Menjangan Island,
A Little Paradise on the Island of Gods
Travel Story of Rirry #TraveRy
by Hapsari
Sulistyaningrum
As its name ‘Menjangan’ (= Deer, -red.), this island has its
own uniquenesses: little, beautiful and light as a deer. This is a truly litte
paradise, with the beauty of white beach and turqoise-blue deep water, and
suitable for you who have limited time but still want a light trip for
snorkeling, from one spot to another spot of colorful corals and fishes.
Still not believing? Let’s take a look at for a while to my
trip story to Menjangan Island :)
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| Map of Menjangan Island and Bali Island, Indonesia |
On the beginning of this February 2015, I had a chance to
have a light trip to Menjangan Island.
It is a small island located on the north west of Bali main Island, the Island
of Gods, said many tourists for this exotic island of Indonesia.
This beautiful Menjangan is not an inhabited island, as it
is part of West Bali National Park. Indeed, they say many deers are found in
this islands, so the locals call the island as Menjangan Island (Menjang means
‘Deer’, derived from Javanese Language, –red.).
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| Menjangan Island View from Local Boat |
Menjangan Island has many Hindunese temples, like a white
temple above the island I saw near the Pos II. The Hindunese local people usually
take a boat from the main island to pray. But they said, it also has temple
below the island. Unfortunately, I hadn’t had chance to see that during my
visit there.
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| Ready for Snorkeling in Pos II, yiheaaa!!! |
Menjangan Island is known with its snorkeling and diving
spots. It has some spots with beautiful corals under the sea. The best time to
visit Menjangan Island is Early of the Year, when the temperature is warmer. In
the Middle of the Year, like July or August, the temperature is colder, up to 80
C, but the water is clearer. That’s why I was curious to visit it on February.
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| The Coral with Plate Shape. It's more beautiful and colorful in reality, but it was blur since I only used digital camera (Casio) covered with Waterproof Plastic, not the professional one though :') |
The fishes are colorful. You can find many clown ‘Finding
Nemo’ fishes, and also their friend, Dori. I love Dori, that character in
Finding Nemo movie, but I forget the name of that fish. You can also find the tough-look
swordfishes, the fat-spiked puffer fish, the cute-bright color starfishes, the
jelly-brigh color sea weed or jellyfish, or the dangerous-spiked sea urchins.
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| Can you see that colorful fishes gathering around the Coral Wall? Yes, they are so cute, aren't they?! :-) |
For snorkeling, mostly the tourists take one day snorkeling
package trip, with one local tour guide and a rented local fisherman’s boat. That
is the most efficient way for the trip here, like I had done previously. It is
highly suggested to contact Travel Assistance to arrange your trip there,
because it is a typical of island in which you can’t go alone since the rental
boat is expensive and you need a local tour guide who understands the area. For
more information about Travel Assistance to Menjangan Island, please find at
the end of this article.
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| Come here to Mama, you Cute Colorful Fishes! :-) |
Beside snorkeling, you may do various activities in
Menjangan Island. Near the Banyumandi port, there are lots of resort and
homestay which have direct scenery to Menjangan Island. You may relax and enjoy
meals with the exotic view of white beach, turqoise-water sea, with the blue
sky background.
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| Enjoying the Sun Bathing on the Boat on this Exotic Island :-) (Actually I've had lot!!! Sunbathing for entire of my life under the sun of Indonesia, hehe...) |
When you reach the Menjangan Island, you may take a rest for
a while with other tourists. Mosly they have lunch, have sunbathing, or just
take a walk around the island. For Indonesian tourists, yeah you can guess,
taking photos and selfies is like a must :-D LOL
Curious how did I go
this far for the sake of Menjangan Island?
I have a backpacker style like I always do during my travelling times. Everything goes in most economic and efficient ways, but still I don’t miss the pleasure nor loose the happiness. I don’t mind to take the cheapest transportations or accomodations as long as I am still alive.
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| The Backpacker Style |
So was in this Menjangan trip. I and my travel mate began our
trip by taking Economy Train from Yogyakarta to Banyuwangi, for only Rp 130.000
for a person on Friday, February 6th 2015. Actually it’s a good
choice as the train is now full with AC, and for you who can stand sitting down
on a 900 degrees chair for more than 12 hours. Our train departed on
Tugu Station, Yogyakarta, on 07.00 WIB, and arrived on Banyuwangi Baru Station,
Banyuwangi, East Java, on 20.00 WIB. I had ever done this trip before, so I
knew where to go after this.
