pantai beach
Kelingking Beach, on the west coast of Nusa Penida, Bali, Indonesia, is known for one view, and you see it from the clifftop. No descent is needed for it. Going down to the sand means a stairway that Basarnas Denpasar, the search and rescue office, describes as about 170 m high, climbed back up the same way, to a beach where Coconuts Bali reported a swimming ban in January 2023. The glass lift beside the cliff is in court: the Denpasar administrative court ruled for the developer on 3 September 2026, the province appealed, and the court record shows no appeal ruling.
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tebing cliff
The drawing follows the path a visitor takes, from the car park on the plateau to the sand. It marks two stated heights to one scale: the stairway as Basarnas describes it and the lift structure as the provincial government gave it to ANTARA. Where no source gives a figure, such as a count of steps or a time for the climb, the drawing gives none.
Kelingking Beach is one of the regency's one-gate attractions, so you pay the attraction levy of IDR 25,000 per adult (about AUD 2, USD 1.4 or GBP 1) before the path to the edge.
The view of the headland and the bay is from up here, with no descent. Basarnas Denpasar reports that a woman died after falling from the cliff on 12 September 2026 while looking for her own path to the cliff tip.
Basarnas Denpasar describes the stairway as about 170 m high (rescue report of 10 January 2026). It reports a climber who broke her leg after slipping on the way down on 26 August 2023, and a casualty carried up these stairs in about 1.5 hours because a sea evacuation was called off for high surf.
Coconuts Bali reported on 13 January 2023 that swimming was banned at Kelingking Beach until further notice, with the beach staying open. Basarnas Denpasar has reported swimmers swept away here since.
ANTARA reported its height as 180 m, a figure from the provincial government. The project is in court: the record showed no appeal ruling as of 13 November 2026.
tangga stairs
Most people who come for the photograph get it at the top. The famous outline of the headland, the bay on both sides and the surf below are all seen from the viewpoint at the edge of the plateau. Nothing in that view needs the stairs.
The descent is a different trip. The Kelingking Beach stairs run down the ridge of the headland, and every step down is a step you climb back up. Basarnas Denpasar gives the stairway's height as about 170 m, a rescuer's description in a report from 10 January 2026. When it brought up the casualty of a fall from the cliff on 12 September 2026, the team carried the stretcher up the stairs for about 1.5 hours, because high surf ruled out a pickup by boat.
The photographed view, the attraction levy and the walk from the car park. Time for Broken Beach and Angel's Billabong on the same day.
A long descent and the same climb back, a beach with a reported swimming ban, and rescue that depends on the stairs or the sea state.
The Australian Government's Smartraveller advice, updated 21 October 2026, states that many beaches in Indonesia are unpatrolled and can be dangerous due to rough seas and strong currents. The page on what the advisories say about Nusa Penida sets that out for the whole island.
ombak waves
Basarnas Denpasar publishes a report for each rescue it runs. These are the ones at Kelingking Beach that state what happened. They describe the stairs, the cliff edge and the water, not the viewpoint path.
12 September 2026
An Australian woman died after falling from the cliff while looking for her own path to the cliff tip. The casualty was carried up the stairs because a sea evacuation was called off for high surf.
15 October 2025
A French woman drowned after being swept by the current while swimming.
30 October 2024
A student was swept away while bathing and found dead the next morning further west along the coast.
18 June 2024
A man from Qatar died after being swept by waves while swimming; his body was flown out by helicopter.
26 August 2023
A German woman broke her leg after slipping on the way down the stairs.
25 August 2023
A swimmer was knocked down by a wave; high waves forced the rescue team to give up a boat rescue.
Smartraveller adds that Australians have drowned in rough seas and strong rip currents at popular beaches, including in Bali. The full reports are linked in the sources at the foot of this page.
laut sea
Coconuts Bali reported a swimming ban in January 2023 (swimming banned) at Kelingking Beach, Diamond Beach and Angel's Billabong until further notice, with the beaches themselves staying open.
The rescue reports above show what the water does here. Three of them are swimmers taken by waves or current at this beach, on 18 June 2024, 30 October 2024 and 15 October 2025.
The US CDC advises travellers in Indonesia to swim only in designated areas and obey lifeguards and warning flags (page reviewed 25 August 2026). If you want a swim on the same day, the west coast tours usually end at Crystal Bay; its page sets out what applies there.
pengadilan court
The Kelingking Beach elevator is a glass lift structure built against the cliff. Bali's governor ordered construction stopped in November 2025, and the developer took the province to court. The case is the reason the Nusa Penida lift is neither open nor gone.
Until the appeal court in Mataram rules, nothing in the record says whether the lift will open, stay or come down. CNA Indonesia reported that bungee jumping at Kelingking Beach was stopped along with the lift.
23 November 2025
The Indonesian National Police reported that Bali Governor Wayan Koster ordered all construction of the glass lift stopped. ANTARA reported the order as coming from the governor and the Klungkung regent together (23 November 2025). The police report counts at least 5 legal breaches, a structure spanning three regulated zones (cliff, public land, coastal waters), 6 months to dismantle it and 3 further months to restore the site.
27 November 2025
The Bali Province Satpol PP (the provincial public order agency) issues the letter the developer later contests.
