Kawah Ijen and Banyuwangi Region

The Ijen volcano complex is a group of stratovolcanoes in the Banyuwangi Regency of East Java, Indonesia. It is inside a larger caldera Ijen, which is about 20 kilometers wide.

Kawah Ijen (Blue Fire) Banyuwangi

Kawah Ijen is one of the most active volcano in Indonesia and the world. The crater is located at 2.443m high and 200m deep. The last erption was on October 2015. The Stratovolcano is closed time by time for the tourist and the miner because of the emanation of the toxic gas. After 1.5 hour of walk, you’ll reach the peak of the volcano and you can see the magnificent acid lake in turquoise and the active crater. Hundreds of miners extract the sulfur and take it from the top to the parking site on their shoulder. Kawah Ijen has a unique phenomenon called the “Blue Fire”. It’s a phenomenon where a blue fire came out in the crater in the middle of the night. You can only find such a phenomenon in Ijen and Iceland only. If you’re interested on watching the blue fire, you have to go at 01.00 am from the hotel and arrive approximately at 05.00 am.

To get to Kawah Ijen, you could pass by Banyuwagi where you can find multiples choices of hotel. You can also choose to pass by Bondowoso and stay at a very simple guest house in an Arabica coffee plantation (very basic guest house) which closer to the volcano.

The hiking to Ijen take a distance of 3 km, depart from 1800m altitude and arrive on the peak at 2443m altitude (or 600m of height difference). It’s a beautiful walk through the nature with a chance of meeting a Macaque and beautiful birds.  You will take the same path as the miner. After 1,5 hour of walk, you will reach the peak.

Pulau Merah Beach, Banyuwangi

We call it « Pulau merah » which means red island. It’s an isle in front of a white sand beach at 60 km from Banyuwangi. The beach is known for surfing, snorkeling, and fishing with cane. The original name of this beach is “Ringin Pitu” or “7 Banyan”. You could soak up in the water or walking around the red island and take picture during the low tide.

Teluk Hijau “Green Bay”

Green Bay is located ebout 3-4 hours from Banyuwangi. You’ll pass the same route to Meru Betiri National Park where you can see turtles lay eggs. The beach is located in a protected tropical forest. The beach is nominated as one of the most beautiful beach in Java with less tourist. You can have a picnic and enjoy the day on the beach.

Sukamade National Park

Sukamade is a National Park for the conservation of turtles. Every day, turtles will accost from 20.00-24.00. Each turtle could lay up to 150 eggs. Sukamade is the only place in Java where you could see turtle in the beach. It means that, it’s the only place where the turtles feel the calmest! After dinner, the guide will accompany you to see the turtles. He will make sure that you don’t scare the turtle. You cannot make any sound or turn on any source of light. The best season to see the turtles is between November – March, but between March – October, you might see green turtles accost.

Kalibaru

Kalibaru is a small city located 1.5 hour from Banyuwangi. The city is known for the center of Coffee and Cacao plantation since the Dutch colonialization. The Dutch leaves the farms, the train station, and other infrastructures of train that go from Banyuwangi – Surabaya to transport the local agriculture production. The city has the ideal temperature of living and for the plantation. You could stop by Kalibaru from Bromo before continue to Ijen. You could visit the botanic garden of diverse tropical plants and discover the life of the Javanese.

Kaliklatak

After 30 minutes of transfer, you will arrive in one farm of various tropical plant in Kaliklatak. Kaliklatak is an ancient dutch farm that has been nationalized after the world war and now run by the local. They plant coffee, cacao, and rubber. You could also visit a fabrication of rubber. They can serve you lunch after the visit of the farm.

Tabuhan Island

Tabuhan island located about 20 km from Banyuwangi. You could take a boat from port Bangsiring to go to the island to snorkel or diving. The island is inhabited with white sand beach. It’s a good combination between the hiking activity in Bromo before continue to Ijen.

Plengkung Beach, Banyuwangi

Plengkung Beach is one of the best beach in the world to surf. For the professional surfer, Plengkung beach’s wave is even better than Hawaii’s. The wave can reach 4m tall. The best time to visit is between May – October. Surfer tourist from Bali come to Plengkung to verify their league. You can find many cottages if you want to stay more than a day.