From Jakarta, one needs to go up and down mountainous roads for six hours to get there. And, the road is rocky. There are small pebbles and large boulders strewn along the road, but, the landscape on the way is beautiful.

When one arrives at the entrance to the village there is an admission fee of Rp 2,000. After that, there is a shaky, 10-meter-long wooden bridge across the Sawarna River to cross.

After crossing the bridge, green foliage and blue sky dominate. On the way to the homestay, there were peaceful rural scenes like children playing tag instead of Xbox, a group of men enjoying coffee and having an evening conversation and women preparing dinner while others swept their yards. In some areas, there were rice fields that reminded one of Ubud in Bali.

Our temporary house in Sawarna was far from modern. There were two bedrooms in the half-wood, half-concrete house. The bathrooms were only a little larger than an airplane bathroom, with the water coming from a well.

The place had neither a television nor air conditioner, but that does not mean Sawarna is electricity-free. But, it is not available 24 hours a day. On the second night, we had to sleep fanless in the dark.

Oceanside beauty: Two gigantic rock outcroppings are a village landmark.Before outsiders came to Sawarna, local residents were farmers, fisherman and carpenters. Nowadays, tourism has emerged as a business in the area. Some locals are in lodging, catering or work as guides, and Sawarna can now accommodate up to 230 tourists a night.

Staying the night costs about Rp 100,000, including three meals a day. But, locals are contesting tourism facilities like hotels and resorts in the area. They want to preserve Sawarna the way it is.

Back in 2005, a high school student and tour guide, Suwalim, took an Australian surfer from the
popular area of Cimaja to Sawarna.

Ever since then, Ciantir Beach in Sawarna has been a favorite for professional surfers, as the waves are huge and crazy. It is not recommended for surfing beginners, for those Indian Ocean waves might just roll you away.

Surfers are not the only ones who need to be warned. Suwalim said in 1994 some military students were struck by huge waves while posing for photos on the beach’s reef.

Walk to remember: Long walks through serene rice fields are required to get to some of Sawarna’s striking locations.A similar situation was even observed — a photographer was bowled over by a 17-meter-high wave while trying to get closer to the reef. Luckily, he had his backpack to protect his head from smashing into the reef behind him.

But these stories of disaster do not mean you cannot play around in the water in Sawarna. Just be aware that nature is way stronger than man.

Aside from the unpredictable nature of the sea, Sawarna’s beaches offer fantastic natural beauty. Tanjung Layar Beach has a local landmark — two giant triangle-shaped reefs. Next to those are long reefs that protect the shore from the waves. At a glance it looks like a horizontal waterfall.

The isolated, almost private beach of Lagun Pari has another geological blessing. With two barrier reefs at the end of the bay, Lagun Pari gets its name from what it looks like — a lagoon.

This beautiful spot is not easily reached. One has to ascend and descend hills, cross rivers and walk along pathways through rice fields for a few hours before reaching Lagun Pari.

Walking along the coastline from Lagun Pari to Tanjung Layar, there is an unnamed spot, an arrangement of maroon lava stones from the eruption of Krakatau that form two natural paths when the tide is low.

A friend said he had never seen this stone arrangement before, even though he had visited Sawarna four times. If you are lucky, you will be there when the tide is low to see this.

Cavernous: A group of Health Wealth RocknRoll explorers discovers Sawarna’s beauty.Another mesmerizing experience is to dip your feet into the wet mud of Lalay Cave; it is like walking on jelly. You need to get wet to explore the cave, for a river flows inside. The trail is slippery, so
step carefully.

At the back of the cave is a very narrow tunnel, and no one knows where it leads. A couple of years ago a group of college students entered that tunnel and no one has heard from them again. Even at the small tunnel’s entrance one can feel the air getting thinner.

Lalay is the Sundanese word for bat, although no one saw any. According to a myth, the cave is where the name for Sawarna village came from. It is said there was a continuous quarrel between the northern and southern Javanese.

Lalay Cave, also known as Lebak Jati Cave, was the place where the two groups ended their war and reached seven agreements. That is why the area is called Sawarna, which means one color
or harmony.

Nature’s path: At low tide a natural path appears, created from volcanic rock.Walking north from Ciantir Beach is Langir Cave, this cave filled with bats as their sounds could be heard all around. Unlike the previous cave, this remote cave is quite dry and the air inside was stale and hot.

Sawarna is a great place to explore. Although there are long walks on rocky shores and slippery hillsides and the danger of suddenly being struck by a wave, Sawarna provides numerous adventures, always ending with a magnificent sunset.

No need to bring any fancy stuff with you except your camera, as you won’t want to miss a beautiful inch of Sawarna and its charms.

— Photos By JP/Florence Nathania