Five Gorgeous Beaches in Indonesia

Which do you love more? Mountains or beaches?

I think I love both, equally…

But since going to beaches is a lot easier and requires less preparations, I go to the beaches a lot more often. Here I’ll share my stories of visiting five of the most beautiful beaches in Indonesia.

1. Kelingking Beach, Nusa Penida-Bali

Most people probably think Kelingking beach is located in Bali, but it isn’t. It’s actually situated in a small island not too far from Bali, Nusa Penida, which is still a part of the province of Bali. The place is named Kelingking (pinkie finger) because of its shape, but to me, it looks more like a T-rex. But here in the picture, a friend pointed out that the rock shape looked like a crooked mermaid tail haha.

Going to Kelingking beach had been one of my dreams for years. Early in 2018, I almost went there. I had booked flight tickets, fast boat tickets, car rental, and even an inn for one night. Sadly, I couldn’t take a leave and I had to cancel everything, so sad.

I finally got a chance to visit this beautiful place later that year, in June to be exact. I went with my brother, nieces, and a village friend. The pictures we took there weren’t good though. Fortunately, I got another chance. I went to the beach for the second time with a group of international online influencers in a trip program called Trip of Wonders (ToW).

We took a fast boat from a small harbor in Sanur area and docked in front of a newly opened beach club, Penida Beach Club. From there, we went to Kelingking beach by jeep. The road was so bumpy that we had to sit really carefully in the car :D

We reached the beach at midday, when it was the hottest. Everyone took their sunscreen spray / lotion, shades, and of course a beach hat. We then stood in line to take pictures at the famous photo spot. If you plan to visit this place too, you need to keep in mind that there are many naughty monkeys in this area. They almost stole one of my friends’ shades.

To be honest, I really wanted to climb down to the beach. Sadly, we didn’t have enough time to do it. So, after the ToW participants got enough pictures and videos for their social media/website content, we took a short rest at a nearby food stall and then moved to the next destination.

Even though we didn’t get to go to the beach, seeing the beautiful white sand and the deep turquoise blue waters from far above was still an amazing experience. I’d never seen that shade of blue anywhere else.

2. Sangalaki island, Derawan islands-East Kalimantan

image courtesy of Ana Sopanah at Kompasiana

Known as one among many islands in Indonesia used for turtle conservation area, Sangalaki is a must in your bucket list if you love serene secluded islands where you can enjoy seeing cute tiny baby turtles. At first, I had no idea this place existed, but then my department had an office gathering in Maratua island, East Kalimantan. We stayed in the best resort in the island, Maratua Paradise resort. Sangalaki island is like 20 minutes away by fast boat.

We went to the island early in the morning. Reaching there, we directly went to a big rectangle pond where the baby turtles were put. They looked so freaking cute, that we couldn’t resist touching them. A staff there said it was okay, but then I googled it and found out that it could be dangerous. I’m so sorry for the babies I touched there ☹. 

There was also an area where adult sea turtles lay their eggs, we couldn’t enter the area though for we could accidentally step on the eggs. If you reach this island early enough, you might have a chance to release the baby turtles to the sea. Sadly, we reached the island a bit too late.

After spending some time with turtles, we explored the small island. I takes approximately 40 minutes to walk along the coastal line of this small island, but since we were too lazy, we decided to just take pictures and some boomerang videos at the beach nearest to our boats. 

The beach was so quiet and the sand was so soft. It'd be great if I can come back again to this place one day.

3. Tanah Lot, Tabanan-Bali

Tanah Lot beach was probably the first beach I’ve ever been to. It’s one of the nearest beaches from my home, around one and a half hour by car. My parents used to take me, my brother, and my childhood friends to the beach every other weekend or so. Even after my father decided to sell our car, he still took me and my brother there by motorbike, but not as often.

The main attraction of this place is the captivating temple built on a single rock a few meters offshore. It’s believed that temple was built 5 centuries ago by Dang Hyang Nirartha to worship the God of the seas.

In order to go to temple, we have to wait until the tide is low because there isn’t any bridge connecting the land to the temple. I remember walking hand in hand with my father and brother to the temple and prayed there together. We saw many crabs there.

Aside from the temple, what I like about this place is the abundant amount of sea shells. My brother and I used to collect them but we had to be extra careful of the big waves as Tanah Lot beach directly faces the Indian ocean. To reminisce about the old memories of my childhood, I decided to go there with my nieces last year after 11 years not going there. Many things have changed; the place was more crowded than what I had remembered; I didn’t see many seashells as before, but still, it’s a must visit beach especially if you are into ancient and exotic temples.

        4. Friwen island, Raja Ampat Islands-West Papua

When I was a kid, I watched a traveling TV program called Jejak Petualang. One of the episodes showcased the beauty of Raja Ampat islands. Since then, I’d been dreaming of visiting this awesome place dubbed as “The Last Paradise on Earth”. The “last” part is doubtful, but the “paradise” part is obviously not. It is indeed a paradise.

I went there during a program called Airline Influencer Trip, and it was one of the best experiences in my life. We stayed in a resort named Raja Ampat Dive Resort, an eco-friendly resort located in a small island away from the crowd. Among the many tourist spots we visited during the trip, I think Friwen island was the best one. There are actually two Friwen islands; one smaller and inhabited, the other bigger and there’s a small village there.

First, we went to the small one. We went snorkeling and the underwater view was mesmerizing. I saw a group of Nemos, -clown fish, duh and many other types of fish. The corals were also stunning.

And then, we moved forward the bigger Friwen. There isn’t a snorkeling spot there, but the water was crystal clear and the sand was really soft. After I got tired of swimming, I went to the shore and sat near a small stall selling coffees and snacks. The owner of the stall had an adorable granddaughter named Angel. I asked if I could play and take pictures with her, and she said yes. Her parents were right for naming her Angel, she’s so angelic.

5. Pink beach, Komodo National Park-East Nusa Tenggara

What’s the color of your favorite beach? Black? Brown? White? Mine is pink!

Pink beach located in Komodo National Park is one of a few pink beaches in the world (Idk how many of them are there since Google gave different results). The real color of the sand is actually brownish white. What makes it pink is the corals which has been given a red pigment from a microscopic organism called foraminifera. These corals break into small pieces and mix with the sand, making it look pink.

I consider myself so lucky to have visited this exotic beach a few times. The most memorable one was in 2018 when I spent an hour at the beach watching a gorgeous sunset. Aside from the beautiful sand and sunset, Pink beach is also a famous snorkeling spot. The underwater view is quiet amazing too.

There's also a beautiful mini "savanna" on this island where you can take pictures and act as if you were in Africa hehe. 

I think, those are five of my favorite beaches in Indonesia, but of course there are a lot of more awesome beaches that I have been to before, and even more that I haven’t been to. Cannot wait to explore them all!