Who doesn’t want to visit an island paradise with white sands and clear, turquoise water? That’s the promise of Karimunjawa, an undiscovered gem just off the north coast of Java. It’s not easy to get to, there’s no public transport on the island and not much tourist infrastructure. Pre-COVID there were limited flights to the island but they have yet to resume.

We decided it’d be a good change from volcanoes so made the trek from Yogyakarta:

• two mini buses (one extra scary on the highway – about 6 hours all up),
• overnight in Jepara (pretty average town), and then
• 2.5 – 3 hours on the fast ferry.

Only slightly exhausted we reach our homely hostel with one of the best showers we have had in Indonesia. And the first dogs we’ve seen (cats everywhere but they don’t generally like dogs here).

The kids don’t like snorkeling so we didn’t do a tour – would have been great but they were full day tours and it’d be painful when you’re going with folks who don’t want to be there (and expensive too!)

So we ventured to a few beaches within walking distance, including one that had the ruined remains of a lodge that was abandoned ten years ago, another with some Instagram worthy swings and one even had some Bob Marley blaring. I quite liked the swings as they were quite gentle – the long ropes made them quite smooth rather than feeling like you might want to throw up!

Oh and we had begun to notice that Indonesians don’t really walk anywhere so we often get a few weird looks and shocked responses when they find out we’d walked somewhere. And, in some ways fair enough too, as it’s bloody hot and you need that swim after a 30min walk in the sun up & down the hills 🥵

We were staying in the town which meant we had a decent selection of dinner choices – including a half decent pizza place with a cute kitten that Esti made friends with.

To visit other beaches we needed transport and by far the cheapest option was to hire a couple of scooters and drive ourselves. The only hitch being that only M had even driven one before, so it was time for a “crash” course for me from the hostel staff (not literally of course 😆). A few times round on the grass in the town square, then round the block, and up and down a nearby hill and I am ready! We chuck the kids on the back, and head out on the highway (🎶looking for adventure, and whatever comes our way… 🎸)

Ok, so a lot could go wrong here, but it’s best not to overthink these things and just go with it sometimes…

The main road was fine – little traffic and us barely going above 25kmph – but the track to the beach got a bit tricky. The very last section was quite steep – only about 10ms but I wasn’t feeling confident. A local took pity on me and kindly rode my bike down for me, while M braved the steep path.

Finally, we were at paradise – time for a swim and some fresh pineapple!

These beaches are supposed to have a wonderful sunset view but with this being my first day riding a bike, we opted to head back to town well before sunset. The adults quenched our hard earned thirst with a big, cold beer and celebrated a successful day 🍻