Karimunjawa Islands Now

While some parts of the world are experiencing a heatwave, here in Indonesia, summer arrives in a different way. Think clear blue skies, golden sunsets, breezy evenings, and that magical combo of sunshine and saltwater… isn’t it pure bliss?

This is exactly the picture I have in mind as I type this.

It’s that sweet season where island-hopping feels like a must, tan lines become part of our wardrobe, and the ocean? Oh, it’s showing off big time. But, please don’t forget to reapply sunscreen, though! Sunburnt is not fun!

• • •

In May, I visited Karimunjawa Islands. When I arrived, I noticed how much had changed—there’s now a wider range of accommodation options, from simple homestays to more upscale stays. Flights to Karimunjawa are also now available from both Semarang and Yogyakarta. However, unless it’s necessary, I’d still prefer taking the fast boat over flying—for several reasons.

Karimunjawa – Cemara
eazycation coral adoption

If you’ve been following my updates over the past year and a half, you’ve probably seen the banner above—and maybe you’re even one of the coral adopters!

My main reason for visiting the Karimunjawa Islands was to finally meet our friends—something long overdue after staying in touch for so long. They’re the ones who initiated the coral restoration program in Karimunjawa and have been passionately raising awareness ever since.

During the visit, Joshua, one of the co-founders of the Trilogy Ocean Restoration Foundation, shared valuable insights about the ocean and the many challenges they’ve faced since the project began – including the heartbreaking loss of planted corals due to storm damage.

There’s something deeply moving about hearing firsthand from someone who truly cares about the ocean. I just wish there were more people like them—especially within Indonesia’s tourism industry.

We couldn’t make it to the coral planting site, but we did get to dive at several spots around the island. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the reefs were much denser and more vibrant than I remembered. Unfortunately, my camera just didn’t do them justice—I suppose I might need to invest in better equipment soon.

Joshua is the one on the far left

• • •

It brought back all the memories from my last trip there. Unfortunately, our planned group trip to the Karimunjawa Islands didn’t happen. One of the main reasons was the long journey, which involved multiple modes of transportation and made the trip feel a bit tedious and inefficient at the time.

But then again—doesn’t it often take a bit of effort to reach those truly beautiful, remote corners of Indonesia? Haha… well.

I get it. Traveling around Indonesia can be challenging. That’s why I always do my best to make sure that anyone who joins my trips feels it’s worth both their time and money—and mine too. :)

I hope Karimunjawa Islands will be the next destination for us.

• • •

As time goes on, challenges continue to arise. There are moments when I need to pause, take a step back, and reflect on the decisions I’ve made along the way. Even so, my commitment remains the same—I’m always here to support you in planning a meaningful and memorable journey through Indonesia. Whether you’re seeking adventure, relaxation, or something in between, I’ll be glad to help make it happen.

Also, if you don’t have plans this August, come join us on our upcoming trip to Sumba! I’m not sure when I’ll be running this trip again anytime soon, so don’t miss the chance. As always, we’ll be traveling in a small group—perfect for those who love meaningful experiences over crowded tours.

So, see you soon!

Are You Ready for Tana Humba?

The first quarter of the month has already flown by! April usually kicks off the start of the “busy” season. Last month, I dropped by at the NATAS Fair in Singapore—partly out of curiosity to check out the crowd, and partly to see if the Indonesia Tourism Board had set up a booth. Sadly, I didn’t see one, though a few booths were promoting Bali.

Speaking of Bali—it’s been quite a while since I was last there with the group. That place never gets old. It’s always a solid choice for a laid-back getaway, whether it’s just a weekend escape or a longer, relaxing break.

That got me thinking—we haven’t been back to Mount Agung since the eruption in 2017. The hiking trails were closed for a good two years after that, and somehow we just never picked it back up. Come to think of it, we haven’t done any hiking trips in a long time either. Hmm… maybe it’s time to change that?

