TANJUNG LESUNG RESORT, BANTEN PROVINCE,

I forgot exactly when we got here to Tanjung Lesung. What I remember is that at the time, we didn't have any intention to go here. Just driving along to Anyer. My wife said that she wanted to go to Marbella beach, but then after we arrive at Marbella hotel, it was very crowded, so we decided to continue driving to Tanjung Lesung.

Tanjung Lesung lies in the tip of Banten Province, precisely in Pandeglang district. It took about 2 hours from Cilegon to Tanjung Lesung, or approximately 4 hours from Jakarta. After passes through Anyer district which is full with beachs and hotels along right and left side, we entered to Pandeglang district. The scenery along the road near to Tanjung Lesung was beautiful, a lot of green field of rice field.




Then we arrived at Tanjung Lesung resort area. Before the entrance to resort area, there is security post where checking is required. The personnel there would ask you whether you have had reservation or not. At that time, because we just would like to have sight seeing only, so we told them that we just want to go around for survey :)
There will be entrance fee for only sight seeing. It just 20,000 rupiah at that time.

After about 5 minutes driving, we could see the Kalica Resort and Villa Bay Resort. Inside the resort there are many facilities, including restaurant, beach, swimming fool in each type of villa or cottage. The white sand beach was very beautiful. My children couldn't stand for those sea water calling. They just straightly went to the beach and play with the sand.



The swimming fool was directly faced the sea side, and in front of the restaurant. Many tourists came to Tanjung Lesung during that time.

Ah, the mount of Krakatau also could be seen from here. As you may know that mount Krakatau is one of the active volcano in Indonesia. Located in the Sunda Strait between the islands of Java and Sumatra, the Krakatau Island Nature Reserve is the spectacular site of the world's youngest active volcano . Anak Krakatau (The son of Krakatau) has been steadily rising out of the sea since 1930 and is considered as one of the best examples of recent island volcanism and tropical vegetation succession.



There were also playground for kids to play around, and if you want to go around the beach with bicycle, there was a bicycle rent near the playground. Ah, I forgot, there was also Beach Club where you can find many sea water adventures. They offer many facilities in order to satisfy the customer who loves sea water sport.

So, just check it out by yourself, the beauty of Tanjung Lesung Beach!

FISHING AT PELABUHAN RATU

Fishing At Pelabuhan Ratu with Popping, Jigging and Trolling Technique

It has been along time I didn’t post some articles on my Blog. Actually there are a lot of things that I want to share here such as traveling to Jogjakarta, Central Java. In Jogja, we visited Borobudur temple which is the largest Buddhist temple from 9th century; Prambanan temple which is the most beautiful Hindust temple, including tour to Dieng Plateau. However, I didn’t have enough time recently. This time I would like to post my tour to Pelabuhan Ratu first. Borobudur, Prambanan, and Dieng Plateau may be next.

Our destination this time is Pelabuhan Ratu. Pelabuhan Ratu is located in Sukabumi, West Java. It needs about 3 hours from Jakarta to reach Sukabumi city and it takes about 1 hour from Sukabumi city to Pelabuhan Ratu Beach.

Well, after took the dawn prayer, I drove my car to Serang city to pick up colleagues. Due to some cases, we left Serang at about 21.00 pm and straightly drove to BSD city Tangerang. We met with other group there at about 22.30 pm, so we went to Sukabumi city in two cars. Without any further, we continued our journey to Sukabumi through JORR toll continued to JAGORAWI toll. Fortunately the road was very clear and there is no traffic jam. According to my friend said that actually the JAGORAWI toll always full with vehicles, although the route to Sukabumi is not far enough but it is need more time to reach because there usually traffic jam along the road to Sukabumi.

With the speed almost touched 140km/hour, the INNOVA could get Sukabumi at about 01.30 am. We, then, slept over at a friend’s house in Cipanengah, Sukabumi. But before that, I dropped my wife and the girls in her relative who also live in Sukabumi.

At 04.00 o’clock in the morning, we all got up and took a bath. After took morning-prayer and eat a little breakfast, we went to Pelabuhan Ratu beach. We arrived there at about 5 o’clock in the morning. We didn’t have enough time to look around the beach since the boat has been waited. So, we straightly went up on the boat and the boat sailed across the ocean waves.

