K

arimunjawa in Jepara regency is the only part of the province located at sea, sitting 45 nautical miles from the regency capital and 60 nautical miles from the provincial capital, Semarang.

Legend has it that Karimunjawa was founded by Sunan Muria, one of the nine wali songo, or men who brought Islam to Indonesia.

The story has it that Sunan Muria, concerned for a prodigal son, ordered him to go to an island that was kremun-kremun, or hazily seen in Javanese, from the peak of Mount Muria in order to broaden his religious knowledge, hence the name.

Karimunjawa is renowned for its natural tourism, with coral reefs, seaweed, pond weeds, diverse species, mangroves, mountains, coastal and lowland tropical forests, all integrated in a pristine National Marine Park.

Its fauna is also varied, including deer, long-tailed monkeys, large bats, tree rats, porcupines and civets.

According to Van Bemmel, Karimunjawa deer belong are a subspecies of Javnesea deer. Local residents, however, identify three species, Javanese deer, kendit deer (with white belts on the abdomen) as the largest species and wulung deer as the smallest.

Their body colors range from light brown to reddish dark brown.

The island'€™s aquatic fauna comprises 242 decorative fish species and 133 aquatic genera. There are also rare birds on Burung Island and Geleang Island, including white-bellied sea eagles, and two turtle species: hawksbill turtles and green turtles.

With its beautiful scenery relatively still unspoiled, Karimunjawa, comprising 27 islands covering 7,129 hectares of land and 107,225 hectares of water, offers gorgeous natural attractions through packages of marine tourism and adventure tourism.