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| Banyuwangi Baru Train Station, East Java, Indonesia |
We met two nice Yogyakarta young couple on the train, Aby
and Sinta. They also wanted to cross the Bali strait as they were heading to
Singaraja, Bali. So, after arrived in Banyuwangi Station, fourth of us continued
our journey by... stopping to the nearest Nasi Bungkus (rice) seller. Hahaha...
Yes, we were hungry and needed a dinner. There are lots of Nasi Bungkus sellers
in the station using bycicle. It is a Banyuwangi traditional food, a rice with
spicy sambal and fried chicken/fish/egg.
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| Nasi Bungkus: Bapak the Seller and his modified bicycle |
After had ‘some amunition’, we walked directly to the Gilimanuk
harbor which is only 15 minutes by walking from Banyuwangi Baru train station.
Don’t rely on any transportation offers, unless you couldn’t walk by your own
feet. The ticket for the ship is only Rp 8.000 for adult and Rp 6.000 for
child, and the ships are departed every 15 minutes, with at least one hour
crossing.
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| Selfie first is not prohibited before crossing the Bali strait! Say 'cheese' :-D (v) |
Around 23.00 WIB, we arrived in Gilimanuk harbor, Bali. It
was almost midnight, but the harbor is still quite lively. Fourth of us walked
into the bus station which is located only by 10 minutes walking. Oya, don’t
forget to bring your own Identity Card, for Indonesian tourists, it’s highly
suggested to bring KTP, not SIM or other IDs, and Passport for International
tourists, because there is an administration checking in Exit Gate.
There are several choices of transportations that you may
take from Gilimanuk Harbor to the Menjangan Island. First, you can take public
buses that go to Singaraja direction. Second, you can take’ angkot’ or small
minibus with the same direction. Third, you can take ‘ojek’ or private
motorbike driven by the driver. All of them will drop you at the Pertigaan Banyuwedang
(Banyuwedang Crossroad). From there, we are already close to the ports to reach
Menjangan Island and there are lots of homestays there.
Fourth of us were looking for the same public bus headed to
Singaraja. But there were were no buses going to that north direction at that
midnight time. All of the buses are going to the south or east, like Ubung bus
station, Denpasar, or Padang Bai harbor that can connect to the Lombok Islands
(see my story when I crossed Lombok to Bali via Padang Bai on another post).
So, my travel mate made a deal to the ‘Preman’ of the bus
station (‘Preman’, maybe derived from English term ‘Freeman’ and maybe means
‘Hoodlum’? Like the ‘Landman of the area’ with many tatoos on the body). We had
a deal to transport fourth of us for Rp 250.000 from Rp 300.000. The normal
price on day time is only around Rp 30.000 for a person. But then the young
couple chose to wait on the harbor while waiting until the dawn. So, me and my
travel mate took the last option: Ojek with the bargaining price was Rp 75.000
for each person. The normal price on day time is only around Rp 30.000 – Rp
50.000 for a person.
For you who will take different routes from mine, there are
few options to reach Menjangan Island. First, you can go by plane to Surabay
city, then continue with train from Surabaya Gubeng train station to the
Banyuwangi Baru train station, cross the Bali strait with Economy Class Ship,
then from Gilimanuk harbor, you may continue with the three options mentioned
to the Pertigaan Banyuwedang near Menjangan Island.
Second, you can go to central of Bali first. From Ubung bus
station in Denpasar, Padang Bai harbor in the east of Bali, or from Singaraja
in the north of Bali, you can take bus that goes to the Gilimanuk harbor for
about 5-6 hours, then continue using the three transportations options. You may
also rent a car or taxi from Kuta, Ubud, or any other cities in Bali if you
feel more convenient with, but it will cost more expensive though.
...And how did I finally
find this little, beautiful, and light island on the Islands of God?