The waves was very terrible, I could stand up, my stomach felt not right. I started to feel dizzy and queasy until I want to vomit. It is not only me who felt like this, several of my friend also felt this condition.

We rented this boatfor one day. It costs take 3.5 million IDR (about 350 USD). Since we were in seven so each should pay 500,000 IDR (50 USD). The fishing tools had been provided by the boat crews. There were several fishing rods specifics

for fishing the big fish. Along the way to the destination, we took a look at the photo album. One of the photo showed a western fisherman caught blue marine fish. It length was about 4 meters and it took 6 hours just to catch the fish. Wow...it must be very tiring.

Arrive at destination point at the ocean, we started fishing. Then we realized that fishing here was a different time with what we usually do. Here, we should chase after the fishes. Wherever the fishes go then we should chase them. It was really frustrating to chase the fished along day. Until noon, we couldn’t catch any fishes at all. We started to think that probably the fish bait which made from rubber were not interesting for the fishes, so we tried to use tuna fish as a food for the fishes we wanted to catch. Still we didn’t get the fishes; we just got the little fishes. It was more even frustrating since we saw the big fishes swim across our eyes.

I just know that this kind of fishing technique. People say that this technique is called 'popping', 'jigging' and 'trolling'. It is used in the sea that have 400 meters above in depth and it is effective to catch such kind of fish like 'Tenggiri' or mackerel.

Then after the noon, our fishing rod hooked on something bigger. We pulled the fishing line and that’s it! We got a big Tenggiri (Spanish mackerel) fish! Great! Sugoii ne! Our first fish we got!

Actually there was story behind the first fish we got. I didn’t believe at all in the myth, but I didn’t know how could be. At the noon the boat crew was hungry, and he tried to find some food on our supplies, then he found that we brought some boiled-eggs. He was surprised and said that why we could get any fishes at all since there were some eggs near us. He then explained that when fishing here, it is forbidden to bring any kind of egg. That the rule! So, he ate almost the eggs we had. Unbelievable and Unthinkable that after the eggs gone, we caught the Tenggiri fish. Kangararenai yo! Well, I believe that’s just a myth.

Until the dawn, we got some fishes but most of them were ‘Lemadang’ fishes, only one mackerel. Hmm…I wonder whether how to cook this fishes. The ‘Lemadang’ fish actually is very beautiful fish. Its color in the water is blue, then when the first time touch the air (after we lifted it) the color becomes green than turn to black after some time out of the sea water.

The sky was almost dark when we decided to come back to the bay. It was very dramatic view of the sea. Felt the breeze touched the skin, the sound of sea waves, dark sky, the sound of the motor boat that knocked the sea water. It is one of the perfect creatures of GOD the most glorious the most merciful.

Far away, we could see the land, the coatal, as if it approached us. Minutes by minutes the land became bigger, and there we were, touched the coast. At the coast, there were many boats have been docked. One the most luxurious boat is also at anchor there. It belongs to a boss of company in Indonesia. Well, it is really luxurious boat,

with the sofa inside,shower, the fishing chair. The crew said the boat cost touches 4 billions IDR. Wow...no wonder...sugoii ne.Wondering when we could be able to sail with the boat...just dreaming!

Arrived at friend’s house again, took a bath and had dinner. Dinner was very delicious, although it was just only rice and ‘cue’ (Sukabumi’s special dished, kind of salted fish), including sambal

(kind of sauce containing chili pepper). At 22.00, we left Sukabumi, of course picked up my wife and children first.

With also speed almost above 40km/hours, we arrived in Cilegon at 02.30 am. It took a long time because we stopped by at BSD city at Mr. Irwan’s house to divide the fishes. Cilegon – Sukabumi back and forth, INNOVA needed about 70 liters gasoline. Well, actually, we needed 2 times to fill up the gasoline.

UJUNG KULON ADVENTURE - PEUCANG ISLAND, CIDAON, TANJUNG LAYAR

Have you ever been traveled to Ujung Kulon, Banten, Indonesia?

I was there, and it was the ever memorable and unforgettable trip to the south-western tip of Java Island.

