Gregg Hollomon Photography

Ujung Kulon region is a large National Park comprising over 120,551 hectares and is located at the western most tip of Java. Difficulties arise in getting there by land due to the terrible road conditions.  I would recommend a livaboard for the visit. Ujung Kulon is a UNESCO World Heritage site which supposedly contains the few remaining Javanese Rhinoceros. The area is of beautiful rainforest lowland, one of the last remaining on Java. A visit should encompass both the diving and surface adventures to get most out of the trip. Years ago, while living in Jakarta, we took an old Grand Phinisi type motor-sailor out of Tanjung Priok on a Friday night. By daybreak we arrived Krakatau for two dives then sailed the afternoon hours to Ujung Kulon, just in time for a night dive. Back then I wasn’t keeping records of the dive sites but from what I remember we harbored in a protected cove and made a shallow wall (20 meters) dive which was absolutely covered with feeding yellow sun coral polyps. The complete vertical height of this wall was a bright yellow as illuminated by the dive lights. The bioluminescent plankton that evening was so high we did the end in complete darkness.  That’s probably what the polyps were eating. Later trips to Ujung Kulon have not been so impressive but the area is worth a visit if you are passing through Java. One word of caution: currents open to the Strait can be severe. Recommend all dives made with contingency plans and emergency rescue noodles. On one dive a woman swept away was lost. After two frantic hours of looking, she was found by our Zodiac, clutching to a rock outcrop. She was lucky.

 

Available livaboard (MV Cecilia Ann)

Java Sea charters: http://javaseacharters.com