Broken Beach (Pasih Uug)

Broken beach is one Bali’s (or Nusa Penida’s) most instantly recognisable beaches. An almost perfect circle of tall limestone cliffs surround a shallow pool of turquoise water. I say almost perfect as this beach is “broken”, in fact the Balinese name for the beach is Pasih Uug, meaning “damaged beach”.

So what is broken about this beach? Well this could refer to the impressive rock arch that links the beach to the sea, or it could refer to the entire beach which resembles a giant hole in earth. Either way it’s a pretty spectacular spot.

This is particularly true when there is a heavy swell running and the waves crash through the rock arch whipping the otherwise blue waters into a cauldron of white. The again on calm days it is equally stunning with the crystal clear water lapping the white sand at the foot of the cliff.

There is just one thing that puts a bit of a dampener on this iconic spot - you can’t get down to the beach. OK, it’s possible by boat, but trying on any but the calmest of days would be insanity. That said most visitors are here for the photo opportunities, of which there are many. Just make sure you get here early or you’ll have to queue. Alternatively this west facing beach is a great spot for sunsets.

So how was Broken beach formed? There are a couple of possibilities;  the first tells of a village that once found a cow. Not knowing who it belonged to they cooked it up and ate it. Anyway, to cut a long story short the owner came back and the villagers lied about the cow. The punishment was an earthquake and they all fell down the hole. The moral of the story - don’t lie about eating someone else’s cow.

Another possibility is the beach is a collapsed sea cave, probably enlarged by the erosive forces of the ocean.