Nusa Penida

The headland curves like a dinosaur's neck, with a thin strip of white sand under it. Reaching the sand means a dirt scramble on bamboo rails, about an hour going down. No shade waits for the climb back, so carry plenty of water.

On days with any swell, stay out of the pool. The hollow is worn into the shore rock, and its floor only shows at low tide. A big set washing over it has carried people out before.

A cliff collapse left a round bay with an arch punched through one side to the open sea. No path goes down, so walking the rim is all there is to do. On clear days you can watch manta rays pass from above.

Cold water pushes from the deep and the current runs hard, so it is no beginner's site. Between July and October the ocean sunfish come up and divers crowd in. The beach is short, and by afternoon shade sits against the cliff and nowhere else.

White sand lies under a row of limestone pillars, reached by a stair cut into the rock. The water pulls hard, so most people go no deeper than their ankles.

It shares a bay with Diamond Beach, and the stair on this side switches back and forth. Carts and umbrellas line the sand behind it, which makes it the better side for sitting out a whole day. Depending on the tide, the two connect on foot.

A narrow suspension bridge ties Nusa Lembongan to Nusa Ceningan. It collapsed in 2016 and people died; the present one replaced it. Only scooters and people on foot cross, and cars are kept off. It is one scooter wide, so oncoming traffic waits its turn.

A hut built into a tree at the cliff edge, and you can rent it for the night. People queue to photograph it, so by day you wait on the steps above.

Seaweed grows on lines strung across the shallows, and the whole grid shows when the tide drops. What comes in is spread along roads and in yards to dry, then sold on as a thickening agent. As tourism work grew, families dropped it and the plots shrank.

Below the forest there is a freshwater pool and a seawater pool, kept apart. The concrete track down is steep enough that people warn you off riding it yourself, and at the bottom men and women use different sides.

You crawl in through a crack that one body only just fits, and a huge cavern opens behind it. Shrines follow one after another along the cave, with a Chinese shrine at the far end. A sarong is required, and the rock underfoot stays wet and slippery.

A temple in Ped village on the north coast, home to Ratu Gede Mecaling, the island's demon king. Balinese cross from the mainland to pray for protection from sickness and bad luck. On festival days pilgrims in white crowd it all the way from the jetty.

A rocky shore on the southwest of Nusa Lembongan where incoming waves burst white out of the gaps. Rainbows often hang in the spray, and Dream Beach is right next door. People have been swept off the unfenced rock edge, so keep back from it.

A small white-sand cove tucked between low cliffs. The sand is fine, but the surf pounds in, so swimming only works on calm days. More people sit at the clifftop cafes looking down than actually go in.

Mangroves cover the northeast shore of Nusa Lembongan, and villagers pole wooden boats through the channels. With no engine running, birdsong is all you hear. When the water drops the channels go too shallow for boats, so time it for high water.

Water below the cliffs on Nusa Penida's southwest side, where manta rays gather to be cleaned. Snorkel boats leave from Lembongan and from Penida's northern shore, and the swell leaves many seasick. Some days the water runs cold, so a thin wetsuit helps.

Several hundred blue-painted steps bolted to a cliff lead down to a shrine where fresh water wells up just above the sea. Despite the name the flow is small, and pilgrims bathe in it. Climbing back up in full sun is far harder than going down.