There are many amazing place to go when you arrived in Ujung Kulon, such as Cidaon where you can watch the wild ox having an eat, Cigenter river where you can go along the river watching the rainforest nuance and animal by paddle the canoe, Tanjung layer where you can find the lighthouse – the scenery from the top of it, is very amazing. Going to Ujung Kulon is not completed if doesn’t pass by Ujung Kulon National Park. As all people already know that the park is one of the world heritage sites, since here lives one-horned rhinoceros species (Rhinocerus Sondanicus) which is nearly extinctive. This park is a refuge for dwindling animals and plants. Besides the rhinoceros, there are around 700 varieties of plants including 57 rare species. Here, also lives: lutung (Presbytis cristata) – kind of monkey which have long tail, the wild ox of Java (Bos javanicus), tiger (Panthera tigris), surili – kind of monkey (Presbity aygula), 270 species of bird.

The other place recommended is Peucang Island, don’t questioned, it is like a heaven! You can stay a night at this small beautiful island during your trip to all places mentioned above.

I went to Peucang Island by group, the group was about 10 people include me. At the time, 4 years ago, the travel only cost Rp. 250,000/person or about USD 35/person including meals, barrack for sleeping, and other administration matter. It was very cheap travel to Ujung Kulon, since many people have to pay more expensive than this. Well, this is maybe like backpacker, with limited accommodation. So, don’t hope to get luxury traveling, take it whatever there is.

We leaved for Cilegon in the morning, and arrived at Sumur – Labuan at noon (Peucang Island can be reached by many ways. However, the common way is only two ways. First, taking a boat form SUMUR – Labuan - Anyer. Sumur is a small fisherman village.You can take a boat here to deliver to Peucang Island which the cost is about Rp. 1.5 Million or about USD 156 per boat. The capacity of the boat itself is about 15 – 20 persons, made from wood which has been modified. The other way is through TAMAN JAYA village. This village is the nearest to the Ujung Kulon National Park. You can also take a boat to Peucang Island).

We had still able to take dhuhur prayer in the mushola (little mosque) near the Sumur beach. We continued the journey by boat and it only took around 3.5 hours arrived at Peucang Island. The travel along the sea was also amazing. Feel the sea water spark in our skin, the wind blow along the sea caught up our face. Strong sea wave happened when we passed by the “Selamat Datang” bay because it directly face the ocean, however after we through that bay, the wave is not as strong as it is. The wave became friendlier, as we entered the Peucang Island border. Peucang Island located between Panaitan Island and the tip of Ujung Kulon peninsula. The water around was so calm and quiet. Soon, we reached the small harbor of Peucang Island. As we getting closer, we could watch the white sand became more and more large. It’s amazing! The white sand beach was glowing, reflected the sunshine. Blue coastal marine was very clear as you could see the fish back and forth inside of it.

PEUCANG ISLAND – THE PARADISE

The motorboat started to dock in the jetty. Here we are, in Peucang Island. Wow! Unbelievable, we could stand our feet here!

Walked down the Peucang Island gate, there were a lot of long-tailed monkeys roam about the lodging house. Actually, in there are kind of lodges, of course with different price. If you still want comfortably as like in the city, you can take luxury hostel “Flora” which facilitated with AC, hot water, refrigerator that cost around USD 50/room/night. Lodge “Fauna” - moderate price – is a wood building consists of 7 rooms, which each capacity of each room is 3 – 5 persons. However, the cheapest is lodging, that we were stay a night, just a building like barrack; we can rent a bed for sleeping. For meal, we bring rice cooker, and other food that already cooked. If you want to try restaurant menu, there is a restaurant also in this Island which provides both Indonesian and International menu.

CIDAON – THE WILD ANIMAL OBSERVATION

In the afternoon after get some rest, we decided to go to Cidaon where we could see wild ox feed in the large grass field. To reach this area, you must accompany by the Jagawana (they are the park ranger who have familiar with this area) as a guide. So, we sailed again to the Cidaon, but it didn’t take to much time. In Cidaon, there is an observation tower where we can watch the wild animal. Unfortunately, we found not of the wild ox, just some peacocks seen in the field. Having some pictures in Cidaon, we back to Peucang Island due to the day turned by night.

