Tidung island is one of the islands in Thousand Island district, north part of Jakarta. I heard so many good stories about this island, how clear the water is and how affordable to go there. This island consists of 2 parts, the main island called “Tidung Besar” (big one) and the small island called “Tidung Kecil”. These 2 islands are connected by a bridge called “Jembatan Cinta” (the love bridge). The area near this bridge is the location for watersport lovers eg. banana boat, snorkeling, hantu laut, even diving.
Tempting hearing all those stories, I started browsing for cheap tour and found a group of backpackers on facebook (Doyan Jalan) who would go there for only Rp.300k. Yay!!
So here goes my trip report ^^
BRIEF SCHEDULE
August 2012
Day 1 – Saturday
– muara angke pier – tidung island
– exploring Jembatan Cinta (the “love bridge”)
– sunset from Tidung Kecil island (“small Tidung”)
Day 2 – Sunday
– sunrise from guesthouse terrace
– snorkeling at Pulau Payung
– back to Jakarta
(detail expense is below)
TRIP JOURNAL
[ DAY 1 ] exploring tidung besar and tidung kecil
We left home quite early from my usual ‘wake up’ time. It was 5.30am when my sister and I reached a gas station inside Pasar Ikan (fish market). That gas station is the regular meeting point for group travelling to Thousand island, cause Muara Angke pier is just right behind it. We saw many people gathered that morning. Guess many ‘Jakartans’ like to getaway to Thousand island for the weekend.
[photo : meeting point at gas station in Pasar Ikan]
Our group gathered a bit late so we had a late start. The ferry also departed later than we expected. The thing with this ferry is that there is NO AC and NO CHAIR. I think I skipped this info when browsing the net. It is a wooden boat with two floors. Each floor has about 1.6m height. We should mind our head not to get knocked up by the ceiling when standing ^^
Tips: choose a seating area on top floor, near the window and exit door.
[ photo : inside ferry to Tidung Island ]
I think we were on the boat for about 3 hours. Lucky, I sat in a nice spot, second floor, next to exit door in the back. It’s not too hot or crowded and has enough space to sleep. Yup, I spent most of my time sleeping in the boat. Maybe cause of the anti sickness med I took or I had no enough sleep at nite.
We arrived in Tidung island pier around 11:00. It was indeed a hot day. A guide had waited for us. He showed us the way to our guesthouse, Penginapan Ibu Lia. Ow.. there are 25 people in our group. We were divided into two guesthouses, one that has ocean view and the other one with local neighborhood view. I was in the ocean view guesthouse and shared it with 7/8 participants < I forgot :p >. It is a new built one and has AC, 2 clean bathroom and 2 rooms for sleeping with spring-beds on the floor. Not bad for me!!! There is also a bamboo cottage next to it for our ‘basecamp’ for eating or meeting 😀
Soon after, I felt hungry. We had our lunch in the bamboo cottage.
After lunch, we supposed to have our snorkeling trip but it was postponed to the next morning due to no enough snorkeling equipment. In return, we decided to check out the beach and watersport in Jembatan Cinta (the “ Love Bridge ”). We ride our bicycle to go there. The road is so bumpy, my a*s hurt ><” BUT… I was amazed with the sea view along the street. Gosh.. It’s so beautiful!!! The beach, sand and water in Jembatan Cinta area are also beautiful!! It has a clear blue/light turquoise color. Unfortunately, due to the very hot condition that time, we decided to return to our guesthouse to take some rest and go back there in the afternoon.
[ photo : view along the path to Jembatan Cinta, found a sea cucumber (?) in the water ]
We returned to Jembatan Cinta around 4pm. The beach is full with people that time. They enjoyed playing watersport (banana boat, hantu laut, snorkeling etc). I notice their equipment looks brand new. Good point! But my sister and I decided not to try any watersport. We had bad experience riding a banana boat in Bali. So we separated ourselves from the group and went to Tidung Kecil island.
