Home Asian Countries Indonesia Sendang Biru, a beach as blue as its name

Sendang Biru, a beach as blue as its name

In Javanese, sendang means “water spring” and biru means “blue”. It is literally a water spring with a clear blue water. The creek runs to the southern sea and even the southern sea is famous for its strong stream. It is a little bit different with Sendang Biru beach. The sea is blue, calm, and totally safe if you want to swim around because this beach has Sempu Island as a barrier.

Sendang Biru beach is located at southern Malang. It will take about two to three hours by car from Malang. You can get there with your private vehicle, public transportation, or choose a tour package. Along the way from Malang to Sendang Biru you will face a challanging road trip. It is a two lane uphill road where one side is all green, full with bushes and has a range of teak trees. While the other side of the road is a pretty steep cliff. Make sure to drive safely and extra careful if you are passing trucks along the way.

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Enjoying the heat of the sun, glistening white sand, sea breeze, and refreshing water is a must after a long road trip. Along the beach you will easily find local treats like boiled peanuts, corn on corb, or roasted corn, and some coconut water who will be a perfect companion on the beach. Not far away from the beach you can a find fish market too, where you can find fresh tuna right from the fisherman or maybe buy some smoked fish to take back home.

When you spend time on Sendang Biru, there will be a lot of locals who will offer their service to take you to Sempu island, but please say no to them. Sempu island is a conservative resort that is famous for its lagoons. You will need a specific permit to visit Sempu island. Even you have the permit you need to remember to also conserve it by not taking anything from there or leave anything behind (junk).

It is kind of sad when a lot of people see Sempu island as a tourist destination. I know it is hard to resist the beauty of Sempu. The uniqeness of Segara Anakan, a seawater lake, five kilometres from the beach at the heart of Sempu. This lake has an underground tunnel that connects the lake with the Hindia Ocean. Lele lake and Mujair lake, freshwater lakes are named after a fish population that lives there, catfish in Lele lake and tilapia in Mujair lake. In just 800 hectares, Sempu has already four kinds of ecosystems: a beach forest ecosystem, lake ecosystem, dataran rendah, and a mangrove ecosystem. Sempu also has various wild animals and more than two hundreds endemic plantations that only grow in Sempu island. So please reconsider if you want to visit Sempu but you will always be welcome to explore Sendang Biru.

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/// Written by Desthi Amalia Nur, Indonesia