Part of a marine protection area in the Java Sea of Indonesia, Kura Kura Resort on Menyawakan Island offers Hanna Hussein a romantic private getaway
LOOKING out the window of the 12-seater Twin Otter plane soaring over the Java Sea, I am completely blown away. Despite my fear of flying in a small plane, I, however, rejoice at looking at the dark blue sea and a few dots of islands below.
It takes two flights and five hours to reach this stunning Java island from Kuala Lumpur, but it’s worth it!
Still unknown to mass tourism, Karimun Java (or Karimunjawa), is an archipelago of 27 islands in the Java Sea of Indonesia. Only five islands are inhabited while the remaining are declared a Marine Protection area, making the destination as one of Indonesia’s national parks.
The district is 80km away from northwest of Jepara, Central Java and can be easily accessed from Jepara harbour via a two-hour speed boat ride.
However, since there is no direct flight from Kuala Lumpur to Jepara, another option is to depart from Semarang. From there, you can either take the public ferry which takes six hours to Karimunjawa, or save time and take a flight.
Kura Kura Resort, the only five-star resort in Karimunjawa, where I will be staying for my 5D/4N second honeymoon island getaway, offers guests flight service transportation four times a week.
After the 40-minute flight from Semarang, my husband and I, with five other passengers finally arrive on Karimunjawa. Dewadaru Airport looks like a small cottage with two blue doors and few windows on the side, surrounded by lush greenery.
While we wait at the modest arrival hall to collect our luggage, a Kura Kura Resort employee greets us.
“Welcome to Karimunjawa Island. You have landed on the main island, the largest island in the district. I know that you are probably weary by now, but we have a boat ride to the resort which is on Menyawakan Island and it will take less than 40 minutes, so please bear with us,” explains the sweet woman wearing a polo-shirt with the resort logo on the chest, handing us each a chilled bottle of water.
Well, regardless of our lack of energy due to the long journey from Kuala Lumpur, we feel more excited than exhausted now.
I say: Let’s just enjoy the ride!
DAY 1: ENJOYING KURA-KURA
From the airport, we take a three-minute stroll towards a little private jetty, while our luggage are being taken care by the workers. We happen to be the only guests today.
Curious about the other passengers’destination, I ask the staff. “Although the flight are exclusive for our guests, we pick up other passengers as well if there are seats. However, flights are usually fully booked from July until September, especially August,” she reveals.
The boat cruises on high speed for about 10 minutes. But it then slows down when we come into view of a large seaweed farm.
“Here is where we have to go on low speed to avoid damaging the weeds,” she says.
While we admire the view, she tells us the island’s history. Karimunjawa means “a stone’s thrown from Java” in Javanese but the locals like to refer to Karimunjawa as “something blurry seen from Java”. It has 78sq km of land with a total population of 9,000. Karimunjawa was discovered by Sunan Nyamplungan, a nephew of Sunan Kudus, one of Indonesia’s famous Islamic preachers. Most of the population are Muslim, so don’t worry about the food at the resort as it will be halal.”
The boat speeds up again after 15 minutes of cruising the farm and we finally arrive at Kura Kura Resort, Menyawakan Island at 1pm (Kura Kura is in the same time zone as Kuala Lumpur).
Upon arrival, all I can think about is lunch! The receptionist at the lobby, Suci, hands us a cold towel and a welcome drink each before proceeding with a quick check-in and gives us a map of the island resort.
Instead of heading for the room, we go to a restaurant next to the lobby. The restaurant is the only one on the island that has all-day dining.
Both the lobby and restaurant were re-built in an exclusive resort style in 2009 by the Italian owner. It has a gorgeous blend of contemporary and traditional design. The restaurant has a stunning view of a pool surrounded by coconut trees and overlooks the aqua sea. Simply breathtaking!
The restaurant offers extensive a la carte choices ranging from Mediterranean fine cuisine and international and local dishes.
Since this is an Italian-owned resort, I order aglio olio pasta while husband goes for steak. We also get a choice of starters and deserts. The food is delicious and comes in quite a fair portion and has a healthy twist to it.
I recommend the local dishes such as beef noodle soup as well as the fresh seafood. Unlike the lunch menu, the dinner menu rotates daily. After our lunch, Suci takes us on a quick tour of the island.
“We havef 15 deluxe and superior cottages as well as 18 pool villas on the island. The resort exclusively occupies this 22-hectare private tropical island.” Suci introduces us to Lisa at the activity and diving centre. Lisa gives us a list of suggested activities and excursions.
“Tick the activity that you desire and we’ll book it for you,” she says. I am impressed that she provides us with a personalised itinerary.
We then proceed to our room and when Suci opens the wooden door to our villa, my jaw drops in amazement. Inside, there’s a large private pool, all to ourselves!
There’s also an open-air living room complete with an L-shaped sofa, coffee table, mini-bar and CD player with MP3 connection. The villa also has a gazebo with mattress, and two sun beds on each end of the 4x8-metrepool.
The bedroom is air conditioned and elegantly designed with touches of natural materials. There’s mosquito netting draping the king-size bed and curtained floor-to-ceiling windows for an open pool view. It is absolutely gorgeous and luxurious.
Since we had a long day of travel , we decide to enjoy our grand villa, dipping in the pool and sunbathing!
DAY 2: PRIVATE ISLAND TOUR
After breakfast, we rush towards the jetty to board the boat for a full-day snorkelling trip where the underwater beauties are waiting. On board, there’s just us and a family of four from England.
Our local guide, Imran, briefs us on our first destination, Lobster Bay in the north part of Parang Island. It is 25 minutes away from Menjangan Island.