• • •

Our First Group Adventure to Sumba

Anyway, I’ve got some pretty exciting news—our Sumba trip this August is officially confirmed! If you’ve been thinking about joining us, now’s the perfect chance to hop on board for our very first group adventure to Sumba. Who knows when the next one will happen—it might be a while! The fact is that only a few of our past trips have ever been repeated, so this could be your only chance. So, don’t miss it!

We are moving away from the Meetup platform (again)

Yeap, you read that right — we’re moving on in a week!

April 13th will be our last day!

I gave it almost a year with the new group I created, hoping to make it work, but it’s clear the platform just isn’t the right fit anymore. The subscription cost doesn’t quite match the value, and there hasn’t been much engagement from users.

So, it’s time to say goodbye — one last time! Let’s call it quits for good this time and not look back. On to better things! Onward and upward!

Where to then?

Well, we are back to our own “home” – eazycation.com

I’ve been putting my time, ideas, and funds into building similar features on our main website instead. It’s still a work in progress — not 100% done yet — but I’ve decided to make it public anyway. Like any online platform, we’ll spot the bugs and improve things as we go. In other words, it also means that from now on, you will find all the programs or activities we have planned on the community page.

I sincerely invite everyone to join the community! :)

New Interest Groups & Organizers

We’re just getting started, so I have only set up a few interest groups for now. But as more organizers come on board, I would be happy to add more variety.

If you’re interested in becoming an organizer and hosting activities — no matter where you’re located — I’d love to hear from you!

2024 Reflections and Moving Forward ..

Hey, Explorers!

Happy New Year – though it’s a few days late. Ha! I’ve opened and closed this page multiple times, unsure of what to share at the beginning of the year.

But… well, here I am.

I’ve been reflecting on the past year, 2024. It’s sad to admit that I haven’t been able to make a full comeback with Eazycation (Indonesia Explorers) since the restart about two years ago.

The pressures have been real – I’ve constantly battled with time and doubts.

At the end of 2023, I told myself I would give this travel business another chance. I decided to run it for another year and see how it goes. I’ve learned many things. I’ve exchanged ideas, sought opinions, and explored new partnerships—even hired marketers. But the desired outcomes are still elusive. Or rather, they’re not enough to cast away my doubts or give me the confidence to say, “Yes, this still works!”

I admit, I feel demoralized at times. It’s hard. I’m struggling more than ever before.

There are moments when I question whether I’ve made the right choices or taken the right path.

What did I do wrong…?

Is it wise to keep pursuing and should this still be my top priority? Or should I just end this altogether now?

• • •

Tomia Viewing Point

Trip Movement & Responses

Last year, even though the number of private trips slightly increased, I noticed that responses to scheduled group trips were far lower than I had expected.

In my opinion, there could be several reasons for these outcomes:

#1 DESTINATION

Indonesia remains the primary destination for Eazycation, even though I have been wanting to organize and explore trips to other countries for variety. However, it seems I should keep Indonesia as my main focus for the time being. Or should I not? Any thoughts?

#2 DURATION

I understand that not everyone has the privilege to take a full week off—or even longer. Our longest trip duration so far is ten days, while the shortest is four days. However, when the destination is at the far end of Indonesia (either the eastern or western regions), it becomes challenging to plan a short trip of less than five days.

Unless the destination is in a major city with a large airport, we often need to transfer via sea, land, or even another domestic flight to reach our final stop. After such a long and tiring journey, I doubt anyone would want to spend only a day or two seeing just a few things.

Indonesia lives up to its name as the largest archipelagic country in the world.

#3 TYPE OF ACTIVITIES
I always try to arrange a balance between activity time and leisure time. Unless explicitly stated as a trip for a specific activity—such as hiking or diving—I aim to include a mixed program.

#4 COST

I must admit that traveling in Indonesia isn’t always budget-friendly, especially when trips involve boat rentals. Sometimes, I feel like crying when I see the costs. Haha! And I haven’t even mentioned the domestic flight fares, which can be shockingly high. Okay, that’s a rant for another time.

We could choose lower-cost modes of transportation, but that often means longer, more time-consuming journeys, which can be tricky given our time constraints. It’s always a trade-off: we gain some and lose some. This is a similar challenge when traveling to other countries as well.

