Karimunjawa Islands

Karimunjawa Islands is an archipelago of 27 islands north of Semarang and off the coast of Central Java.The main island is Karimun and the second island is Kemujan. Most of the islands are surrounded by sandy beaches and fringing coral reefs. This mini archipelago is a real treasure for those who love the marine life. There were 9.784 population who lived there and mostly work as fishermen for their daily life. The vegetation consists mainly of mangrove and beach forest, although there is some lowland rain forest on Karimun Jawa. Karimunjawa name literally means a stone’s throw from Java in Javanese.

Karimunjawa Islands has become populer since Indonesian Government declared it as a marine reserve national park in 2001. Those Islands are about 80 km northwest of Jepara, a small town in Central Java. It can be reached by a ferry boat from Kartini Port in Jepara for about 3 hours. These little blissful islands are a vision of the tropics. Beauty of white-sand beaches with turquoise water which will hurt your eyes. This amazing hidden gem of java is definitely a “worth” destination to visit.

What to do?

First Main activity when you visit the Karimunjawa Islands is Island hopping for snorkeling. Snorkeling is a must here where the corals are aplenty and the sea clear and blue. There are many small islands to explore, the popular ones being Pulau Tengah, Tanjung Gelam and Menjangan Besar (touted most beautiful). The second is diving in 15 to 40 meters where you can meet a large variety of marine life and even shipwrecks. Good local diving spots here are Taka Panyawangan and Gosong Cemara. Besides those two activities above, fishing also an interesting thing to do in this Island. You can rent a boat and go out to the various good fishing spots nearby to catch some lunch or dinner and finish it off with fresh coconut found easily around the islands.

If want have a tour to Karimunjawa island, please kindly find the detail here.