Banyuwangi

Banyuwangi is a regency in East Java. Its capital city is at the eastern tip of Java Island in Indonesia.

Understand
Banyuwangi is at the easternmost tip of Java, and is best known for its ferry connection at Ketapang to Gilimanuk in Bali, which makes it a gateway for locals (or tourists) traveling by car to Bali from any of Java’s major cities (such as Jakarta). It can also serve as a rest area for drivers, tourists, or locals, heading to Bali by land. This area has a lot more to offer though and it is becoming better known as a visitor destination in its own right. Banyuwangi is also the gateway to some stunning volcanic scenery on the Ijen Plateau as well as the main access point for the Baluran National Park, world renowned surfing at G-Land (Grajagan), and the remote Alas Purwo National Park.

By train
There are several daily trains from Surabaya and Malang run by the national operator Kereta Api, taking six hours, plus one daily train from Yogyakarta taking 13 hours. These trains run to, which is the station for ferries to Bali; the harbour is just 200 m away. Until 2020 this station was known as Banyuwangi Baru and may still appear as that on old signage and timetables, but it's 10 km north of Banyuwangi town centre.

If Banyuwangi is where you want to be, get off at station (previously called Karangasem) which is on the west edge of town, 3 km from the centre.

By boat
Ferries run 24 hours a day from Gilimanuk in Bali to Ketapang every 30 min. The journey takes about 45 minutes, although loading and unloading can take much longer. Price is Rp 7500 for foot passengers, but this credit must be loaded onto a smartcard in order to pass the turnstile. Buy the smartcard at a desk before the main ticket window. Multiple passengers may use the same smartcard, so try to find other tourists to pool the cost. Then, at the main ticket window, load onto it the number of entries required. The ferry operator is ASDP,.

The ticket can be bought via Ferizy's website or on the spot.

From Ketapang, blue bemos are available 09:00 to 15:00. Prices to downtown area or nearby are Rp 5,000 - 10,000 per person, but they will ask for 2 or 3 times that, the price will go down as you walk away. Another option is to take a metered taxi. The company Bosowa Taxi (dark blue looking taxis) operates the area, and if you don't see one nearby, you can call one at. Price to downtown Banyuwangi is around Rp. 51,000 (Aug 2015). Watch the meter as you arrive at your destination as the driver may switch it off the second you arrive



By car
From Denpasar to Banyuwangi (via Gilimanuk) takes 4 hours due to traffic. The route is via the main highway, but it is only two lane and is full of trucks and buses trying to overtake each other. From Jakarta, it is a 15-hour drive; from Ngawi, it is a 6-hour drive via the toll road "tol Ngawi-Surabaya", 8-10 hour drive on non-toll roads.

Get around
The main bus station in Banyuwangi is at Ketapang ferry terminal. From there, regular yellow coloured bemos and shuttle buses run into the capital city (Sri Tanjung bus terminal/Brawijaya bus terminal), and elsewhere in the vicinity. Becaks (horse-cart/pedicabs) are widely available in town. Do not accept the first price the driver tells you.

Most surfers heading for G-Land are doing so from Bali, and transportation to the camps is part of their surf package. You can however reach G-Land independently with a bus from Sri Tanjung terminal to Benculuk (about 1 hour), where you change and catch another bus to Grajagan (about 30 minutes).

You can hire private jeeps with a driver in Banyuwangi. Vital for independent trips up to the Ijen Crater or for exploring the remote parts of the south eastern coastal National parks.

Alas Purwo National Park
This is one of the more remote and least populated parks areas of Java, and one which is relatively under-visited due to both the difficulties of getting there and the lack of developed accommodation options. It is also an area of great mystical significance to the Javanese - local legend has it that this was the first area of the whole world to emerge from the ocean.

The park is largely flat with highest peak only 320 m and covers some 43,000 hectares. There are some beautiful, deserted beaches here as well as large swatches of lowland tropical forest. The world famous G-land surf camp is on the park borders.

The key access point to the park is the village of Triangulasi which is about 80 km south east of Banyuwangi. Before visiting you should make contact with the national park office in Banyuwangi at Alas Purwo National Park Head Office, Jl Brawijaya No. 20,. There is some very basic self-catering hut accommodation at Triangulasi, as well as a camping ground and the park office will be able to advise you on this.

Mammals to be seen inside the park include banteng (the buffalo of Java), asiatic wild dog, leopard cat, muntjac deer and ebony leaf monkey. The park's western beaches are noted turtle hatching areas with olive ridley, hawksbill, green and leatherback turtles all occurring.



The Ijen Plateau
Near Banyuwangi and Bondowoso, this is a spectacular area of volcanic activity. The Ijen Plateau is the centre point of the large mountain range west of Banyuwangi and abuts the Baluran National Park to the north.

The Ijen Crater (Kawah Ijen) can be approached from Bondowoso in the west or Banyuwangi in the east. Both come together at the parking, from where you can go up to the crater. Neither road is good, but the Bondowoso route is easier. The trip can be done during the day or night (departing around 01:00). The latter is the popular choice as that's the only time the "blue fire" can be seen.

From Bondowoso you are best off finding a guide with a car (preferably a 4x4) who will drive you through the village of Wonosari and eastwards up a very basic potholed road which winds its way up the mountain. You will pass through the native casuarina forest and extensive coffee plantations before the road end at the village of Jampit where there is some shelter available (Pos Paltuding). If you are travelling late in the day, you could actually bed down with a sleeping bag or camp here as you could in the disused vulcanology station huts slightly further up the mountain.

