Actually, the Thousand Islands in Indonesia, north of Jakarta, were only our second choice. The islands aren’t particularly pretty, have a garbage problem, and there’s nothing special there. At least, that’s what other people told us (who probably have never been there themselves).
Why on earth would you bother flying to Jakarta (that alone is a bit confusing), fighting your way through the unbearable traffic, and then end up spending hours on a boat? Well, as outsiders, we naturally asked ourselves the same question.
After all, the Karimunjawa Islands are much more beautiful, and the journey there is more relaxing. In the following lines, I’ll explain why a 3.5-day trip to Pramuka Island was one of our highlights.
- Facts about Jakarta
- Getting to the Thousand Islands
- Our Accommodation
- Snorkeling in the Thousand Islands
- A Restaurant in the Middle of the Water
- Far from Mass Tourism
- Palau Bira – Deserted and Lonely
- Unique Underwater World
- Thousand Islands – What an Adventure!
- General Information about the Thousand Islands
Facts about Jakarta
The experience began with landing in Jakarta. Jakarta, with almost 9.5 million inhabitants, is the largest (and probably also dirtiest and most chaotic) city in all of Southeast Asia. An incredible 30 million people live in the entire metropolitan area, making it the second-largest in the world! Only Tokyo is larger, with almost 38 million inhabitants. In Jakarta, approximately 15,000 people live per square kilometer – in Berlin, the number is less than 4,000.
These gigantic numbers, combined with the nonexistent public transport (which doesn’t operate on the streets), the resulting garbage problem (garbage trucks can’t transport the garbage efficiently because they spend most of their time stuck in traffic), and the less than considerate residents, result in enormous chaos. Welcome to Jakarta!
At the airport, we met up with my (Marco) friend Stefan, who landed shortly after us and wanted to accompany us for the next three weeks. Anyone who has ever been to the airport in Bali will be familiar with this huge, pushy crowd of “taxi” drivers who give you a warm welcome at the arrivals area. How nerve-wracking must arriving in Jakarta be then? I considered writing a sign saying “No, thank you” and hanging it around my neck. But you know what? It was quiet. Very quiet.
Several taxi companies are waiting in front of the arrivals terminal for customers. But they weren’t pushy, just very polite. As always, we opted for a Blue Bird taxi (don’t take anything else in Indonesia!) and drove a mere 22 kilometers into the city for just under €7, specifically to the hostel “The Packer Lodge,” which we found on Booking.com. The traffic was relatively smooth, and the hostel was the best we’ve ever stayed in. We were pleasantly surprised – Jakarta isn’t as bad as we thought.
Arriving at Thousand Islands
After a very short night, we took a taxi to the Marina Ancol harbor in the north of the city. From there, the speedboats head north. Vikan, the owner of our homestay, had advised us to take the speedboat.
An hour and 125,000 IDR (8.30€) later, we arrived on Pramuka Island. We were immediately struck by the crystal-clear turquoise water. We would have loved to jump into the cool water with all our belongings. We had to postpone that for a while, so we headed toward our accommodation instead.
Pramuka Island is primarily visited by local tourists; it’s cheaper and not advertised online as part of “all-inclusive” packages. This is also why this island is less developed than the typical tour islands. And that’s exactly what we were looking for.
On the way there, we were greeted by almost every resident. They literally turned around to look at us. Children giggled and hid from us, followed us, only to call out a shy “Hello Mister!” after us. A very strange feeling, I tell you. It’s great and something absolutely special not to be the millionth visitor of the day, to be greeted shyly and eyed curiously.
Still, you have to get used to those looks. At times, we felt like we were walking naked through Berlin. But the garbage didn’t go unnoticed either. The island isn’t literally drowning in garbage, but one woman who preferred throwing her garbage bag into the sea instead of the nearby trash can (!) showed us that the residents aren’t conscious of their garbage.
Our Accommodation
The homestay itself is really very simple. Bare walls, three mattresses on the floor, a water dispenser, an outhouse, and a shower head. That’s it. No sink, no table, no chair, no comfort. You really feel like you’ve stepped back in time, especially when you were just enjoying a completely different standard of living in Bali.
