongst the forest and is something I would highly recommend, especially with the wonderful Captain Blaxy!
Afterwards we headed back to the hotel just in time as the heavens opened, I’m glad we weren’t out amongst the mangroves during the rains that’s for sure!
Luckily, as so often with the rains, it cleared up pretty quickly and in time for us to head back on our 4pm boat to Bali for the rest of our adventure.
Looking for a yoga guide to the Island? Look no further…
