Situbondo lies on the north coast between Probolinggo and Banyuwangi, it is one of the regency in East Java. It takes about 4 hours from Surabaya and 5 hours from Denpasar to get to Situbondo. This is another regency that is worth to be visited in East Java, it has beautiful area to the foreign tourists and domestic tourists. Here are the 8 most beautiful tourism objects in Situbondo.
1. Pasir Putih Beach
Pasir Putih is located 21 KM to the west of the centre of Situbondo, on the Madura Strait that has white sand along the shoreline. This beach offers a great panorama and it is one of the popular beach in East Java. This beach is a maritime and nature tourism object, it is also an ideal place to practice water sports.Water sports competition is often held in this beach whether it is regional or national. The activity that tourist usually do in this beach are swimming, diving, windsurfing, fishing, snorkeling and lots more.
The Pasir Putih resort is managed by the Situbondo local government and operated by a state enterprise of the local authority. Here are the facilites that is offered to the visitors :
- Hotel and Cafes
- All night dinners
- Art and souvenir shops
- Sightseeing Huts
- Tennis court
- Camping area
- Public convenience and playground
- Swimming pool
- Convention Hall
- Car Rental
2. Baluran National Park
Baluran National Park consists of lowland forests, 40% of savanna, mangrove forests with Mount Baluran in the centre of area. This park becomes habitat for many exotic animals also a tropical forest vegetation. There are 26 mammal species including banteng, banteng population has decreased from 338 to 26 in just 16 years. There are species of bird that can be found in this park, such as green peafowl, red junglefowl, Malabar pied hornbill and others, in 2012 it through a bird photography competition it is known that there are 196 species that is in the park. This park has 444 plant species including pecan nut trees, Maja, Gadung, Java tamarind trees and mount Widara.
The several activities that can be done in this park are :
- Safari forest
- Forest adventure
- Diving and Snorkeling
- Mountain hiking and mount climbing
- Hill walking
- Beach adventure
- Canoeing, rowing or boating.
3. Bama Beach
Bama beach is located in the east of Baluran National Park, to be precise 15 KM from the main entrance of the park. The original beach and fantastic panorama can be seen on this beach. There is also a mangrove forest, Bama spring and Mantingan spring. A special moment can be seen here is seeing monkey with the long tail or known as Macaca fascicularis that fish crabs with their long tail.
4. Japan Cave (Gua Jepang)
Gua Jepang is historical place inside the Baluran National Park. Batangan is another named for this since a lot of Indonesia army died because of the unequal power. The two chambers that is in the cave is for a place to save weapons and the other chamber has a function to see the enemy. It is popular on the media that this chamber is haunted since it stores stories that happen during the war between Indonesia and Japan back then.
5. Jangkar Harbor
Jangkar Harbor is the next most beautiful tourism objects in Situbondo. It is still an active harbor but it is filled with tourist on the weekdays or the weekends. Even tough to enter this place is free of charge, but the view is not cheap at all, you must no missed it when coming to Situbondo. Â A lighthouse can be seen from here, also from the western of the harbor you will see the action of fish and the fish can be bought here.
6. Bekol Savannah
This is another tourism object that can be found in Baluran National Park, it is located 12 KM from the entrance. Bekol Savannah sometimes be called Little Africa in Indonesia because natural grass, trees that are wide apart, the view of mount Baluran from afar and wild animals like buffalo, bull, deer, monkey, langur, peacock, snake and birds can be seen so it feels like we are in Africa.
7. Pathek Beach
Another beautiful beach is Pathek Beach, which is around 5 KM from the centre of Situbondo. Many families spend their weekend in this beach, since it is not far from the city. In the west of this beach, there is a proof of history that can be seen which is Panrukan Street, it was build by Dutch government. Pathek beach is an unspoiled beach so it offers natural beauty, the charm is the sunset and the underwater objects.
8. Kampung Kerapu
Situbondo becomes one of a potential place for grouper fish cultivsitation using cage net, which is one of the reason why Kampung Kerapu is established. A circle floating dock is an attraction for a dock that is usually straight. This floating deck is made from wood and it is jutting in the middle of the sea. Tourist can see the view around the dock with a few viewpoint along the dock. There is a water fountain show and light show at nigh makes this place more attractive. Since it is a tourist attraction their is a tourist boat which will take you to see the cage net in the middle of the water, also you can fish some of the cultivated fish. Kampung Kerapu is located in Dusun Gundil, Desa Klatakan, Kecamatan Kendit, Situbondo.
These 8 most beautiful tourism attraction in Situbondo, is spread in 163.850 ha. There are beautiful beaches, mountains, hills, forest and historical heritages of Dutch colonial that can be found throughout Situbondo. Maybe you can find out more about other tourist attraction that is worth to visit but these 8 are the most popular and must be visited.