We explored the island on foot, and here, too, we were never left out of sight. The kids, in particular, greeted us with a “Hello!” and a shy smile. We quickly realized that our accommodation was furnished the way people live here.
In simple conditions, without any frills. We didn’t go to the islands to live like kings anyway. We came here because it’s so wonderfully untouristy, Backpacking Simon had really gotten us excited about the islands in one of his videos (click here to see the video), and because the snorkeling and diving here are particularly good. That was also the reason why we went to bed early – we wanted to be fit for the next day!
Snorkeling in the Thousand Islands
Nobody speaks English here, so organizing day trips wasn’t easy. The simple tip “Just walk past the harbor and hire a boat for €20 for the whole day” wasn’t so easy to follow. In the end, our landlady helped us organize it. Shortly afterward, we set off by boat to the first island with her guys, who were responsible for the rooms. We’ve never seen such absolutely amazing water in our lives. Either deep blue or soft turquoise-blue, but always so incredibly clear.
After just 30 minutes, we reach a very small island called Semak Dau. Unlike our “home island,” Pramuka, this little island has a real sandy beach. You can walk around the island in about 5 minutes—it’s that small. The sandy bottom slopes gently into the sea. Perfect for satisfying your craving for a cooling swim. There’s not much else to do on the island. Just be there and enjoy. Close your eyes and think about nothing…
After a while, we finally wanted to see the underwater world! We hopped back on the boat and sailed through the beautiful water again. After 30 minutes, we reached the reef of Palau Air, where we were sure to see a lot. Have I already mentioned how incredibly clear the water was? Yes? Then I’ll say it again, quite clearly, how incredibly magnificent the water is! From the boat, you could already see the corals in the depths. Welcome to Paradise!
Snorkeling on Nusa Lembongan, a sister island of Bali, was already pretty amazing, but this was truly in a different league. We had never seen such a lively and beautiful snorkeling spot before. The sheer number of colorful fish and gigantic coral fields left us speechless underwater. Unfortunately, you can never capture it as breathtakingly as it was in pictures, but it was true.
It was an underwater paradise! I don’t even know how to put this experience into words. What I can say is: Come here, hire a boat, put on your diving goggles, and marvel at this magnificent world while it’s still here!
A restaurant in the middle of the water
Although we could never get enough of this beauty, after a while we moved on. Driven by hunger, we headed for our next destination. After half an hour on the open sea, we reached the next island, an island with only one restaurant.
Even here on the island, we were real eye-catchers again. After dinner and countless photos with local children, the day slowly drew to a close. We took a ferry back to Pramuka Island. We thanked the boys for the amazing day and warned them about the next day trip – the next one wouldn’t be long in coming.
Far from mass tourism
After a surprisingly comfortable night and a delicious breakfast of cookies (we hadn’t had anything warm to eat yet; of course, we were looking in vain for a bakery or bread rolls here), we started planning the day with the boys. This time we wanted to go to islands in the north of the archipelago – it was supposed to be “especially” beautiful there. We were very excited about what awaited us. With snorkeling gear and a supply of cookies that would probably have lasted several weeks, we headed back to the boat. Our destination: Palau Bira – about 2 hours by boat from Pramuka.
After a few minutes, however, this pure anticipation was quelled by a violent swell. The small boat rocked menacingly from side to side. I felt like I was on one of those boats I used to make out of paper as a child and then “release into the wild” on a rushing river.
So now we were sitting in one of those boats. Bolle looked at me with wide eyes and simply said, “Hey, I definitely can’t last 2 hours. If it’s not over in 5 minutes, that’s it for me.” Haha, of course we’ll turn around and throw everything away.
Strong waves
No way! “Hang on, we’ve got life jackets with us if necessary,” was my immediate reply, accompanied by a mischievous laugh. She didn’t find it funny at all. I did. Luckily for her (and probably mine too), the situation improved somewhat after a few minutes.
From then on, we passed many islands in a somewhat relaxed manner. Unfortunately, we also passed countless small patches of garbage. And that makes you really sad and thoughtful. I don’t understand why the know-how for proper garbage disposal can’t be passed on to such countries. It’s probably a matter of money, as always, but garbage in the ocean should concern us all.
