Glass Elevator at ‘World’s Most Beautiful Beach’ Halted Over Backlash

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Glass Elevator at ‘World’s Most Beautiful Beach’ Halted Over Backlash

Originally posted on SURFER | By Dashel Pierson | Last updated Nov 10, 2025 7:50 PM ET

Bali is home to some of the world’s most postcard-perfect, white sand beaches, but one stands out from the rest – a strikingly blue water cove, with towering limestone cliffs that have been likened to the silhouette of a tyrannosaurus rex.

Kelingking Beach on Bali’s neighboring island of Nusa Penida has long been a popular destination for tourists for its stunning beauty. Hordes of visitors have been visiting the iconic beach, daily, for coveted selfies with the gorgeous backdrop. And in 2023, a Chinese company came in with plans to build a 182-meter (nearly 600 feet) elevator down to the beach, making access easier than the preexisting and precarious path below.

However, after 18 months of construction, local officials have expressed outrage over the project – claiming it destroys the beach’s natural beauty – and thus, forced the project to cease…for now.

“We don’t need to build this,” said Niluh Djelantik, an independent senator for Bali. “We need to build a beautiful road, a beautiful access, a beautiful public facility, a proper water…a clean water for the people, a school.”

Currently, the project is at a standstill. What remains is a hulking metal tower, clamped to the looming natural cliffside. In other words, it’s a multimillion-dollar eyesore.

"It's the most beautiful landscape we've ever seen but this elevator ruins it," one tourist told the Australian Broadcast Company.

In addition to the glass elevator project detracting from the natural beauty of Kelingking Beach, there are concerns about the project – specifically when it comes to environmental and safety risks.

“The landscape is extremely fragile and vulnerable,” said Made Krisna Dinata of an environmental NGO. “So, when you add infrastructure in an area like that – for instance, a 182-meter tall glass lift – you’re talking about potentially uncontrollable environmental impacts down the line.”

Elsewhere on Bali, other controversial construction projects have gone forward recently – like the destruction of the cliffside Warungs at Bingin Beach to make way for a beach club.

As for the elevator at Kelingking Beach, the construction will remain stalled for now until local officials meet to figure out next steps. Stay tuned.

This article first appeared on SURFER and was syndicated with permission.

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