Kelingking Beach

Kelingking is on the south-western coast of Nusa Penida, an island south-east of Bali reached by fast boat from Sanur in about forty-five minutes. The site is a limestone headland shaped, from above, like the head and neck of a dinosaur, with a small beach at its foot.

It is one of the clearest examples anywhere of a place made famous by a viewpoint rather than by a beach. The photograph everyone knows is taken from the clifftop; the beach below appears in it as a strip of white a hundred and fifty metres down. Nusa Penida's visitor numbers rose very sharply through the late 2010s on the strength of images like this one, and the island's roads, water supply and waste systems did not rise with them.

The descent is the problem. The path down the ridge is steep, partly a bamboo-and-timber structure built and maintained informally, exposed, and slippery when wet. Injuries are common and rescue from the beach is difficult. The climb back up is harder than the descent and takes most people an hour or more in full heat.

The beach at the bottom is white sand with heavy surf and a strong rip; swimming is dangerous and drownings have occurred. There are no facilities, no lifeguards and no shade. At the top there are warungs, a car park and viewpoints. Crystal Bay on the west coast is the island's swimming beach and the one place here with a gentle entry; the contrast between the two is the whole argument about what Nusa Penida has become.

See it from the top. The path down is steep, informally built, slippery when wet and injures visitors every week, and the beach at the bottom has heavy surf, a strong rip and no way to get anyone out. That is not caution for its own sake; it is what the last decade on Nusa Penida has demonstrated.