The two ojeks drove me to the Pertigaan Banyuedang. At
first, Pak Adi, he was our kind tour guide, offered to pick us on the Gilimanuk
harbor. But, how come? With three of us in one bycicle on the middle of the
night??? So, here we were right now, on the motorcylce which driven fastly for
more than 30 minutes, and should hardly stand through the midnight cold wind. Too
fast, too freezing, brrr....
After confusing from which crossroad shall we stop (Ok, the
ojek drivers didn’t know this area, what a poor), returning again to a port
which was false port (eventhough there is a sign “Crossing Spot to Menjangan
Island”), and coming back again to the first crossroad which was actually true,
finally we met Pak Adi at almost 02.00 WITA. Pssst, Bali and Java have
different time zone, Bali is one hour earlier than Java because Bali is located
in the Middle of Indonesia.
We were dropped to the Penginapan Banyuwedang Homestay (look
for further information at the end of the article). It was a wood-made
homestay, with no AC and hot water, so you won’t expect more with the price Rp
150.000 of this homestay. What I loved the mosts were only the nice staffs and
nice flowery gardens and traditional atmosphere.
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| The Look of Banyu Wedang Homestay |
On the next day, Saturday, February 7th 2015, we
were picked up by Pak Adi on 09.00 WITA to the local port named Banyumandi port,
which is located not too far from our homestay. It was more close to Mimpi
Resort, a luxury resort in that village.
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| Banyumandi Port, Crossing Center to Menjangan Island |
We were waiting for other tourists brought by other local
tour guides. Then me and my travel mate were matched with one French lady with
her local tour guide from Denpasar, a local guy who looked like a diver with Go
Pro camera and his local girlfriend, on the same boat. On the Banyumandi port,
there is a small warung (local restaurant) in which you can order breakfast or
maybe lunch to be carried on to the boat like the French lady did.
First, we went to the Pos II to see the Underwater Cave by
snorkeling. It was sooo beautiful. The structures of the corals are much alike
the walls, and yes you can see the wall with U-shape that look like an
Underwater Cave. Here you may find colorful fishes and corals everywhere, like
the Coral with Plate Shape I found in the edge of the Underwater Cave.
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| The Corals at the edge of Underwater Cave, Pos II, Menjangan Island |
Then, we had a rest for lunch. We may go to the island like
the other tourists did, enjoying lunch on the white beach under the coconut
trees with beautiful sea view spread all over you. The French lady took her
lunch there.
After that, we went to the second spot of snorkeling. I
wasn’t so sure for the name, maybe it was Pos I Jetty, as we didn’t go quite
far and just went to the west of the Pos II. In here, you may see the
structures of the corals are much alike the soccer field, like I found. Hahaha,
everything that is wide and well ground is associated with the soccer field by
Indonesian people, who really love playing soccer in almost everywhere, like
I’ve ever read on an Indonesian meme.
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| The Coral 'Soccer Field', what a wide corals spread on all of your sight! :-) |
In here, I could touch the beautiful orange Starfish. At
first I was afraid that it might cause allergic or poisonous, but in fact it
wasn’t! Then, I touched some kind of sea weed or maybe a jelly fish, I didn’t
know the name of that animal, but for sure it was like a jelly and transparant
when I touched it.
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| The Orange Starfish, uuuuhhh so cuteeeeee :-D |
Then, our time was up. We went back to the Banyumandi port.
At the boat, I had a nice chat with the French lady. Later I know her name, Frédérique. She is a Manager
of a Tourist agency in France and she is really lovely. We changed contact as
she planned to visit Yogyakarta, the city where I am currently staying at the
moment.
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| There is always an eminent feeling when I am on Bali island. The temples everywhere are very exotic yet always fascinating me.... |
When the boat arrived to the port, it was still around 14.00
WITA, so me and my travel mate explored a Hindu Temple near the port to take
photos and selfies there, hehe... Then, we had good bye with Frédérique. Really hope to
see you again, Frédérique! :-)
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| Me and Frédérique :-) |
The rest of the day we spent eating Ayam Betutu and taking
pictures in the flowery gardens of the homestay.
*Before Selfie is truly prohibited or officially classified in DSM V!
lol :-D
We slept really early this day. Not only because we were too
tired, but we should woke up on 02.00 WITA in the next morning and went to the
Gilimanuk harbor by 03.00 WITA. Big thanks to Pak Adi for dropping us to the
harbor, with three of us on one motorcycle! It was just like a Too Fast Too
Furious scene!
