Desperately Seeking Seclusion? Indonesia’s Best Deserted Beaches

Desperately Seeking Seclusion?

Apr 9th, 2009, in IM Posts, Opinion, Travel, by Chris

View the original article here.

24 Comments on “Desperately Seeking Seclusion?”

Mike Says:
April 9th, 2009 at 5:44 pm
Nice post. I am about to take a trip through Indonesia so I hope to visit some of these places.
Ron Says:
April 10th, 2009 at 4:46 am
Been to Lombok and of course Mawan Beach. Beautiful beach, friendly people!
ET Says:
April 10th, 2009 at 1:49 pm
The Gili’s in Lombok are fine for those who want to get away for a while from the hustle and bustle of the Bali beaches, but it seems Gili Trawangan is catching up.
Mooie stranden | Secondlife4us Says:
April 10th, 2009 at 3:09 pm
[...] niet. Dat is overigens wel meer mensen opgevallen want toevallig las ik gisteren een bericht op deze site. En wat zie ik daar? Mawan Beach in het zuiden van Lombok! 3 minuten rijden van een stuk grond wat [...]
heny Says:
April 10th, 2009 at 5:28 pm
Mooie stranden/secondlife4us,

Duhh…niet netjes nich…

Ini kan forum engelstalig..
Pena Budaya Says:
April 10th, 2009 at 5:30 pm
Also I would like to add on how beautiful underwater life in Indonesia. I love this underwater photography collection from Edwin Kodiat. I wish to have his talent and his opportunity to dive the underwater world of Indonesia. In otherhand, I hope increasing maritime tourism won’t kill their beauty…
David Says:
April 10th, 2009 at 7:18 pm
Mooie stranden/secondlife4us,

Duhh…niet netjes nich…

Ini kan forum engelstalig..

It’s an automated trackback from his site, not a comment he wrote here
hary Says:
April 13th, 2009 at 3:11 pm
I have been to Mawan as well. Superb! Best of all, the water is only waist high for about 200m out to see with a sandy bottom.
Not sure about GiliT though. Being able to get sloshed in an Irish bar is not my idea of an unspoilt island. -Tir Na Nog!!!
Karimunjawa is impressive, although a little expensive to stay on.
Lairedion Says:
April 13th, 2009 at 3:48 pm
I went to Ambon, Haruku, Saparua and Seram once, long before the riots of the late nineties. Stunning beaches out there….
Odinius Says:
April 13th, 2009 at 11:13 pm
Pelabuhan ratu on the south side of Java!
hary Says:
April 14th, 2009 at 5:27 pm
Hi O,
You can’t be serious. Pelabuhan Ratu must be one of the worst beaches around. You should get out more.
Lairedion Says:
April 14th, 2009 at 5:37 pm
Agree with hary. Topic is about seeking seclusion. Pelabuhan Ratu is nothing of a secluded spot.
Odinius Says:
April 14th, 2009 at 10:55 pm
Hi O,
You can’t be serious. Pelabuhan Ratu must be one of the worst beaches around. You should get out more.

haven’t been there since 2003, but when i went it was almost completely empty, and had quite a good time. remember it not unlike this

not gili quality or anything, but convenient if you are sitting in Jakarta and want beach. But maybe it’s changed since then?
Mike Oxblack Says:
April 20th, 2009 at 2:20 pm
Lonely Planet author Muhammad Cohen.

Top name.

Pelabuhan Ratu is great and usually very empty. Wide sandy beaches, great seafood, beautiful hills, hot springs. I say P. Ratu rocks….aside from the Ozzie surfers who do my nut in.
Ric Atencia Says:
April 23rd, 2009 at 10:07 am
Indeed the Republilc of Indonesia, with its more than 17,000 islands, is blessed with inspiring places such as the scenic and lovely islands dotting the world’s largest archipelagic country.

I believed that many of these places are still not yet developed for tourism but someday they will.

My country, the Philippines, has about 7,100 islands and mind you we have many similarities. I had the opportunity of working in Indonesia and it is not only the islands that attracted me but the people who are warm, pious and law-abiding.

Tourists need to discover Indonesia, not only the islands in Bali or Lombok. There’s plenty around!

I believed that if not for the breakdown of peace and order in some parts of western Mindanao, the places the tourists could visit someday would be the island chains of Jolo and Tawi-Tawi, bordering the Republic of Indonesia. There are many islands here that would inspire a traveller.

