Tourists Urged Not To Swim At This Famous Bali Beach As Tragedy Strikes

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Tourists visiting the popular travel destination of Nusa Penida have been given a stark warning about swimming at the island’s beaches.

Kelingking Beach may be one of the most famous beaches in the province of Bali, but tragically, it is proving to also be the most deadly. 

On Thursday, 8th June, local Search and Rescue teams were called out to urgently help two Indian tourists who had been taking photos in the shoreline on Kelingking Beach.

The couple, ST, aged 27, and VM, 28, was accompanied by a local guide, Wayan Sugiarta. 

According to local reports, the couple enjoyed a guided tour of the island and arrived at the famous clifftop of Kelingking Beach at around 11.00 am.

After taking photos, the trio is said to have walked down the cliff path to the beach. 

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Sugiarta is said to have instructed the couple not to enter the water since there is a swim ban in place.

Following a rise in incidents of tourists being dragged out to sea as a result of the increasingly high waves and strong currents, officials have prohibited beach-goers from entering the water.

Despite warnings, local reports say that the couple attempted to enter the water and were quickly overpowered by a surging wave that dragged them both out into the open water.

Sugiarta immediately alerted the Search and Rescue teams, who were able to reach the scene at 2 pm. 

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A spokesman for the Search and Rescue team has confirmed the death of VM and the suspected death of ST.

While officers were able to quickly locate and recover the body of VM from the waters around Kelingking Beach, the search remains ongoing to recover ST.

The Search and Rescue mission is being conducted in partnership with the Nusa Penida Police, Nusa Penida Marine Post, Nusa Penida Military Command, Nusa Penida Pratama Clinic, and Nusa Penida tour guides.

Whenever a call out to Search and Rescue is made, a full-scale operation is launched to preserve life. 

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While Search and Rescue officers in Nusa Penida have saved the lives of hundreds of tourists over the years, their expertise and resources would need to be called upon far less regularly if tourists (domestic and international alike) heeded the warnings given by tour guides and local leaders. 

Officials in Nusa Penida have issued statements in the last few months pledging to improve safety at the island’s most popular natural landmarks and have put swim bans in place to prevent people from everting the water.

Nevertheless, leaders have called upon visitors to the island to prioritize their own safety and not to take risks in order to get photos for social media. 

Statements issued last month by a local tour guide on Nusa Penida, Made Sukarya, ring ever more important now in light of Thursday’s tragedy. 

Sukarya told reporters, “There are usually a lot of tourists [around Nusa Penida]. There are some who really take care of their safety. But not a few also ignore their safety.“

He continued, “Sometimes there are even tourists who are deliberately looking for high waves. We warn them [but] they don’t even care. They are looking for challenging things.”

Sukarya’s urgent warnings as a tour guide were echoed in a formal statement issued by the Head of Klungkung Tourism Office, Ni Made Sulistiawati.

He called upon tour guides and tourism businesses on the island to also make strides to ensure that visitors to the island really understand what is and isn’t safe. 

The Klungkung Tourism Office has submitted a proposal to the regency government to deploy more safety officers during the high season. 

Sulistiawati explained, “Apart from [increased officers], we also expect the participation of all tourism actors in accordance with the Regent’s Circular regarding the safety and security of tourists in the Nusa Penida Tourism Area to take part in guarding and warning guests not to swim at beaches where warning signs prohibit swimming are installed.”