We chased the 04.00 WITA ship that drove us across the Bali
strait to the Gilimanuk harbor. When we arrived there, it was still 04.30 WIB
because of the different time zone, so we still have less than 2 hours fro our
train schedule. We had breakfast of Padang food, really a big breakfast for a
long journey.
Then our light trip was closed as the train departed on
06.20 WIB from Banyuwangi train station, accompanied by the Raung Mountain
which is very beautiful. Fortunately, I’ve been there, so I did know how I
really miss that mountain with the story behind of it. Bye Menjangan Island,
you are such a little paradise I found in the Island of Gods.
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| Mt. Raung, Banyuwangi, East Java. I've been there! :-D |
So, how’s my
judgement to this little tiny wini bitty Menjangan Island?
It was so nice to see beautiful corals and colorful fishes
here with a light trip, snorkeling from one spot to another sport within only
one day trip. The pluses I’ve mentioned are also including for you who like a peace
and quite island for your vacation. It is the perfect choice. I did mention for
you who have limited time for snorkeling, this island can be explored within 1
day trip, didn’t I? J
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| Resorts with beach view near Banyumandi Port. Yes, Menjangan Island is in front of you! Won't regret to stay there even for one night! |
Pssst, there is also a Warung Ayam Betutu near the
Banyuedang crossroad, named “Family” (ummm, actually it was around 500 m by
motorcycle). Ayam Betutu is a traditional chicken food steamed or fried with
spicy Balinese sauce, and it is soooooo delicious! The chefs are a spouse, and
they are Javanese, but cooked like the Balinese, what a superb!
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| Delicious Ayam Betutu. Jangan sampe nanti kalau hamil ngidam ini, ajegileee bakal serepot apa mesti kesini segala :'D haha |
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| May you want delivery order? Hehehe... |
But, Menjangan Island is rather difficult to be reached by
public transportations. As you may have read on how I got there, it is so
difficult to reach on the midnight, so it’s much better to arrive there on
midday. For you who like bars, it is only a quite village and I’ve seen only 1
warung with Bintang Beer banner on it, but unfortunately it was closed during
my days there.
So, overall my rating is *** (Three from Five Stars). I was
quite satisfied, maybe I should spend more days to explore more of the islands,
until I see the underwater temple. It is more beautiful rather than Karimun
Jawa Islands for the corals and fishes though. It is really a little paradise on the Island of Gods.
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| See the white beach and turqoise-blue water? Ooohh, can't resist this little paradise on the Island of Gods! |
See you on my next Travel Story of Rirry #TraveRy! :-)
#MenjanganIsland #Bali #Indonesia #exploreindonesia
#thebeautyofindonesia
#snorkeling #diving #Travelling #Traveller #TravelStory
#Review #TravelAssistance
Note:
The pictures were taken without any filters, by NIKON D5100 SLR
(Thank you my Travel Mate for taking me such beautiful pictures during the trip :-) )
and my own lovely pink Casio Exilim Digital Camera
(yang selalu setia menemani perjalanan travelling-ku meski resolusinya pas2an hehe :-D)
Note:
The pictures were taken without any filters, by NIKON D5100 SLR
(Thank you my Travel Mate for taking me such beautiful pictures during the trip :-) )
and my own lovely pink Casio Exilim Digital Camera
(yang selalu setia menemani perjalanan travelling-ku meski resolusinya pas2an hehe :-D)
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| Follow me "The Pink Traveller" on www.pinkrirry.blogspot,com Facebok Hapsari Sulistyaningrum Instagram/Twitter @RirryHapsari |
If you want to go to Menjangan Island and you need an
assistance, kindly contact me. I would be very happy to be your Travel
Assistant. With the experienced local tour guide and excellent services, all of
your trip will be packaged well without you need to think the nitty gritty of
the trip :-)
“What does it like to be a
traveller
if you can’t bring others to the pleasure
places you want to show ‘em?”
Ways to contact for Travel Assistance to
Menjangan Island, Bali, Indonesia:
Facebook / LinkedIn : Hapsari
Sulistyaningrum
Instagram / Twitter : @RirryHapsari
Whatsapp : +6281325261202
E-mail : hapsari.sulis@gmail.com
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