There, ready with our equipment (supplied by the resort), we jump in excitement. The corals are spectacular. It looks like colourful jungle down here with bright pink, yellow and blue, everywhere.
We spend 30 minutes admiring the beautiful underwater scenery before heading for the highlight destination, a private island called Krakal Kecil Island 20 minutes away from the bay.
When we reach the island, we have to swim to the shore (you can also hop on a sampan). It is not a rough swim at all as the waves help to push us towards the beach.
Krakal Island is such a tiny outcrop of powdery white sand and trees, and a crystal clear lagoon. The view here is picture-perfect! Since the day is stunningly sunny, we spend three hours enjoying our lunch and dipping in the ocean water.
The island is privately owned by Kura Kura Resort and guests can do a day tour or stay the night.
There are three eco-friendly cottages and a living-room cottage but no electricity on the island. Water on the island is collected during the rainy season, and the resort only accepts one reservation per night.
DAY 3: FISHY WONDERLAND
While yesterday was an incredible tour, today I hope to see more fish!
Lisa will be joining us as our guide. Also on board is a newlywed Spanish couple on their honeymoon.
Expecting sunshine, we see gloomy clouds instead and I see heavy rain afar. The boat speeds up towards the snorkelling spot located at Menjangan Kecil Island, 20 minutes from the resort.
On arrival at the destination, the sun starts to peek shyly. Ignoring the weather, we jump into the water in our snorkelling gear.
Lisa, seated on the side of the boat, throws pieces of bread into the water to attract the fish. Remarkably, there are thousands of colourful striped fish surrounding us in the water.
I also get a chance to feed them. Some of them bite my fingers.
After spending an hour playing mermaid, our tummies start to growl. It’s time for lunch!
Our boat cruises towards Ujung Gelam Beach on Karimunjawa. The place is a favourite spot among the locals and tourists.
The beach is shaded with coconut trees and if you walk towards the end, you see a picturesque stone spot for a photo opportunity. Go to the other end, you will see a village.
However, if you want to swim here, beware of jellyfish.
On our way back to the resort, we stop by Cemara Besar Island, about 10 minutes away from the resort via speedboat.
“Usually, our guest will take the wooden boat. We call it the Robinson Crusoe trip and it is a free trip daily,” says Lisa. However, she adds that since tomorrow is our last day to explore the resort island, we may as well visit Cemara Besar Island today.
Cemara Besar Island is a small flat unspoiled lagoon island with few trees. There is nothing much on the island but the water is very clear. With our Go Pro camera, we take lots of nice clear underwater shots!
DAY 4: RELAX AND EXPLORE
On our final day before we head home tomorrow morning, we explore Menyawakan Island.
After a heavy breakfast, we start our day by strolling on the island. Surprisingly, there are plenty of picture-perfect spots for photographs. We even stop at the lovely Blue Bar which has sunbeds for guests to relax and enjoy the sea view.
Along a walking track, there are fitness equipment. It takes us 45 minutes of slow walk to go round the island.
Looking at the clear sea and sunny weather, my husband and I decide to enjoy our last snorkelling session. There are few spots around the island.
We head to the first one at Star Jetty, near the main jetty. The area is a bit deep and the water is choppy. We don’t dare to go far, we swim near by the jetty stairs but, gosh...
there are many colourful fish down here!
Wanting more, we head for the sunset beach, where there are few kayaks for guests to use. We hop onto one and head for a floating porch.
After setting up our gear, we slowly go down towards the open waters and again we are blown away by the stunning view under the sea. Plenty of vibrant fish and colourful coral here. Do be careful and wear proper gear since the water here is deep and you may get cut by the corals.
Snorkelling makes us really exhausted. Thankfully, we have booked a couple massage at the spa this evening.
The spa is a humble facility with three therapy rooms and a pool. The design of the room is minimal with a touch of traditional furniture.
Kura-Kura Resort offers standard treatments at its spa. We have a relaxing 45-minute traditional massage. I love the fact that the spa matches the gender of the masseur to that of the client. Very Muslim-friendly!
For our last evening, we enjoy the stars after dinner. We head for Star Jetty where there is a floating mattress waiting for us. Looking at the twinkling diamond in the skies, I wish to return to this amazing island of Karimunjawa. Perhaps every year?.
KURA KURA RESORT
Menyawakan Island, Karimunjawa, Java, Indonesia
Tel: +62 (0)24-766 325 10
Email: info@kurakuraresort.com
Website: www.kurakuraresort.com
GETTING THERE
Fly to Semarang via AirAsia from Kuala Lumpur. It takes 2½ hours. AirAsia offers only one flight daily to Semarang. Take a direct charter flight from Semarang to Karimunjawa which takes another 45 minutes and then a speed boat will take you to Menyawakan Island.
MAIN ATTRACTION
The unspoiled beauty of the clear blue sea and the exclusivity!
FIRST IMPRESSION
Luxurious but worth it! Very romantic destination for honeymooners.
BEST TIME TO GO
Kura Kura Resort is open from April to November. However, charted flights are only available from May 1 until Oct 31 due to the weather. The peak season is in August, so be sure to book early!
ROOMS
18 pool villas including two-bedroom family villa, five deluxe seaview cottages and 10 superior seaview cottages.
RATES
Rates start at US$345 (RM1395) per night and inclusive of breakfast and dinner.
Flights are US$210 per person each way.
Island excursions are not inclusive in the room price. It costs RM300-RM400 per trip, inclusive of a light lunch. The daily Robinson Crusoe trip to Cemara Besar is complimentary. All excursions provide proper snorkelling gear which includes flippers, fins and a snorkelling set.
OVERALL SERVICE
Top notch!