Someday, when peace is restored and it is near!
Odinius Says:
April 23rd, 2009 at 1:29 pm
Muhammed Cohen is now my hero, both for his incredible stupid-assumptions-about-jews-and-muslims-defying name and his taste in beaches.
David Says:
April 23rd, 2009 at 1:32 pm
Muhammad, best I could find, shy fellow
brian astaga Says:
January 1st, 2010 at 9:24 pm
google earth…cant believe I sit on it and look for secluded indonesian beaches, now this topic has come up, ill throw some photos up from there, wow 18000 islands WWTTFF
Chris Says:
April 15th, 2010 at 11:27 am
A different Indonesian beach appeared on a recent Lonely Planet weekly email: “Top 10 Best Beaches To Swing a Hammock“:

#10 Punalu’u, USA
#9 Ko Pha-Ngan, Thailand
#8 North Stradbroke Island, Australia
#7 Isla Mujeres, Mexico
#6 Kei Islands, Maluku
#5 Pulau Perhentian, Malaysia
#4 Kerala Coast, India
#3 Jambiani, Tanzania
#2 Curonian Spit, Lithuania
#1 Dahab, Egypt

It says about Kei Islands:

There’s a growing chorus that says these remote white-sand beaches are the finest the world has to offer. Development has been slow around the Kai archipelago, so the beaches remain unspoilt and as nature intended. If you’re not big on pristine powdery sands, azure seas, rare and varicoloured birds, arresting fish and wondrous coral reefs, then stay away. Everyone else: enjoy. Upon arrival at Pasir Panjang or Kei Kecil, you’ll find locals ready to organise accommodation for you in a basic beach cottage; ensure that the agreed price includes the daily delivery of fresh water and meals.

However, one commentator, markbek, was unimpressed and questioned its selectors:

Dear LP – who writes this kind of list? Probably not the relevant authors from your books or else you’d be using the name Kei Islands (as in your Indonesia book) rather than Kai Islands (the misleadingly Wikipedia version) and you might notice that Pasir Panjang is on Kei Kecil (so the sentence “Upon arrival at Pasir Panjang or Kei Kecil…” is confusing/meaningless).

And while I heartily agree that Pasir Panjang has powdery white sands and azure seas and is thus a brilliant place to hang a hammock (the point of this article), the Kei/Kai islands are not so well known for ‘wonderous coral reefs’.

Anyway, what I’m wondering is this: Can anyone can tell me – having visited themselves – whether the Kei Islands are truly one of Indonesia’s best deserted beaches?
Purba Negoro Says:
April 15th, 2010 at 6:57 pm
I personally recommend Karimun off Jawa Tengah.

Even on Java island alone- there are plenty of isolated beaches.
Just keep your clothes on- (no nudism allowed in Indonesa) and you will be fine.

Also for Jakartans the Thousand Islands Pulau Seribu including historic Onroest are very nice.
My daughter likes the diving.

Even Bidadari off Ancol isn’t bad. 20-30 minutes away and you feel like an explorer.

As per Kai- I would not recommend. It may be isolated but that also means lack of emergency medicine.
There is Kalimantan Selatan- which is very isolated.
Sulawesi has much to offer
East Nusatengara , Sumba, Sula, Ternate (many isolated beaches). All good.
stanis heatubun Says:
August 20th, 2010 at 8:21 pm
Please go to the white clearest beach on earth in island of kei in south east mollucas , take a charter flight from Darwin north australia only trough 800 kms, there was a best of best beach of Indonesia, no others story and many others interest island
tom aerts Says:
March 9th, 2011 at 11:05 am
kei is definitely one of the best in info,together with some offshore islands in the togians(off malenge )but there are others,pulau molana,pulau banyak(sumatra)….but my overall favourite is without a doubt Derawan….
Fina Says:
September 11th, 2011 at 4:02 pm
Dont forget Weh Island in Aceh, Island around Bangka Belitung in Sumatera and Raja Ampat in Papua Indonesia. And one more island around Karakatoa mountain. Deeply in love with my own country
Thomas Schuett Says:
January 19th, 2012 at 6:05 am
Hello from the three-River-City Passau in Bavaria/Germany. While studying in my early years at Munich/Bavaria I became friendship to some students from Indonesia and so a lot of interest in this country. This is why I took a trip through the Island-World … unfortunately only by Google-Earth ! Nevertheless i found those pearls like Kakaban and Derewan that led me to your sites where the corresponding pictures gave me a better imagination of paradise. So many thanks for your efforts and please go on . Thomas Schuett