The tourism village of Sawarna is the entry point to this natural wonder. As you enter the village, you will be greeted by lush green paddy fields, serene village ambience, and refreshing breezes. Sawarna
Beneath the surface, the underwater beauty of Sawarna also makes it a perfect place for snorkeling. Here, you can find most colorful coral reefs and various species of tropical fish. Some of the best spots for snorkeling are at Ciantir Beach, Tanjung Layar Beach, Karang Bokor Beach, Karang Seupang Beach, Karang Traraje Beach, and Legon Pari Bay. Aside from its stunning beaches, Sawarna also offers fascinating adventure opportunities in some of its spectacular caves, such as the Lalay Cave, the Sikadir Cave, Cimaul Cave, Singalong Cave, and Pasir Tangkil Cave. The caves at Sawarna are Karst caves that were formed during the early Miocene period.
Get There
To reach Sawarna Beach, you can take the route from Serang to Pandeglang-Malimping-Bayah-Sawarna, or alternatively Rangkasbitung-Cileles-Gunung Kencana-Malimping-Bayah-Sawarna. From the capital city of Jakarta, you can take the toll road from Tomang to Serang. From Serang, you can head to Saketi, in Pandeglang.
Another alternative is to take the public bus from Jakarta to Pelabuhan Ratu in Sukabumi. From Pelabuhan Ratu, there are mini buses that can take you straight to Sawarna which charges around Rp 35,000. These minibuses follow the route Pelabuhan Ratu-Cikuray-Cibeber-Bayah.
From the city of Bogor, in West Java, you can also reach Sawarna via Cilograng to Pelabuhan Ratu which is approximately about 145 km. This is the route used by public buses from Bogor. From Pelabuhan Ratu you can take another bus to Bayah Terminal. From Bayah there are jeeps that can take you to Sawarna through a bit of relatively rough roads. Do remember that these jeeps only operate until 05:00 pm, so you need to be there beforehand. Sawarna is a village in the district Bayah, in the regency of Lebak. Lebak is a large regency that mostly consists of jungle. To get from Sawarna to the regency capital Rangkasbitung, in the north of the regency, requires travelling more than 100 km. Sawarna is about 40 km to the west from the more well-known beach town of Pelabuhan Ratu. I arrived at Sawarna beach stiff and exhausted after a heavy seven hour car ride from Jakarta. I desperately needed to stretch and snap my bones back into their proper place. In fact, what I really needed was a massage, but that just wasn’t going to happen, so I settled for arching my back while breathing in the crisp sea air.
It was still at least an hour until dawn, so we decided to drop off our bags at the hostel. Thirty minutes later we turned to Sawarna beach to watch a beautiful sunrise. After such a long all night car journey this was just a magical way to start the day. The sunrise was spectacular, and as we sat motionless and exhausted, we watched the sky go through shades of purple, red, orange and yellow, before eventually settling on blue. We spent the next few hours exploring Sawarna beach and simply relaxing; listening to the sound of the waves crashing against the rocks and rolling up the beach. If you come here you can’t miss the fact that Sawarna beach is popular with surfers and before we left a couple of locals decided to try their luck with the morning waves. The countryside surrounding Sawarna beach is as beautiful as the unspoiled beach itself. Emerald green paddy fields spread out across the rolling hills and are cut up by patches of forest. There are caves to explore, rutted country paths to wander along and plenty of friendly people and smiling children to talk to. Coming to places like Sawarna beach gives you a great sense of the beauty of rural Java. There are three alternative access to reach Sawarna beach. The first track is from Serang to Malimping and then go to Sawarna Bayah. While the second track is from Serang to Rangkas Bitung to Kencana Mountain and Malimping until Bayah. Or the third alternative track from Bogor to Pelabuhan Ratu and then go to Sawarna. The approximately travel time is about 7 to 8 hours from Jakarta City by car.
To reach Sawarna from Jakarta, travelers can go to Karang Hawuh in Pelabuhan Ratu, which can be reach about 6 hours from Jakarta by car and then continue the track from Karang Hawuh to Sawarna with about 2 hours drive. It is a very long track, because we have to go through some steep mountain road and damage winding roads as well.
For information, if you want accommodation or homestay, rate per night ranges start from $7.5 to $15. While car care, charged for $2. To entering Sawarna beach, you must cross a suspension bridge and walk by foot about 1.5 km. The journey to Sawarna is definitely an extraordinary and a tough journey. But then it all paid off, once you see how magnificent and gorgeous Sawarna is. There are two recommended places that you must visit if you come to Sawarna
