In Reply to: Lembongan posted by Barb on Monday, 31. December 2001 at 10:43 Bali Time:
I agree with Barb, if you're intending to stay on Lembongan for more than about 2 days you really have to go across to Penida too.
Penida is a seriously cool island and as Barb says, there are almost no tourists. Ask a Lembongan local to canoe you around to Toya Pakeh, the main village on Penida. The trip is protected so the weather doesn't really matter. When you get there you can hire a m/bike or a little car to get driven around.
Penida has great snorkeling, quiet beautiful beaches, caves, people living in the last century, HUGE cliffs, wild scenery, snakes, fruit bats, all in all a very interesting place. The best snorkeling is right off the beach in front of Toya Pakeh near the Q/Silver pontoon.
Just for your info Penida has about 10,000 people living on it, but that's still pretty sparse for it's size.
In the Dutch colonial era, Penida was the prison for Bali, kind of an Alcatraz. The horrendous currents around it (you should the rips between Penida and Cenigan during spring tides - 8 to 10 knots even!!) meant no one could swim back to the coast. The prisoners were thought to practise black magic and the entire island was written off as being a virtual den of evil. Even today there are people that refuse to go there.
I like Penida, in case you couldn't guess.
Cheers, FB.
Incidentally - while Penida was the prison, Lembongan was the leper colony.
All true!!