According to one embodiment, in a method of a nitride semiconductor light emitting device, a nitride semiconductor laminated body is formed on a first substrate having a first size. A first adhesion layer with a second size smaller than the first size is formed on the nitride semiconductor laminated body. A second adhesion layer is formed on a second substrate. The first and the second substrates are bonded while the first and second adhesion layers being overlapped each other. The first substrate is removed so as to generate a recess having a third size equal to or larger than the second size. The first substrate is etched until exposing the nitride semiconductor laminated body while injecting a chemical solution into the recess. The exposed nitride semiconductor laminated body is etched using the chemical solution so as to form a concave-convex portion in the exposed nitride semiconductor laminated body.