Night at Peucang Island is also amazing. However, you must put your jacket on your body. The night wind is so cool. We watched clusters of fishes swim near the jetty. They were so visible under the sea water crowed around the wood bridge. Feel like to fishing!

WHITE SANDY AND BLUE CLEARANCE BEACH OF PEUCANG ISLAND

The next morning, we watched sunrise in the beach, than swimming to feel the cool blue coastal water. The sea water is really clear and blue. We could see all creatures under the water, swim along. Many little fishes, colorful could be seen, beautiful corals, etc. It was the first experience swimming with many fishes around us, didn’t realize that some jellyfish touch our skin make us feel little pain and itchy.

Feel satisfy, we took some breakfast in the lodging, then we continued tracking to Tanjung Layar. Again, we went by boat to Cibom and continued by foot to Tanjung Layar where we could find the old lighthouse. At Cibom, the beach is full of steep corals, so to get the land we should continue with little boat named “sampan”, well be careful here, watch your stuffs not fallen into the sea water. Actually the water level is only about 100cm height when we should change with little boat. Little accident happened, one of my friend lost his balance, he fallen with his camera.

CIBOM AND TANJUNG LAYAR – THE JUNGLE TRACKING AND LIGHTHOUSE

Tracking to Tanjung Layar only took one hour, passing by the tropical forest that fully of big trees that mostly wound around with parasites like liana and epiphyte as the characteristic of this forest. After about one hour walking, we arrived at the lighthouse. The view from here is really amazing. As far as the eyes take a look, it was like a blue sea water carpet with coral landscape and green forest at the edge. What beautiful scenery!

Just after noon, we arrived in Peucang Island again. After have some lunch and dhuhur praying, we were ready to leave Peucang Island. It is hard to leave Ujung Kulon, we still wanted to explore. There were several places we’ve visited yet due to our limited time. We left our heart in this Island. Hope someday we’ll come back here.

HOME SWEET HOME

The weather was very nice as we left for the Island. We were so happy, made fun with joke, singing, etc. But it was dramatically changed when in the middle of our way. The weather was not too good during our sailing back to Sumur. It was probably stormy in Indian Ocean that directly facing to “Selamat Datang” bay. It was hard wave attack our boat. Adrift and buffeted in the sea, and look not too far away from us, a boat nearly sank. The boat helper continued, harder and harder to scoop up the water that entered the boat, just to keep our boat stable. All of us were very frightened, silence, and prayed all along the way. How if we couldn’t passed it? Fortunately, after we passed by the bay, the wave has subsided. What a relief!

Nearly 15.00 pm, we arrived at Sumur. Take Ashar prayer first in the Mushola, then continued driving to Cilegon. It was not as smooth as we predicted. The road from Sumur to Labuan is up and down, and the condition of our hired-car was not good. We even had to stop for while, for cooling down the car engine. We were drop in Labuan to have dinner at “Padang” food stall, then continued driving and arrived at Cilegon at 19.00pm.

Still dare to go Ujung Kulon? Who’s scared?

Here are some TIPS before you go to Ujung Kulon :

1. Don’t forget to eat malaria tablet before and after the trip (I forgot to eat them! May be the malaria’s mosquito recognized that I am from Banten also! It’s just a kidding!)
2. Take much mineral water, food, and don’t forget some medicine. To reduce your budget, you can bring several stuffs and material for cooking
3. Recommended to take your sunglasses, sunblock and hat
4. If you like to dive, don’t forget your diving stuff
5. Flashlight and batteries are must when you are going for tracking or paddling, and don’t forget to use anti mosquito lotion before you enter the forest.
6. Sleeping bag may be necessary when you plan to sleep in the open nature
7. Avoid visiting Ujung Kulon in the rainy season (I went there just at the end of dry season! No wonder). Bad weather usually hits at November until March.
8. Don’t ever try to feed the animals even its look so tame
9. It is advised to use park ranger to guide
10. Don’t throw the rubbish, just collect it and throw it in the trash bin
11. And don’t forget to bring camera, there are a lot of beautiful sceneries to be taken