From Banyuwangi to the parking lot takes about 1,5 hours by car. Most tourists will have a tour that includes transport on a 4x4, but the road is made of asphalt, and any car in good shape will be able to make it to the parking lot. However the road is narrow, curvy, and very steep in some parts, and driving at night can be dangerous.

At 2:00, the trailhead to the crater opens and entry fees are collected. The hike takes about 90 minutes and gains about 500 meters. The trail is wide and easy to follow, but is sandy and slippery in places. The colour of the water in the lake is scarcely believable, being an extraordinary vivid aqua blue. Evidence of volcanic activity is everywhere with steaming water and brilliant yellow crystalline sulfur deposits. You will see many workers trudging up and down the mountain carrying sacks of sulfur, sacrificing their long-term health for about Rp1000 per kg of ore. At night, when the proper conditions are met, you may see the famous "blue fire" (ignited sulphuric gas) down near the lake.

From the rim, the hike into the crater and down to the lake is an additional 45 minutes. The trail becomes a rocky, steep, single-person trail, where only a few meters have a handrail. Have your gas mask accessible, as the fumes get thicker as you go down. Once at the bottom, the exposure to white smoke coming out of the sulfur pipes can be irritating to the eyes and it's difficult to breathe without a gas mask. You can see the mining operation at work, and if you made it to the bottom before first light, you can see the dazzling blue flames up close, between the plumes of noxious volcanic steam.

Safety is not up to western standards, so enter the crater at your own risk. Some people decide to not go down to the lake. Officially, access to the crater is restricted, and signs warn you not to enter. In practice, this is only enforced when volcanic activity is high, and guides explain this as a way for local government to avoid liability.

At night, the otherwise obvious path can be challenging, so you may want a guide. It can be as cold as 5° C at the top. Proper hiking gear is useful: at minimum you need sturdy sports shoes, a flashlight, and a layer warmer than a t-shirt.

Tours to Kawah Ijen vary in price depending on the travel agency/hotel where it is booked, but all of them offer the same services, which are broken down as follows:
 * Transport to/from Ijen: drivers will wait at the parking lot while tourists hike. Around Rp200,000 per person.
 * Entry fee: Rp100,000-150,000 (Sunday) per foreign person.
 * Guide: Rp150,000-250,000 per group.
 * Gas masks: professional "proper" masks are available for Rp50,000 each. They can be rented in the caldera, next to the trail that goes down to the bottom.
 * Snacks and water: extra.

Some of the places that offer this and other tours are:
 * Osing Vacation: Rp350,000-750,000 per person (July 2021).(+6285204932963)
 * Kampung Osing Inn (+6287852738711): Rp350,000-400,000 per person (August 2015).
 * Berlin Barat Hotel: Rp750,000 per person (August 2015).
 * Hotel Blanbangan: Rp700,000-1,200,000 per person (August 2015).

Discounts for the transport part are offered to groups of people that get into the same car.

Many other post-caldera cones and craters are within the caldera or along its rim. The largest concentration of post-caldera cones forms an E-W-trending zone across the southern side of the caldera. Coffee plantations cover much of the Ijen caldera floor, and tourists are drawn to its waterfalls, hot springs, and dramatic volcanic scenery.

Gandrung Dance
This is a highly-regarded art form in Banyuwangi, and one of the nicknames for the capital city is Gandrung. In Javanese, gandrung means hopelessly in love. The love in this case is directed to Dewi Sri, the goddess of rice. The performance is an homage to Dewi Sri in gratitude for the rice harvest. The performance is a very special cultural event with unique orchestration. Check at the Tourist Information Centre for scheduled performances.

Do

 * Surf at G-Land (Grajagan Beach) about 60 km south of Banyuwangi. One of the world's most consistent left-hand reefbreaks, Grajagan was first surfed in 1972. A few years later the Australian Boyum brothers built a rickety bamboo treehouse on the Plengkung Beach bordering the remote Alas Purwo National Park on Java's south-east tip and the G-Land surf camp concept was born. These days there are several basic surfcamps between the wild jungle and kilometre-long coral reef. Permission to stay at G-Land must be obtained from the park rangers in advance, which is handled by the surf camp management. The camps offer all inclusive surf packages from 3 days and upwards, details on the following websites:


 * Surf at Red Island Beach.
 * Bangsring Underwater. A semi-artificial snorkelling site filled with coral just north of Banyuwangi. The fish-life is incredibly dense and the entry price is only 5000 rupiah.



Eat
Street stall and simple warung food is the go in Banyuwangi and you will find lots of it. At night, many warungs can be found on the north-west side of Taman Blambangan park and also at the smaller park nearby, next to the Masjid Agung Baiturrahman mosque.

Drink
Try local kopi ijen at a local cafe.

Sleep
There is a lot of fairly identical budget accommodation in Banyuwangi and there are often several well-meaning and well-mannered touts at the Ketapang ferry terminal eager to take you to their option. The small extra payment for the tout might be worth it if you're tired and just want accommodation.

Connect
The dialing code for Banyuwangi is 0333.

Go next

 * Bali &mdash; with its famous beaches and Hindu temples.
 * Baluran National Park &mdash; is a grassland, forest and coastal park with lovely, deserted beaches.
 * Probolinggo &mdash; on the route to Mount Bromo.
 * Sukamade &mdash; turtle conservation beach.