The much anticipated and highly contentious glass elevator project at Nusa Penida’s Kelingking Beach continues to be developed.
As teams work to construct a series of viewing platforms on the cliffside in addition to the elevator itself, more tourists are learning of the development and joining the growing number of concerned residents who feel the project will have disastrous long-term impacts.
It only takes a glance at recent headlines from Bali to see that the island’s famous limestone cliff faces are the focus of attention right now.
In Nusa Penida, the glass elevator project is seeing heavy machinery and construction crews changing the face of one of the world’s most iconic coastal vistas forever.
Over in Uluwatu, construction crews are continuing to build the so-called Uluwatu Sea Wall as part of cliff reservation works.
However, despite leaders stating that the project had no commercial interest or value, it has now been confirmed to also include a beach road for public access.
In May, there was a public outcry that rapid and often unregulated development must be halted across the island. Another stretch of the Uluwatu cliffside collapsed into Pemuith Pecatu Beach, and heavy machinery cut into the rock.
Although a moratorium banning the development of hotels, resorts, villas, and other tourism entertainment venues is set to come into effect in the coming months, both the Kelingking Glass Elevator and the Uluwatu Sea Wall project are irreversibly underway.
The Kelingking Glass Elevator project is set to feature an 182m glass elevator that operates from the clifftop to the beach below.
At present, should tourists wish to visit Kelingking Beach itself, they must embark on a truly treacherous cliffside hike along a dangerous pathway to the beach below which is not recommended.
Once at the beach, swimming and entering the water for any reason is banned due to the high waves and strong undercurrents that have claimed the lives of dozens of tourists and injured dozens since tourism arrived on the island.
The Glass Elevator project is a partnership between the Bali Provincial Government and a Chinese-founded investment company.
Land clearing started in June 2023, and construction work officially began in June 2024, but as the project develops, the impact of the construction work is now more visible to tourists on the cliffside.
Social media users have been conversing online, sharing their opinions on the counterintuitive nature of the project.
One user wrote, “This structure will really ruin the beautiful view from above and ruin our purpose of going there. This means more people on that beach!! Repairing the stairs will make much more sense.”
Another shared, “The struggle against nature. The beautiful culture and nature of Bali are being destroyed by mass tourism.”
The project has also received criticism from newly elected government official Ni Luh Djelantik.
Prominent social justice activist and now politician Djelantik has been vocal about her observations of the impact mass tourism has had on her home province.
She told reporters, ‘You could give me $100 million, and I still would never ever ride on that elevator. Kelingking Beach is beautiful the way it is, and for some people, enjoying it means they have to put some effort into hiking down to see the beauty at the bottom. You have to earn it, you don’t just put a lift there.”
Tourists planning visits to Kelingking Beach will find that, at present, the iconic view of the T-Rex Point itself is not impacted by construction works.
However, sitting immediately behind the viewpoint, visitors must be prepared to see a huge yellow crane that has been installed to develop the site, in addition to other construction equipment.
Kelingking Beach is Nusa Penida’s busiest tourist attraction; arriving very early in the morning can help avoid crowds or late in the afternoon.
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