Palau Bira – deserted and lonely
Before I type myself into a rage again, let’s move on to the moment we reached Palau Bira. Palau Bira is relatively large; back then, there was a golf resort there that stretched across the entire island. It still is today, but the entire complex has been abandoned for years and is accordingly run down.
But that didn’t detract from the island’s beauty. It was so beautifully quiet there. We walked around the island and sat down by the water. After a while, no one was talking anymore. The three of us just sat by the water, looked out at the beautiful sea, and enjoyed the moment.
After a while, we walked back to the boat. Once there, we saw our boys fishing for hand-sized squid with a simple fishing line and hook. They were apparently delicious grilled. Unfortunately, we were able to taste them, but the boys later gave the squid to their friends.
We continued on to Palau Bira for snorkeling. Just 10 minutes from Bira Island, we stopped at a reef. This spot also looked very promising from the boat. And: It was absolutely amazing! It was just like the day before – only much bigger. The coral reef stretched (probably) completely around the small island next door. It was so unimaginably large and dropped steeply to the seabed. Absolutely amazing, I tell you.
Unique underwater world
We hope this little piece of earth won’t be overrun by reckless hordes of tourists. I also tried to explain to the guys on the boat what a wonderful treasure they have on their doorstep. Let’s hope for the best! Unfortunately, our underwater camera completely failed. 95% of all shots were completely out of focus. We hope the few “good” pictures show you some of the beauty.
Incidentally, this is also where I saw my first clownfish (aka. Nemo fish) in the wild! I discovered it by chance in a sea anemone. There’s a symbiotic relationship between the two. The sea anemone’s poisonous stinging cells keep the clownfish’s predators at bay, thus providing it with a safe hiding place. In return, the clownfish keeps its tentacles clean and fans fresh seawater to the plant, improving the oxygen supply. Fascinating!
Thousand Islands – what an adventure!
Unfortunately, we had to say goodbye to this spot at some point; the sun was already low in the sky, and we still had a 2-hour boat ride ahead of us. Our last evening on the Thousand Islands ended with a wonderful sunset over the sea. We are very grateful for the time we were able to spend there. Very grateful for what we were able to see and experience. Anyone who wants to experience something extraordinary is in the right place on the islands.
Admittedly, there isn’t much to do on the islands other than snorkeling (or diving), relaxing, and losing track of time. So if you’re looking for constant action, this is the wrong place. You’ll have to settle for less. For some, it might be a rather strange world; you have to be open-minded and embrace this adventure.
General information about the Thousand Islands
It’s up to you whether you book one of the many all-inclusive packages or manage everything yourself. Day trips can be found online starting at €20. However, we decided to plan everything ourselves and can give you the following information:
Getting to Pramuka Island
- Speedboat from Marina Ancol – daily – 125,000 IDR – Registration and ticket purchase from 7:00 AM opposite Pier number 17 – Departure 8:00 AM – Duration to Palau Pramuka approx. 1 hour
- Slowboat from Muara Angke – daily – 50,000 IDR – Departure 7:00 AM or 8:00 AM – Travel time to Palau Pramuka is approximately 3 hours.
Return to Jakarta
From Pramuka Island, you return at 1:00 PM by slow ferry or at 3:00 PM by speedboat. Tickets are available either directly from the boat (slow boat) or at the “Dive Resort” across from the dock. Arrive one hour before departure; tickets are limited, and the boats only run once a day. Depending on the island, the trip costs between €5 and €20 each way.
Accommodation
Unless you’re booking a package tour, finding accommodation isn’t that easy—at least not if you want to book online in advance. We believe you can find accommodation locally during the week; we found a handful of homestays right away during our walks. On weekends, at least on Pramuka, there are many local tourists, so accommodations may already be fully booked.
Excursions
Of course, we don’t know (yet) which spots are the most beautiful. However, we highly recommend Palau Bira and its neighboring island (for snorkeling). We think this archipelago has an incredible number of beautiful places to offer. Perhaps your boat captain knows of even more beautiful spots? Let us know where you’ve been in the 1000 Islands. Just leave a comment.