Nusa Penida
Encyclopedia
Nusa Penida is an island
Island
An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...

 southeast of Bali
Bali
Bali is an Indonesian island located in the westernmost end of the Lesser Sunda Islands, lying between Java to the west and Lombok to the east...

 island, Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

. Administratively, the island is a district of Klungkung
Klungkung
Klungkung is the smallest regency of Bali, Indonesia. It has an area of 315 km2 and population of 169,906 . Its regency seat is Semarapura....

 regency. There are two small islands nearby: Nusa Lembongan
Nusa Lembongan
Nusa Lembongan is an island located southeast of Bali at , Indonesia forming part of the Lesser Sunda Islands.Nusa Lembongan is the most famous of the three islands.- Administration :...

 and Nusa Ceningan. The Badung Strait
Badung Strait
Badung Strait is a strait between the Indonesian islands of Bali and Nusa Penida. It is about 60 km long and 20 km wide.In February 1942, the battle of Badung Strait was fought here....

 separates the island and Bali. The interior of Nusa Penida is hilly with a maximum altitude of 524 metres. It is drier than the nearby island of Bali. Unlike the neighbouring small island of Nusa Lembongan
Nusa Lembongan
Nusa Lembongan is an island located southeast of Bali at , Indonesia forming part of the Lesser Sunda Islands.Nusa Lembongan is the most famous of the three islands.- Administration :...

 there is very little tourist infrastructure here.

Bali Bird Sanctuary on Nusa Penida

Nusa Penida is a unique island-wide bird sanctuary. It is unique in that Nusa Penida is a populated island where all of the island's communities have used traditional Balinese village regulations to create a sanctuary for birds. The idea of converting Nusa Penida (and its sister islands of Lembongan and Ceningan) into a bird sanctuary came from Drh I. Gede Nyoman Bayu Wirayudha (veterinarian) and his Indonesian NGO, Friends of the National Parks Foundation (FNPF), who envisioned the islands to be a natural safe haven where endangered birds could be released to rebuild their numbers, free from the threat of poachers. FNPF spent 2 years counselling all of the key people of influence on the Penida islands on the benefits of protecting birds and conservation. In 2006 all 35 villages (now 41 villages) unanimously agreed to make bird protection part of their traditional regulations (“awig-awig”), making it a social and spiritual obligation for all Penida residents to protect birds. Since then, FNPF has rehabilitated and released various Indonesian birds, most notably the critically endangered Bali Starling
Bali Starling
The Bali Starling , also known as Rothschild’s Mynah, Bali Myna, or Bali Mynah, locally known as Jalak Bali, is a medium-sized , stocky myna, almost wholly white with a long, drooping crest, and black tips on the wings and tail. The bird has blue bare skin around the eyes, greyish legs and a yellow...

 which is endemic to Bali but whose numbers in the wild had declined to less than 10 in 2005. After a 2 year program by FNPF in which 64 cage bred birds were rehabilitated and released onto Nusa Penida, their number had increased to over 100 in 2009. Other released birds include Java Sparrow, Mitchell's Lorikeet and Sulphur Crested Cockatoo. In return for this unanimous commitment by all villages to protect birds, FNPF runs a variety of community wellbeing / development projects. FNPF's office, visitor centre, nursery and guest accommodation is located in the village of Ped, on the north side of Nusa Penida.

July 2011: In the fifth anniversary of FNPF, they have released 100 tiny birds of Java Sparrow
Java Sparrow
The Java Sparrow, Padda oryzivora also known as Java Finch, Java Rice Sparrow or Java Rice Bird is a small passerine bird. This estrildid finch is a resident breeding bird in Java, Bali and Bawean in Indonesia. It is a popular cagebird, and has been introduced in a large number of other...

s altogether. The birds are very conspicuous with brightly colored, so very visible to predators, release in a large flocks make it harder for predators to catch them.

Diving sites

Nusa Penida covers a wide area of diving
Diving
Diving is the sport of jumping or falling into water from a platform or springboard, sometimes while performing acrobatics. Diving is an internationally-recognized sport that is part of the Olympic Games. In addition, unstructured and non-competitive diving is a recreational pastime.Diving is one...

 locations. They are Penida Bay, Batu Lumbung (Manta Point), Batu Meling, Batu Abah, Toya Pakeh and Malibu Point. The flow through the Lombok Strait
Lombok Strait
The Lombok Strait is a strait connecting the Java Sea to the Indian Ocean, located between the islands of Bali and Lombok in Indonesia. The Gili Islands are on the Lombok side....

 is, overall, south-tending, although the strength and direction of the tidal streams are influenced by the monsoon
Monsoon
Monsoon is traditionally defined as a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation, but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with the asymmetric heating of land and sea...

 seasons.

During the southeast monsoons, the tidal flow tends south; during the northeast monsoons, the tidal flow tends north. In the area of the strait north of Nusa Penida, the pattern is relatively simple, with a flow, at peaktide, of about three-and-one-half knots. Tidal streams in Badung Strait are semi-diurnal, but the character of the stream is very complicated because its direction runs obliquely to the general south to north direction of Lombok Strait, and the channel has a curved shape.

See the Nusa Penida Dive Sites

Toyapakeh

Toyapakeh has a stretch of reefs, and in the southern part of the bay there is a similar area of rugged bommies, rich with color and fish. Big schools of fish, sea turtles, and occasionally Mola mola (sunfish) are highlight of Toyapakeh diving. Toyapakeh is special for its pillars of coral.

Malibu Point

Malibu Point is a diving site with gray reefs, reef white tips, silver-tips and numerous sharks. While Penida Bay is another anchorage, and the rocky islands have an interesting forms; something like an old resting elephant. The bay is vulnerable to swell, creating-up-and-down-currents. Then, Manta Point is a limestone rock off Pandan cafe. The swell is relatively strong.

Nusa Penida/Lembongan

Nusa Penida/Lembongan is a diving site with vast spread of coral reefs and good visibility. Big fish are frequently observed at the area. Manta rays or sunfishes appear in certain seasons.

The site is also known because of the very strong currents requiring advanced diving skills.

Crystal Bay

Crystal Bay is calmer than outer shore. There are schools of Anthias. A school of batfish
Batfish
Batfish is a name given to several fishes:* The California batfish or sting ray .* Some members of the family Ephippidae.* Some members of the family Ogcocephalidae, including the Pancake batfish.and:...

comes around periodically. A bat cave is located nearby.

External links

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