Friday, December 27, 2013

Swimming with Sharks in Karimunjawa of Indonesia

Wahh.. kemain tajuk blogpost kali ini. hehe.

The trip to Karimunjawa was planned for almost a year by my dear friend, Helga whom I met during a blogging contest back in 2011. He was a mere teenager back then, now a strapping young lad with a career.

I booked an AirAsia plane ticket to Solo where I'll brave the journey alone up to Semarang which is around 5 hours away by public bus. If I took the executive bus, the ride would've taken me 4 hours at least. It was initially planned that I'd meet up with Helga and his friends of four in Semarang where we'll head to Jepara together.

Below was the itinerary for 4 days and 3 night in Karimunjawa with the costs incurred throughout the trip.
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Friday 1 Nov 2013
06.00 - 07.00 From Terboyo to Jepara via  bis ekonomi (13k)
07.00 - 13.00 Arrived at Jepara by using bentor (10k) to the port to get  lunch (20k)
14.00 - 16.00 From Jepara to KarimunJawa using Kapal Ekspress Cantika 89 (110k)

It was a cushioned seated express boat with a TV in it. Very comfortable for our two hours boat ride.
16.00 - 17.00 Arrived at homestay in Karjau (70k/2 orang)



Saturday 2 Nov 2013
07.00 -08.00 Breakfast is prepared at the homestay for 15k
08.00 Paid for a full day tour with boat (400k), guide (100k), snorkeling stuff (25k), Water camera (200k), fuel (70k)
The boat was large enough to fit in around 15 people (as per my calculation) but we get to enjoy it with only 6 poeple. Haha! 
The boat had two guys handling it. One was the guide (mas Kuntet) and the other the driver. Each of us was handed a life vest and a snorkeling set.

08.00 - 13.00 Swim with sharks (25k), Snorkeling (1) P. Menjangan Kecil  

As glamorous as it may sound that we were actually going to swim with sharks, the truth was far from that! Haha! It was actually a shark sanctuary with very clear pools that allowed anyone who pays to get in and swim around with sharks.

We were nervous at first when the sharks came, but the excitement won us over. LOL
Don't worry, the sharks are pretty tamed!
After goofing around with sharks, we then headed to a spot to start snorkeling. The guide was very clever to find spots where there were nobody around. We practically had the spot exclusively all by ourselves! Spendid! And this is where I took this jaw breaking picture. Ehem!

I know. I'm bragging with this picture. haha
In truth, Mas Kuntet had to push me underwater and told me to grasp a spot on the choral reef so that he can take this picture. He succeeded along with all my travel buddies. We were too happy to complain!

13.00 - 14.00 Break and have barbecue seafood at Cemara Kecil Island (15k)

Later, after tiring ourselves with snorkeling, we were brought to a secluded island to eat seafood prepared by Mas Kuntet and his boat driver. All we did was clear the table, explore the island and play in the sand!

Our seafood galore lunch! 
And fun in the sand!
Picture taken after nature calls. Eh
It was odd that there were no toilets on the small island. So when we had to go... we just go into the water. it was extremely funny to see so many people doing so! Hahaha! I could tell by watching them sitting still in the water! :P

14.00 - 17.00 Snorkeling (2) Cemara Besar, Gosongan, and then at Pantai Tanjung Gelam for Sunset

More snorkeling at another part of Karimunjawa. After that we headed to Pantau Tanjung Gelam to eat some hot "pisang goreng" and enjoy the beautiful sunset there. :)

I wish I can watch this sunset everyday. haha! *wishful thinking*
18.00 Back to homestay 

Sunday 3 Nov 2013
07.00 - 08.00 Breakfast again (15k)
08.30 - 16.00 Rent a motorbike (70k/12 hours) Trekking Mangrove, Pantai Legon Lele, Pantai Nirwana

With one member going back that afternoon, we proceeded in renting a day of motorbiking to do some trekking which was located some 2 hours away. Lumayan jauh!!

Tracking Mangrove... and three motorcycles to get there.
The view however was ah-mazinggggggg!! We passed a lot of countryside cottages, fields and village folks doing their daily routines. We even came across some lizards on the way. Very large lizards. -__-

After the mangrove, we had to send Winny to catch her afternoon boat back to the main island while the remaining five continues with lunch.

17.00 Sunset di Dermaga Barat Karjaw

The remaining four enjoying coconut drinks at the port while waiting for the sun to go down.
It was our last night in Karimunjawa and we decided to not go far with our rented motorbikes. We went to view the sunset at nearest port called Dermaga Barat and it was very near to our homestay.
Our last sunset in Karimunjawa. 
Monday 4 Nov 2013
07.00 - 08.00 Breakfast again (15k)
09.00 - 12.00 rent a motorbike  (70k/12 hours) Tanjung trekking at Batu Lawang (10k)
12.00 - 13.00 Lunch and packing
13.00 - 15.00 From KJ - Jepara via  Kapal Ekspress Bahari(110k)
16.00 To Terminal Terboyo Semarang via bus (25k)

*this itinerary is saved for another entry*

Anyhow... the total costs for 6 people = 5218k / 6 people = IDR 870k

And hell ya, the trip is totally worth it! Next year there'll be another trip as a group (hopefully with the same people but Helga do tend to bring different sets of friends. Haha)

So happy traveling! Thus ends my post!

Note :
- CP for boat tickets, daily tours and homestay - Mas Kuntet (081225295961)



6 comments:

Alid Abdul said... [Reply]

jeles, oke itu aja komentarnya haha

Rei said... [Reply]

best gila dapat berenang-renangan dgn jaws

Jard The Great said... [Reply]

@ alid abdul... tell me what i dont know already! hahaha =P

@ rei... pergilah! murah ohh.. tak sampai Rm300 utk 3 malam. hehehe

Meidiana Kusuma said... [Reply]

jard :(( you travelled many places in Indonesia than I did :)) :))

well perhaps next year I'll travel to this islands *nice post jard*

murah said... [Reply]

wih manteb banget, jdi pengen ke karimun jawa

Anonymous said... [Reply]

rindu ingin jalan sama lagi jard.. nak bareng lagi