Mangroves Jakarta

 The weekend was extended by an extra day due to a national holiday and so we were sort of getting bored of watching Jeremy running around and screaming and being super busy if it this meant by 7pm he was fast asleep and we had the evenings back so we decided to and visit the mangroves in North Jakarta near the Airport which of course excited Jeremy because he wanted to go to the jungle.

To get there, you need to take the airport toll and get off at PIK2 or where it is signed for the massive Tzu Chi Buddist school if you get to Waterbom its pretty simple to follow.

Not that close to the sea

However we turned off at the wrong toll exit and headed away from it. Then through help of Google maps fastest route went under the toll way and then ended up next to a pumping station with the road for private use closed. The route which does exist isn't a public one so we turned around and headed back to a proper road and eventually found it.

The place is called "wisata alam hutan mangrove pik" and from the outside it looks quite orderly and organised and then there was the prices.

10,000 rupiah for a car
25,000 rupiah for Indonesians
250,000 rupiah for tourist

10x as much for a tourist with no information provided in English or any other language.  10x as much!!!!

I eventually paid 120k for reasons but still felt that the price was so over valued and I think I was probably right.

And you were not allowed to bring or use cameras other than mobile phones unless you paid 1.5 million.

Jeremy was however, very happy and we walked along some paved areas looking at monkeys in small cages not really that engaged rather bored looking. There were boards for hire but they started at 350k so we didn't do that instead followed the paths to mangrove.

Map of the area

As you walk in

Typical view

Still rubbish floating around in the water

Still some beautiful parts to look at

 The paths out into Mangrove were made of bamboo so the walking was slow and I had to carry Jeremy as he decided he didn't like walking on it because of the holes and gaps but he was happy to see fish and some crabs along the way. He was even more happy at the sight of the aircraft overhead every 5 minutes as they came into land at the airport nearby so much so by the time we left he wasn't even bothered!

Safer than it looks....

The parts we saw contained Mangroves and lots of signs to say which companies had held a sponsored mangrove planting event there. It wasn't too crowded as we arrived fairly early. It was peaceful enough but whether I would stay a whole day and explore I don't know. You are not permitted to bring your own food or liquids in rather rely on the restaurant provided and the drinks that they sold. Having a 3 year old sort of negates that so that was good.


You can also stay overnight there in various levels of accommodation from villas to camping which whilst looking good on the outside must be hot on the inside as there was no visible ventilation and the aircraft must keep you awake all night. There wouldn't be anything to do at night except go into PiK and eat and then come back for a night sleeping in a swamp.

These are camping huts set in the water

The roof comes very close to the water but it doesn't touch

All in all, we never saw enough of the mangrove as Jeremy dictates what we see and where we go but there was a feeling that there was a lot of it and that with exploration you could see more. The overall site was at some point well maintained but it is looking quite shappy and less cared for with limited signs and maps as well as people to ask or give advice. 

250k per tourist? No not worth that. Value for money - no not really. Jeremy content, yep so mission accomplished.

Hiding in the mangrove which is a shame

So a couple of hours later, after climbing on things and running around looking for spiders we headed back for McD breakfast and more playground antics for Jeremy before getting home for the afternoon and chilling with Jeremy and enjoying the rest of the public holiday.