As I mentioned in the beginning, there are 2 islands in Tidung, the small one and the big one, that are connected by a bridge called Jembatan Cinta. This bridge is made from wood. There are some (many) broken paths and holes in the bridge so be careful when crossing it. Quite scary but it is worth-it. Although I am a bit confused why they called it the ‘love bridge’. Maybe because love will cause you many ‘broken’ or hole in you heart ?? 😀 Anyway, I am happy I could get rid my anxiety crossing that bridge. I found out that Tidung Kecil island has clearer water, whiter sand and beautiful sunset view.
[ photo : tidung kecil island ]
Later that nite, we had dinner and barbeque in the bamboo cottage.
We had some spare time afterwards so we used it to explore the island at nite, bicycling aroung. It was dark and the wind blew quite strong. But it was fun! We saw many seafood and barbeque stalls around the path to Jembatan Cinta.
Tips : Bring your flashlight and put your jacket on if you wanna bicycling around the island at nite.
[ DAY 2 ] payung island – back to jakarta
We had another early start. Our second day began with breakfast on the boat and snorkeling in Payung island. I don’t know why that island is called “Payung” (umbrella). I didn’t see anything similar to ‘umbrella’ :p
The snorkeling site is about 30-45min boat ride. There was only one boat when we arrived at the site. So we geared up and ready to see what is below the water. It turned out to be many rocks there and some small fishes. There is also school of small fish that looks like swordfish. I tried to take its picture but it’s so difficult. The water is quite clear though, comparing to other snorkeling sites I’ve been in Thousand island or the one in Tanjung Benoa, Bali. I had happy time snorkeling there ^^
[ photo : snorkeling at payung island]
After an hour snorkeling, we returned to our guesthouse and started packing. We check-out around 12:00 and then walked to the pier.
Many people had been there, waiting the ferry to come. We missed the first ferry that came because it was so full with passengers. So we got on the second ferry after 2 hours of waiting in a very hot day. This time the ferry is smaller than our first ride to Tidung island. Its ceiling is so low that I could not stand up. My sister and I got a seating place next to the window in the middle of the room. It was packed with people that I could not sleep or even straighten my legs.
[ photo : inside ferry to Jakarta ]
Tips:
– When waiting for ferry, better to stand in front of the gate to the pier once you saw a ferry coming from the distance.
– Choose a seating area on top floor, near the window and exit door
Well, it was a very fun holiday. Meeting new friends etc.. I finally know why people say this island is beautiful. I also think the same way.
Overall:
Despite the killing ferry ride, I really enjoyed this trip. The beach is beautiful, white sand with blue and calm water. The snorkeling site is nice. The people are kind. The cost to go there is also affordable. Definitely will return!! Next time, probably taking fast boat :p
ACCOMMODATION
Penginapan Ibu Lia (guesthouse)
It’s about 5min walks from Tidung pier. It’s difficult to explain the exact location. But if you ask the locals, they will show you the direction. I got the house that dividing into 2 sections. One section is where the entrance door is with TV, restroom, small pantry
TRANSPORTATION
- Home (east jakarta) to Muara Angke pier: Rp.130k by Blue Bird taxi include highway ticket
- Ferry (2.5-3 hours ride) : Rp. 35k/person. it’s covered in the package
- Parking lot in Jembatan Cinta area : Rp. 2k
- Angkot 01 (small red car) to busway terminal in pluit : Rp. 5k/person
- Busway to home : Rp. 3,500/person
MEALS & DRINKS
- Lunch (provided): rice, fried fish, sayur asam (veggie and tamarin soup), chips, tempe, sambal
- Dinner (provided): rice, fried chicken with sambal, perkedel (fried smashed potato) , chips
- Breakfast (provided): nasi uduk (rice cooked with coconut milk), egg, fried noodle
- BBQ (provided) : fish, shrimp, squid
- Indomie at local warung : Rp.4k – 10k
- Ice pop drink : Rp. 4k
- Sprite : Rp. 5k/small can, Rp.8k/med bottle
OTHER EXPENSES
- Package price: Rp. 300k
include return ferry ticket, AC accommodation, 3x meals, BBQ, 2 days bike rental, 1x entrance to Jembatan Cinta, snorkeling trip, - Water sport (banana boat, hantu laut) : Rp. 30-35k/person
- TShirt : Rp.25k above
MORE PHOTOS
camera : Olympus TG-310 / Xpreria Ray
Thanks for expressing your trip to pulau tidung!!