Another factor is that Eazycation always operates with small groups—no more than 12 participants, unless necessary.

#5 ME

Yes, me. I might have lost my way in communicating effectively and excelling at what I do. I try to build a sense of community among our members, but I realize I’ve fallen short in responding to messages promptly—or, worse, missed them entirely at times.

If this ever happened to you, I sincerely apologize. :(

• • •

Moving Forward …

Despite these challenges, I’m still here, trying to make Eazycation work because I believe in its potential and in the joy that travel brings to all of us.

Your feedback, patience, and support mean everything to me as I navigate through these hurdles. Here’s to learning, improving, and hopefully creating more memorable adventures together in the year ahead.

Thank you for sticking with me on this journey. Let’s keep exploring!

Southeast Sulawesi and Central Kalimantan, Here We Come!

I hope everything is going well for all of you! I am still catching up on many things after returning from the summer break, so I just want to drop a quick update on our upcoming trips. Besides these, I might plan some short getaways in between. Please make sure you are on one or two of the following platforms where you will find the information.

 

Side note:
I won’t spam. I promise. Also, all these groups are created for you. Feel free to reach out to me if you have any ideas, suggestions, or collaboration opportunities.

 

Your opinion matters! I’d love to hear all about your trip – the good, the bad, what you loved, what you didn’t, what I can improve, and the fun moments you’re missing already! Share away!

 

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Buton-Wakatobi

26 October – 2 November 2024

Buton and Wakatobi are emerging tourism gems in Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia, offering a mix of cultural and natural attractions. Buton, with its historical Baubau Fortress—one of the largest in the world—and traditional festivals, provides visitors a glimpse into the region’s rich heritage. It is also a gateway to the Wakatobi National Park.

More Information

Tanjung Puting

21-26 December 2024

Tanjung Puting National Park is renowned for its orangutan conservation. During this excursion, we will travel along the Sekonyer River, which flows through rainforests, on a local traditional boat called a Kelotok. Visitors have the option to spend the night in a homestay and explore the natural wonders of the area. Activities include trekking through the forest, immersing in indigenous culture, learning to make handicrafts, cooking, and more.

More Information

The Second Half of the Year

Hey, Explorers!

We are supposed to be in the midst of the dry season, but it is still raining quite heavily now and then in Jakarta – and other places I visited recently. The unpredictable weather makes it challenging to make plans sometimes. However, one advantage is that it cools down the dry season heat! Phew…Well, we just need to prepare extra items for unexpected weather changes. Not much worries about that.

Anyway, the following are the trips that I would like to highlight for the second half of the year. There are Baliem Valley Festival, Explore Southern Taiwan, Explore South Sulawesi, Mount Merbabu Hiking, and a few more that you can find out more here. :)

We recently lost the last three months’ worth of emails due to some errors on our web hosting site. If you contacted us between April and recent weeks, please reach us again. We apologize if we missed your messages.

That’s all for now! The sun is out today!

EZ-Baliem-Valley-FestivalEZ-TaiwanEZ-Takabonerate-news

From Komodo Islands with Love

Hey, Explorers!

I hope the title of this newsletter doesn’t scare you off!

I went to Komodo National Park with a small group of friends from UAE. While there, I realized that I had almost forgotten what it felt like to live on board (LOB) in the National Park. Our group had last done the LOB and the Flores Overland trip in November 2019. The following year, as we all know, was marked by unprecedented events.

As a planner who works with vendors, I always feel grateful to see familiar faces again after a long time. It is great news to know that they have survived through the hard times and they are thriving.

eazycation Komodo Island Coral

Talking about thriving, the underwater life in Komodo National Park is equally as thriving! The reef is denser and more colourful than I remember from my last visit. Although the water was colder and we encountered multiple thermoclines while snorkelling, it didn’t stop us from enjoying what we saw underwater during our four days and three nights sailing around Komodo National Park.

