Hi😁
It's been a long time since I posted here, yeah well it's because I only post when I got assignments from my lecturers, though.
Anyway, today I want to tell you the story about my trip to Pari Island in Kepulauan Seribu. To be honest, I don't exactly remember what year I went there with my friends, I think it was around 2016 during summertime.
If you have no idea about Pari Island or is interested to know more about it, you can learn more here:
http://jakarta-tourism.go.id/visit/blog/2020/05/pari-island
Okay, let's start with the story. From what I remember, it was a 3-days and 2-nights trip. The cost at that time was relatively cheap for a 3-days trip. It was only about IDR 900,000 including meals, the snorkeling tools renting, and the boat fee.
On the first day, we left at 4 or 5 AM from home to Muara Angke Harbor in North Jakarta, because we didn't want to miss the boat. We arrived at the harbor at about 6 AM. The boat crews said that we were going to depart soon when actually we had to wait until 10 or 11 AM at that time. They were waiting until the boat is full and ready to depart. We finally left the harbor when it was about noon, and arrived on the island past noon.
The tour leader then led us to our guesthouse that was located not so far from the beach itself. It was not big, but comfortable and enough for all of us. Every room got its own AC, so it was very convenient considering the weather was sunny at that time. Local stores were also everywhere, so it wouldn't be so hard for us to buy snacks or to buy souvenirs.
On the first day of the trip, after having lunch and taking a rest for a while, we went on snorkeling. Initially, I don't really like beaches or the sea in general. First of all, I think beaches are boring. All you see is water and sand. The weather is almost always hot, and the taste of the water isn't good at all either, so, I think there is nothing good about beach. I'd prefer to go to a mountain area, with cooler weather and green surroundings. But, when I visited Pari Island, the beach was different from all the beaches I have visited before, the water was clear and nice, so I thought, maybe this was not so bad. We got on another boat to go to the middle of the sea, away from the beach. There, the instructor gave us a short guide about how to use the tools.
After wearing our life vests, we splashed into the water and started the activity by creating a circle, and then we had a drone taking pictures and videos of us. It was such a happy moment. Everyone was laughing and messing around while still paying attention to our own safety, of course. After that, we started our own exploration. We dipped our heads into the water and saw the corals and small reefs under us. There was no fish in sight. The instructor said that the fish were in the deeper sea.
There was something really interesting, funny, and a little bit scary at the same time. I remember very well when the instructor told everyone to get on the boat for a while and one of my friends was a little bit stubborn to get on the boat while everyone else who was already on the boat was asking why we were told to do so. The instructor then said, "Please don't get panicked, I just saw a baby shark under there,". That one friend who was still in the water then frantically swam toward the boat and asked everyone to help her. She cried out because she was so scared of it. She tried so hard to climb onto the boat that she got a foot cramp. We all laughed watching her struggling while still helping her because apparently the baby shark had swum away because it was scared of humans. Actually, it was also one of the reasons why I don't like seas. They're scary. We don't know what's under there and what's approaching us. So, when some of my friends splashed back into the water, I chose not to join because my anxiety said no😅
After snorkeling, we went back to our guesthouse and cleaned ourselves up. The next activity was bike-riding to another nearby beach. The beach name was Perawan Beach. I'm not sure why it was named like that. Maybe, the beach used to be untouchable for the tourists? I'm not sure. It was on low tide at that time, so the water seemed so far away. There was a swing that my friends and I used to play and take pictures. We spent the afternoon there. We also enjoyed the sunset and took beautiful pictures there. Unfortunately, I forget where I saved all those pictures, so I couldn't post it here. By the way, there wasn't a lot of tourists at that time, so we were quite free to move.
There wasn't much that we did in the evening, mainly because the kids were tired from the boat trip and that day's activity. So, we decided to sleep early and woke up early the next day.
On the next day, we went to another beach. This time, we had to walk for a few minutes to get to the beach, because the location was kind of hidden. It was the most beautiful one out of the two before. Unfortunately, I forgot the name. The beach was narrow, but it somehow felt exclusive. There were gazebos and the sand was relatively whiter than the other beaches. When we got there, it was raining, but it was okay, because we were wet already anyway. So, we continued to play around until afternoon, and then went back to our accommodation again to clean up.
In the evening, the tour leader had prepared a seafood dinner for us, located by the beach. There were crabs, lobsters, and many kinds of fish. I wondered how cheap those items were that with only IDR 900,000, we got this much of a dinner set.
The second night was well-spent. We played guitar and sang together after eating. Everyone was having fun and the wind blew softly. It was good. We went to bed around midnight, and the tour leader told us to pack up because we would have to leave in the morning.
The checkout time was 10 AM, so we already got out of the guesthouse before that time after having breakfast. We went to the island's harbor and got on the boat that would take us back to Muara Angke. The boat that we used to go to Muara Angke was way better than the previous one. In this one, there were seats just like inside a bus so we could sit properly and comfortably even though it was a little bit hot because there was no fan, we only counted on the sea wind. Meanwhile, in the previous one, we just sat freely without boundaries.
We arrived at Muara Angke safely. It was about a little bit past noon. From there, we ordered online taxis to get home.
It was a very nice experience. The beaches, the accommodations, and the tour leaders were very nice. Would I like to go back? Probably. Just like what I said before, I prefer a mountain kind of trip instead of beaches, and honestly, I didn't really enjoy the boat trip because it made me dizzy. But overall, I'm grateful that I got to experience it all.
I think that's all I can share with you guys, just so you know what you will have if you're interested to visit Pari Island.
