Reply With QuoteThanks for sharing your experience at Alas Purwo. G-Land is one destination in my bucket list; one of my sons loves surfing and I promised him we would visit the place some day.
How big was the attendance at the surfer camps?
Alas Purwo National Park - the south-east tip of Java
Since I’m in the mood for travelogues I’ll post a slightly amended version of a note I sent to a member who asked about cycling into Alas Purwo. It doesn’t cover all the attractions of the National Park but internet searches will add more info eg on wildlife spotting, surfing etc. I’d welcome others adding to this thread.
I live near a small town which is on the road to Alas Purwo if you approach from Banyuwangi and close to that road in if you approach from the west ie via Jember>Genteng. I've been all the way into Alas Purwo once (ie to Pantai Plengkung) and most of the way a couple more times.
The last place with a decent hotel is Jajag; the Baru Indah has commercial traveller type rooms as well as larger half cottages which are quite acceptable - dunno how much a night. Jajag also has the last BCA branch - there's a BRI in Purwoharjo and ATMs for the majors there too - not much after that.
From Jajag/Purwoharjo you'll head to Tegal Dlimo then Kalipahit. Roads this far are bitumen and reasonable although badly potholed and lumpy in places. A few ks after Kalipahit you enter the National Park which is initially planted forestry - old mahogany and teak and very pleasant, shady and quiet compared to the usual scene in Java.
Once you enter the park there is next to nothing in the way of infrastructure and nothing along the road other than two forestry posts at which you are required to report and pay a small fee. At each some basics are available - drinks and nasi goreng etc. The first is maybe 8ks in and the second another 8 more. From the entrance to the park to the second forestry post the road is dirt once was paved and now in places has a cobbled effect from the rocks used as road base being exposed. Motor bikes use the self made track along the edge most of the time. After rain there can be large puddles in the depressions but I've never seen water right across the road nor bogs prior to the second forestry post. After that post is a completely different story.
On push bikes you're likely to see peacocks, deer and pigs in the forestry and in fact I’ve seen them from the car. There's a Hindu pura some distance in just before the turn off to Pantai Triangulasi - this beach is less than 1k off the main road. There is a guest house of some kind at PT but who for and who runs it I don't know. Otherwise it's just a long exposed ocean beach with a couple of buildings - maybe toilet? - no warung. Nice and shady in the parking/picnic area. From PT it's only a few ks to the second forestry post which is next to the beach. As above there is a warung, toilets here. There also walks to a couple of caves - less than 1k from memory of the signs - I've not been to them. The planted forestry extends to roughly here.
From this point the road get interesting. I've asked plenty of people at different times "How's the road in?" and never had an answer other than "Terrible". The one time I went all the way to Pantai Plengkung where the surfer "hotels" are we hired the feller who hangs out as post 2 with his wrecked Kijang. For 120k he'll take you in and hang around until you're ready to come home. The road pretty much shadows the beach and in the wet must be almost impassable. We went when there's had been bugger all rain for a long time and there were still bogs 20 metres long – wet sandy mud. We had to walk the last 1 k as he couldn't get through any further. I think it's 11ks from post 2 to the hotels and it's crook all the way - in my experience. The hotels use jacked up 4wd mini buses to get the punters in and out.
The last few ks before post 2 and from post 2 to the hotels is dry "jungle" - palms, liana type cane some taller trees etc. Where there's fresh water near the beach (at post 2 for example) you'll likely see some giant iguanas - not komodo but pretty impressive. Lots of pigs in this area also.
The hotels are generally bungalows (some AC, some fan) with a central restaurant/bar area. I've not been into any but the most recommended is Bobby's Camp and the least Joko's. They're not cheap - have a look at Bobby's website - I met the American chap who works there as a surf photographer the other day - nice feller.
No warungs, no hawkers but the beach is really beautiful - still clear water with the reef and surf break about 1/4 - 1/2 k out. My plan is to get in there somehow and walk further around the coast and do a bit of LBG fishing for giant trevally - there's an OZ/American who runs jungle fishing trips there for one or two guests only a time - his website makes it look great but I'm sure it's very expensive. Being so close I just need to work out how to do it independently.
The good news for cyclists - no challenging hills at all and maybe the last relatively untouched, peaceful, natural and beautiful part of East Java. The difficulties - a long ride on poor roads with no infrastructure and only expensive accommodation at the end of the road.
Distances above are approximate and from memory and could be a bit out. I know the first time I drove (in a rental) from here to post 2 it took three hours, the second a little less because I was driving my own, more robust vehicle. Anyway, have a look at maps and google earth.
Last edited by john madden; 01-09-12 at 14:00.
That thing of Joy's is a beauty forever.
... with apologies to John Keats
Thanks for sharing your experience at Alas Purwo. G-Land is one destination in my bucket list; one of my sons loves surfing and I promised him we would visit the place some day.
How big was the attendance at the surfer camps?