The peak of our excitement was when we checked out Manta Point. It was quiet, with no signs of mantas below the surface. After waiting for quite a while, we decided to jump into the water and check out the reef instead.

I always set the mindset that if we see the manta ray, that’s awesome! If we don’t, it’s okay. They are in the wild, not in a zoo, and sightings are not guaranteed. Nevertheless, deep in my heart, I was hoping that at least we all would see one.

The water conditions at Manta Point are usually not calm, and most of the time, the sea bottom is sandy. We were drifting following the current. While I was watching the group and making sure no one was left behind, I suddenly heard a noise and one of us pointed so hard in excitement at one giant black creature gracefully passing below us.

In my mind, “Yay! There is ONE!” 

As my head tilted, looking in the direction it was coming from, “Erh, NO! Not only one.” 

I saw another four coming! Then, another two, then another bigger one! It was like we saw a lineup of manta rays crossing for a good few minutes. I lost count, but according to the group, there were more than twenty of them.

Komodo Island Manta Ray Komodo Island Sea Turtle

During our trip, we were lucky enough to spot not only Manta Rays, but also Marble Rays and Eagle Rays. Some were swimming while others were resting on the ocean floor. We also saw numerous sea turtles, as well as fish like Bumphead and Napoleon, both big and small. It was truly a fulfilling day for all of us.

And, of course, we couldn’t forget about the main attraction of the National Park – the Komodo Dragon! Well, they still prefer to roam on land, we spotted them while visiting the Komodo Village and the Loh Liang at Komodo Island. Sadly, the Komodo Dragons are endangered, with only about 1500 left on Komodo Island itself.

Komodo Island Komodo Dragon

Lastly, if you are aware, one of our upcoming trips is to Taiwan where we plan to explore one of the trails in Hualian. Unfortunately, this area was recently affected by an earthquake, so we’ve had to rearrange our itinerary to avoid it.

Don’t worry though, we’ve made sure that our new itinerary is just as exciting and fun-filled as the previous one. You can keep an eye on the updated details through one of our platforms – Meetup Group, Facebook Group, or Eazycation website.

Also, should you have any ideas, questions, feedback, or just want to say “hi”, you know where to reach me! That’s all for now. I hope to see you next month!

Welcome to Our New Meetup Group!

If you have been with me for more than five years, you should have known that we used to have a Meetup Group called “Indonesia Explorers” – that was how we started, as we shared the story here. Unfortunately, I didn’t see much of the activity on the platform plus the three-year shutdown period that hit all of us, so I decided to close down the group.

I thought for a long time about starting with a new group because apart from the reasons mentioned earlier, it was also because I found it too difficult to handle and update multiple platforms. However, I guess if it does help to keep members well-informed this way, I should not give it a pass.

So, here is our new Meetup Group – “Eazycation Explorers“! I omit the word “Indonesia” because we will soon no longer only be exploring Indonesia. Let’s see how it goes.

Meetup-Eazycation-Explorers-Meetup-Group

If you are based in Indonesia, you can join this group instead. Do join us and see you outdoors soon! :)

Meetup-Indonesia-Explorers-Meetup-Group

Short Trip or Long Trip?

Hey, Explorers!

A while ago, we visited Misool, one of the islands part of the “Four Kings” – Raja Ampat. Yes, Raja Ampat consists of four islands, Waigeo, Batanta, Salawati, and Misool. We first visited Raja Ampat in 2015 with the group.

At that time, not all islands were ready for visitors and we only explored a small part of Waigeo. Choices of accommodation were also not as many as now. Even so, we have quite a story to tell after that trip. I still remember the lady we accidentally met on Saonek Island where we dropped the books we brought for the children on the island.

With the school kids on Saonek Island, 2015

Then in the next few trips, we started to cover more areas of Raja Ampat – not only Waigeo, but we also explored Batanta Island. Seagrasses vastly surround the island of Batanta making the island favoured by the friendly marine mammals, the Dugong, or more well-known as sea cows. When we visited Batanta Island for the very first time, it seemed that only our group was there.

