Pulau Macan

Obviously, one of the biggest draws to living in Indonesia is the easy access to thousands of   beautiful tropical islands. This weekend we decided to take the plunge and start exploring!

Waiting for the boat

Pulau Macan (Tiger Island) is about an hour and a half speedboat ride from Jakarta. It is one of the “Thousand Islands” off the shores of Jakarta. This cluster of small islands is largely uninhabited but quite a few have “eco-type resorts.” These run without electricity and use a combination of solar power, battery generators and rainwater to keep them operating. The island we were heading to is one of the more distant islands from Jakarta. Unfortunately, there is a terrible amount of pollution in the waters surrounding Jakarta The infrastructure of this densely populated city leaves the poor with little choice but to use the rivers to dump their waste and sewage. They warn us that plastic often gets caught in the speedboat motors and we could expect stops to free the propellers. The farther we go outside of Jakarta, the cleaner and clearer the water will be.

Am I the only one excited to be on this boat?

We left our apartment for the pier early in the morning and by 10 am it was literally like we were in a different world! Obviously, getting an hour and a half outside of Jakarta is enough! We pulled up to an island surrounded by crystal blue waters and gorgeous tropical trees. The island is very small and we walked the entire island in less than 5 minutes.

After a quick breakfast of fresh fruit, eggs and fried rice we were escorted to the Zen Hut, our home for the next few days. Our jaws dropped at the magnificent view!

There are no doors and no air conditioning, just nets around the beds and a couple fans. We didn’t need to worry, as we slept like babies every night we were there!

After quickly unpacking, we changed into our bathing suits and headed to the equipment hut. They have kayaks, paddle boards and snorkeling equipment available so we hopped into a kayak and took a 5 minute paddle to a deserted island we could see from the shore. We set our towels on the beach and walked the even smaller island to take a couple pictures of the gorgeous scenery.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to catch a photo of myself or the huge monitor lizard when I obviously interrupted his nap to snap a picture of the view. I definitely scared him as much as he scared me! There are no tigers on Tiger Island, but the 3-5 foot monitor lizards will certainly keep you on your toes! 

This is exactly like the one that scared me to death!

We decided to stick to the sand and we spent the next few hours snorkeling around the island and reading books on the beach. Not a bad place to relax!

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We returned back to the main island for lunch and then joined the two other couples who were vacationing on the island for a snorkeling tour. We saw sea turtles, puffer fish, incredible bright blue and purple starfish, angel fish, sting rays, Moray eels and beautiful shells and corals. It was so hard to believe that we were just a short boat ride from Jakarta!

Each night we enjoyed a delicious buffet dinner of assorted Indonesian foods. When they started cracking open fresh coconuts and pouring in a bit of Malibu rum, we were the first to reach the beachside bar!

They have a clubhouse with pool, ping pong and games, but we spent most evenings in our beautiful bungalow playing cards and enjoying the amazing sunsets. This will definitely become Michael’s go to place when he wants to decompress! I am sure it will also be one of the first places we will be bringing guests! Please visit soon, so I can go back!