"Science is the philosophy of discovery. Intelligent design is a philosophy of ignorance"
The day I was there was "in-season" and there were scores of people on the beach, in the water etc. A good source of information is the Bobby's Camp website which has "daily" updates often including the number of guests at their hotel. Here http://grajagan.com/
That thing of Joy's is a beauty forever.
... with apologies to John Keats
Im a surfer been to most major surfing areas in Indonesia but never G land, i tend to stay away from those kind of places these days, accommodation/packages just geared towards surfers, just don't like the whole scene and the type of surfers it attracts, have many friends that go there quite regularly though.
@Redsnapr i think theres three or four camps, Bobbys, G land surf camp and Joyos (possibly one more now?) i think there only open from about late March to early Nov, with june, july, August being peak season and generally when indonesia gets its biggest swells, not sure how many people each camp holds i think about 30+ if you were ever going to take your son early season would be the go, SE trade winds not as strong, not as many surfers and more tame size waves.
@John I believe you can also get to the other side of the peninsula on tracks, surfers go there when theres a big swell and light or west winds, expect it would be a mission though.
Well, they are not allowed in the area since Alas Purwo is NOT A TOURIST AREA. It's a National Park and conservation area.No warungs, no hawkers but the beach is really beautiful - still clear water with the reef and surf break about 1/4 - 1/2 k out.
Just a tip. If you have limited budget, you should consider camping instead of renting a room in Joyo's or Bobby's.
TBH, there are some action of the People of Banyuwangi where they try to push the Perhutani and Government to close down the facilities since they are basically against the law. I don't know exactly what happened and how did the hotels exists. We are trying as hard as we can to not let people change G-Land or Plengkung into somewhat like Nusa Dua, Sanur or Kuta.
It's a lot easier to go there now. Back then you need to ask for permition from local Government to get access to the area. Well, I guess money talks, right?
There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact.
Yeah money talks for sure.
I think the first camp actually started in some form something like 30 years ago, I remember reading the story of how some surfers spotted the g land line up from the airplane flight and rented a boat ride from bali, took lots of food etc and got dropped off with a pick up time a week or so latter, off course they kept going back and word spread and they built makeshift tree houses to stay in, elevated mostly because of the fear of tigers that we're said to roam the forest, then over time the buildings evolved and became a commercial operation, beleive it was the first commerical kind of remote surf camp in the world.
The area also got hit in about the early 90,s by a small tsunami even a few pro surfers were there, no one was badly hurt, just freaked out from getting hit by a tsunami in the dark of night and washed into the jungle.
BTW one of the western operators of one of the g land camps, tried to open a surf camp on Panatian island just off the coast of west java and part f another national park, it was half built and almost up and running, but most of the surfing community was against it and somehow stopped it from happening, would've been almost ten years go now.
Glad tho hear that info about the surfing community.
I guess it will take us, a local NGO, a lot of effort before we can totally make our goal to clean up the beach from commercial operation.
It was okay for us to let them build the camp for the same reason you've described. But to be somewhat a commercial camp, well, who will guarantee that it don't do any harm to the ecosystem?
By the way, I was there when the tsunami hits too.
There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact.
Sustainable eco tourism. Plenty of successful examples in other parts of the world where governments have contracted out with private hotel and tour operators portions of natural reserves. Revenue from those enterprises help maintain the parks.Originally Posted by AriePutranto
"Science is the philosophy of discovery. Intelligent design is a philosophy of ignorance"
We're talking about Indonesia here, unfortunately, where at the moment money is the most important thing if not the only matter.
That's what us, me and a few friends concern the most. We're trying to make 'Sustainable Eco Tourism' works out in this country.
There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact.
Arie I understand your concerns about the camps but Im certain it would be close to impossible to have the camps closed down I'm sure the people behind them would be extremely well connected and have big dollars behind them.
Gland is also one of the best waves in the world, if the camps did close down a commercial charter boat industry would be created focusing on the area which then brings damage to the reef through anchoring an enviornmental issue.
From what I've seen the camps have minimal impact and the chances of gland turning into another Kuta or Sanur are even slimmer than getting the camps shut down, the camps themselves would be totally against more development as they don't want to share the pie plus the jungle and setting is also one of the biggest draw cards to gland second only to the wave itself.
Generally speaking surfers are very environmental minded I even recall an old surfing video of gland when they had a pro contest there in the 90's and it had one section that was documentary style explain how important the environment of the area was and explaining and showing the different life that lives on the reef.
My advice if you really have concerns for the area would be more to focus your energy on putting pressure on the camps through goverment and contact with camps to reduce there impact to ensure minimal damage of the area, such as waste management ensure fuel is stored without spillage etc and to control and restrict further development.
My own personal guess on the future of gland is that the camps will improve in quality and will turn more Eco friendly mostly due to that is what many guest would expect and demand in such a location but also because fuel for generators is the main cost in such an operation not only to buy but transport in, so would expect a change over to solar as solar tech increases and cost reduce.
Im also certain in next few years we will see a return of a proffesional surfing contest being run at gland.
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