The wijayakusuma can be used to bring a person back from the dead, and the princes of the Sultanate of Mataram and later the Surakarta Sunanate sent to the island for the blooms in order to become kings.

One of the main cultural events is Sedekah Laut (sea sacrifice), which is held by the Surakarta Sunanate every Satu Suro (new year) in the Javanese calendar.

Since the Dutch colonial period, there have been a number of supermax prisons on the island, some of which are still operational and run by the Ministry of Law and Human Rights.

Twenty-three bird species are classified as protected, including the Pacific reef heron (Egretta sacra), woolly-necked stork (Ciconia episcopus), lesser adjutant (Leptoptilos javanicus), white-bellied sea eagle (Haliaeetus leucogaster), brahminy kite (Haliastur indus), and crested serpent eagle (Spilornis cheela).

Several other protected mammal species include the leopard (Panthera pardus), Indian muntjac (Muntiacus muntjak) and chevrotain (Tragulus javanicus).

Saltwater crocodiles (Crocodylus porosus) are native to the surrounding mangroves and were historically common, but their current status is unknown.

[11] From the mid-1990s, the island was intermittently promoted by local authorities as a tourist destination, primarily for its caves, beaches, and unusual wildlife that is extinct on Java.

According to the Cilacap Tourism Office, Nusakambangan was opened as a tourist destination following an agreement between the Central Java Governor and Ministry of Justice in 1996.

[18] Famous people imprisoned on the island include: Nusakambangan has also held hundreds of members of Free Aceh Movement, but they were later released as part of a peace deal.

[25] On 9 November 2008, Amrozi, Imam Samudra, and Ali Gufron, three men convicted for their roles in the 2002 Bali bombings were executed by firing squad at Nusa Kambangan after their appeals for clemency were turned down.

[26] In late 2014, the government of the new President Joko Widodo announced that the execution of persons convicted of drug-related offences would be resumed.