Karimunjawa
Java'S Own Island Escape Twenty Seven Islands In The Java Sea Reached By A Long Ferry From Jepara, And Visibly Under The Strain Of Being The Only One · Karimunjawa, Central Java
Java has a hundred and fifty million people and ONE ACCESSIBLE ISLAND ESCAPE, and this is it: twenty-seven islands in the Java Sea, white sand, mangrove, reef and clear water, REACHED BY A FERRY OF SEVERAL HOURS FROM JEPARA or a short flight. It was a pirate refuge and is now a marine park. IT IS ALSO VISIBLY UNDER STRAIN, and the row is not going to pretend otherwise. RAPID AND LARGELY UNPLANNED DEVELOPMENT has outrun the island's water and power, and the CAPTIVE SHARK ENCLOSURES marketed as sanctuaries - pens where visitors wade in with blacktips - HAVE DRAWN SUSTAINED AND JUSTIFIED CRITICISM. The reefs away from the main island are still good. Go for those, go outside the Javanese holidays, and decline the shark pen. The slow ferry eats a day at each end and the rough season suspends it altogether, which is worth knowing before you book a flight out of Java for the evening you are meant to be back. Build the spare days.
Karimunjawa Islands, Jepara, Central Java, Karimunjawa, Central Java, Indonesia
REACHED FROM JEPARA by ferry - a SLOW SERVICE OF SEVERAL HOURS or a faster one, both on LIMITED SCHEDULES THAT THIN OUT OF SEASON - or by short flight from Semarang. CROSSINGS ARE CANCELLED IN ROUGH WEATHER, and the JAVA SEA IS ROUGHEST ROUGHLY DECEMBER TO FEBRUARY, when services are frequently suspended for days and some accommodation closes. BUILD IN SPARE DAYS. ISLAND-HOPPING AND SNORKEL TRIPS are booked on the main island the day before and run as group boats. A MARINE PARK FEE APPLIES. WATER AND ELECTRICITY ARE CONSTRAINED and outages are normal. IT FILLS COMPLETELY during Javanese school holidays and long weekends and is quiet otherwise. Bring cash; banking is limited.