The more we travel, the more I prefer the places I had never heard of before visiting. For example, our stay after Bali was this coastal town in east Java. Compared to the overtourism of Bali, Banyuwangi was fresh and inviting. We spent several nights berthed at Boom Marina and enjoyed the best of Banyuwangi.
About Banyuwangi
Banyuwangi is a town on the east coast of Java which serves as the gateway from Bali, with regular ferries traversing the channel. The ferry from Gilimanuk, Bali to Banyuwangi takes under an hour and runs frequently. The town has a population of over 120,000, small for Java, the most populous island in the world with the most populous city, Jakarta. While close to Bali, it took us a day and a half motoring on Go since we came from the southeast of the island and there was no wind in our favor.
In Banyuwangi, we enjoyed the friendly people and the lively night market, hiked the famed Ijen volcano, and ate at some good restaurants. Those comprise our best of Banyuwangi.
Banyuwangi is not a big tourist destination, so the locals all wanted to talk and take photos with us, in a very polite and friendly, Indonesian way. We enjoyed our time in coastal Java.
Banyuwangi Night Market
We had a lot of time for the marina, it’s well located. I’d suggest a stop there for cruisers in Indonesia. The night market encompasses the entire marina complex, including across a bridge from the marina, with a fun bus to take you around.
The highlight of the market is the variety of outdoor stalls selling different food and drinks. We explored the market on a Saturday night, and sampled some delicious Javanese food. The market also features lots of kids’ play zones and, closer to the marina, a live music stage.
Kawah Ijen
Located in East Java, about 35km from Banyuwangi, Kawah Ijen is an active volcano famed for its blue crater lake, sulfuric fumes, and blue fire effect. Kawah means crater and Ijen means lonely so it translates to Lonely Crater probably because the fumes are dangerous for life.
Indonesia is full of volcanoes, and this was the closest we’d gotten to one since we’ve been here, so we were happy to hike Ijen.
hiking ijen VOLCANO
It’s known for being a pretty tough trek, 1.5 hours up and then a scramble into the crater and back, plus the return downhill trip. Add to that the difficulty of hiking at 2am in the pitch black and it’s an adventure!
The whole Kawah Ijen experience took 8 hours. We were picked up just after midnight and drove up to the entrance, where we paid our fees and waited with all the other hikers. As the gates don’t open until 2am, a lot of people were milling around waiting to go. Once the gates opened, everybody started the trudge up.
at the crater
We wore the mandatory mask and goggles, and still the fumes were very strong, way stronger than I’d ever experienced. Hiking at night is essential because the sunlight makes the fumes even harder to tolerate. It was nice to be cool for once, the temperatures were in the teens at night in the mountains. Plus, it was lovely to see the gorgeous views at sunrise.
The hike itself wasn’t too difficult, just very dark, with some uphill sections mixed with flat passages. Our guide was a smoker and needed lots of breaks, which probably made it even easier for us. The most challenging part was the rough – and crowded – track into the crater. The sulfuric gas burned my eyes and lungs through the protection, so we didn’t spend long in the crater. Hiking Ijen Volcano at night was a true highlight of Indonesia so of course it ranks among the best of Banyuwangi.
non-hikers on ijen
Some people want to get to the Ijen crater but aren’t hikers. They can take what are very loosely called “taxis” to the top, to the bottom, or both. We thought they looked really uncomfortable as they were basically just lightly padded rickshaws being pushed and prodded over the rocky and rutted ground. We did see people paying for that transportation despite it looking painful.
Eating in Banyuwangi
On top of all the yummy snacks at the night market, we found good places to eat in Banyuwangi. Drinking is another story. The only restaurant serving any alcoholic beverages, due to the high Muslim population, is at Boom Marina. There you can get mixed drinks, beer, and wine. It’s funny, because right across the channel, in Bali, it’s easy to find alcohol. Not in this part of Indonesia.
Our favorite restaurant in Banyuwangi was Srengenge Wetan. It serves authentic Osing food, native to East Java. The ambience is lovely, with traditional wood Javanese furnishings and delicious food.
City Sights
We tried to find some other sights to see in Banyuwangi, but came up short. On the positive side, we always had nice interactions with friendly locals, despite our terrible Indonesian language skills. One child asked us what Indonesian we knew, and after saying thank you, please, hello, good morning and a few other words we fell back on all the food words we knew. We are always good at ordering food! It caused a good laugh at our embarrassment.
Through google maps, we found a neighborhood with artwork, so one day we walked there. It took us to labrynthine laneways alongside rivers. Where we thought would be businesses painted with street art turned out to be a residential neighborhood. People’s homes, doors open to the warm air, were painted with murals.
We met friendly adults, who proudly showed off the art, and even friendlier children, who followed us and posed for photos. The murals were very faded, but it was a fun experience in Banyuwangi.
If you like to go off the beaten path, consider Banyuwangi, Java, Indonesia. We loved experiencing the best of Banyuwangi.
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Great post, one of my favorites. I enjoy when you share about your sailing & boating experiences.
Thanks svenspam! We really enjoyed going off the beaten path in Banyuwangi