Until our last trip to Raja Ampat, which happened at the end of last year, we added Misool to the itinerary – making it almost a complete package of Raja Ampat exploration. Based on the feedback from the group, the extension version was a good decision considering all the efforts and the long journey to get to the Papua land. If the duration had been shorter than that, the satisfaction level could have not been this high.

What do you think? Would you prefer a short trip or a long trip? Or preferable duration? I would love to know your thoughts, too!

After so many years, it is still a struggle when it comes to deciding on the duration of the trip, schedule and even the costs. I would not want you to miss a thing that you should see since you have come so far.

But I learned that in the end, an itinerary full of a list of must-do and must-sees is not everything and the most important one (although I will still plan a fully packed itinerary. Haha..). It is the companions that determine most of the time whether we will be returning from the trip with a face full of smiles and good memories or not.

On the other hand, dealing with the locals and arranging a trip in an area with limited facilities or choices, has its challenges. But I will still be happy dealing with all the hassle because that’s simply my superpower.

Let’s explore more together in 2024!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year! Plus 10th Anniversary Surprise!

Hey, Explorers!

I apologize for the late updates!

We are back from Ambon and Banda Neira! There was a bit challenge during this trip because our flight from Ambon to Banda Neira got rescheduled to days later than our original date. Because of that, instead of spending time on an hour-long flight, we had to spend on a 16-hour-long ferry ride instead. The same happens to our journey back to Ambon from Banda. Despite all that, we were thankful that we didn’t miss much because of the changes.

While for the underwater world, it is insane! The fish is abundant. We were swimming among the fish almost on every dive. Meanwhile, I got updates from snorkelers saying that the sites were good, too!

I wish I could divide myself into two to check out the snorkelling and diving sites with my own eyes. So, seems like we will go back there again next year! :)

Tossa – the local type of transportation

The laid-back life in Banda Neira

banda neira lava flow

Lava Flow – One of the dive site that was formed after the eruption of Mount Api in Banda about 30 years ago

The slope where the lava passed before now is full of these beautiful corals

10th Anniversary Indonesia Explorers

In October 2013, nine members of the Indonesia Explorers Meetup Group decided to climb Mount Agung in Bali. That was our first Indonesia Explorers trip with almost all newbie hikers – the story was funny how we all quite suffered after the hike but it was a good memory for all of us and a story that we could laugh for many years to come.

Were you a member of the Indonesia Explorer Meetup Group?

From one trip request to another, and another one, and another one.
And 10 years later, we are still here.Thanks for all your support all these times by joining the trips, giving encouragement, for the friendship, the fun and the laughter. Also to all of you who always read the newsletter, thank you.Feel free to enjoy the special discount given to all our Indonesia Explorers (Eazycation) members, Facebook Group members, and also to all our newsletter subscribers!
• 10% OFF for all group trips in 2024
• Max. discount at S$100 or IDR1.000.000,- per trip
• Limited to 2 trips per member
• Booking shall be made via eazycation.com
Stay tuned for our 2024 schedule!
• • •
Lastly, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2024!

1 Traveler 1 Coral

Since mid of last month, I have been implementing the [1 Traveler 1 Coral ] program in Eazycation. Meaning to say, each of your trip participation automatically counts toward planting one coral in Karimunjawa Islands.

No additional cost is added to participants but rather a portion of the profit goes to there.

Karimunjawa Islands is a group of islands situated some 90km northwest off the northern coast of Jepara Regency in Central Java Province. It is one of seven marine national parks in Indonesia.

Regardless of where we are living, we all know that about 25% of marine life is dependent on coral reefs at some point in their life cycle.

Simply put it this way: no reef, no fish, no life.

A photo of the baby corals with name tag and certificate will be sent via email to each donator as an acknowledgement.

 

I admitted that at some point in my life, I ruined the reefs, too. Especially, in the early days when I was new to water activity. Even if we think we never did any harm directly to the ocean, we can still partake in this program.

If you would like to find out more about how to adopt corals individually in Karimunjawa Islands, feel free to let me know. I would be more than happy to share more details with you! :)

Any thoughts?