9 April 2026
The developer, PT Indonesia Kaishi Tourism Property Investment Development Group, files case 17/G/2026/PTUN.DPS at the Denpasar State Administrative Court against the head of the Bali Province Satpol PP.
3 September 2026
The court rules for the developer, annuls the Satpol PP letter and orders it revoked.
7 September 2026
ANTARA reports that the provincial government will appeal; the governor says the building permit covered only the ticket booth (5 ares, 500 m²).
16 September 2026
The head of the Bali Province Satpol PP files the appeal.
30 September 2026
The Mataram High Administrative Court registers the appeal as 49/B/2026/PTTUN.MTR.
13 November 2026
The Denpasar court record shows no appeal ruling.
tebing cliff
180 m
height of the lift structure, as stated by the provincial government (ANTARA)
jalan road
42 m
length of the connecting bridge (ANTARA)
wisata touring
846 m²
floor area of the lift building; the ticket booth adds 563.91 m² (ANTARA)
peta map
Kelingking Beach sits on the west coast at 8.75127° S, 115.47301° E, in the area of Desa Bunga Mekar. Klungkung Regency manages the attraction jointly with Banjar Adat Karang Dawa, Desa Bunga Mekar under an agreement of January 2025.
The way in is the Telaga to Klumpu road, the access road for this beach and Crystal Bay. Klungkung Regency states that works on that 2 km stretch have begun, in its news item of 24 August 2026; it gives no completion date.
The neighbours on the map are the other stops of the west loop. The west coast tours from Bali pair them in one day, and the day trip page sets out how that day runs. All the island's sights, by loop, are on things to do on Nusa Penida, and the Nusa Penida map shows the whole island.
retribusi levy
Attraction levy, at Kelingking
IDR 25,000
about AUD 2, USD 1.4 or GBP 1
per adult, IDR 15,000 per child (about AUD 1.2, USD 0.8 or GBP 0.6), at each one-gate attraction, all visitors, Klungkung Regency, from 1 September 2026
Nusa Penida island levy
IDR 25,000
about AUD 2, USD 1.4 or GBP 1
per foreign adult, IDR 15,000 per child, paid once on entry, foreign visitors only, Klungkung Regency 2026
Bali tourist levy
IDR 150,000
about AUD 12, USD 8.2 or GBP 6.2
per foreign tourist, Bali Provincial Government
Kelingking Beach is one of the 17 one-gate attractions that Klungkung Regency Regulation No. 4 of 2026 lists across Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan and Nusa Ceningan. The attraction levy is paid at each of them you enter, so a west loop that adds Broken Beach and Crystal Bay pays it again at those gates. The regulation lists Angel's Billabong and Broken Beach as one entry ("angel's billabong-broken beach"), so the pair counts as one gate on that list.
The island levy is bought online at Easybook since 21 February 2026, and the regency states that Easybook staff check tickets on site. Klungkung Regency's levy poster of February 2026, issued under its 2023 regulation, states that one ticket covers Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, Nusa Ceningan; the regency's Regulation No. 4 of 2026 lists Nusa Lembongan-Ceningan as a levy area of its own (kawasan wisata pulau nusa lembongan-ceningan). The Bali tourist tax page adds up all three levies for a group. Rupiah are converted at Bank Indonesia rates of 13 November 2026.
ombak waves
The surf on both sides of the headland is the same water the rescue reports describe.
wisata touring
The west coast tours below list Kelingking alongside Broken Beach, Angel's Billabong and Crystal Bay. Three to start with, two more below; every tour type side by side is on the Nusa Penida tours page.
West coast day tour on GetYourGuide
West coast day tour on Klook
Private driver on Viator
West coast day tour on Viator
West coast day tour on Klook
menginap staying the night
A night on the island lets you reach the viewpoint without a boat crossing on the same day. These two listings carry the beach's name in theirs; the where to stay page compares the island's areas.
Stay on Booking.com
Stay on Booking.com
pertanyaan questions
Kelingking Beach is on the west coast of Nusa Penida, the large island south-east of Sanur in Bali's Klungkung Regency. The beach lies below the plateau of Desa Bunga Mekar, at 8.75127° S, 115.47301° E. Tours from Bali reach it by fast boat to the island and then by road, as one stop of the west loop.
Coconuts Bali reported in January 2023 that swimming at Kelingking Beach was banned until further notice, while the beach stayed open. Basarnas Denpasar has since reported swimmers swept away by waves and current there. The US CDC advises swimming only in designated areas and following lifeguards and warning flags.
Basarnas Denpasar, which runs rescues on the island, describes the stairway down to Kelingking Beach as about 170 m high, in its report of January 2026. That is the height you climb back up. No official source gives a number of steps or a time for the descent.
No. Construction was ordered stopped in November 2025, and the lift is in a court case. The Denpasar administrative court ruled for the developer on 3 September 2026, the Bali Province appealed on 16 September 2026, and the record showed no appeal ruling as of 13 November 2026. Until the Mataram appeal court rules, its future stays open.
Yes. Klungkung Regency charges the attraction levy of IDR 25,000 per adult at Kelingking Beach (about AUD 2, USD 1.4 or GBP 1), on top of the island levy of IDR 25,000 per foreign adult paid once on arrival. The Bali tourist levy is separate.
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