This super long holiday (3 whole months!) excites me. But sadly, I spent half of it doing nothing interesting (super bored). So I was so glad when my big family decided to visit Pangandaran 2 days after Lebaran, 20th July to be exact. We left at night and it took about 11 hours (including resting and we got stuck in traffic) to get there. We stayed 2 nights at Melia Beach Hotel for Rp 3.500.000 (holiday season so prices went up) and it was a walk away from Pangandaran beach. So whats interesting about Pangandaran is:
The attractions
1. Pangandaran Beach
Located just across the hotel, this beach is filled with people and shops. It has a no swimming sign cause of the huge waves but forget the rules cause people just dont care and wanna swim (without thinking about the danger). But overall, its a nice place to sit around, eat and enjoy the view (especially when the sun sets).
2. Pangandaran Sanctuary (Cagar Alam)
There will be alot of people offering a tour around the island with the price of Rp 250.000. You could hop on the boat from west or east (near the sanctuary) Pangandaran Beach. From the boat, we could see the view of the sanctuary and its white beaches from the sea. There are also a couple of houses in the middle of the ocean called “Rumah Bagang” that is used to catch shrimps and fishes. At night, it shines a light in the ocean to attract planktons and eventually attract alot of fishes and shrimps. We also saw a giant rock that is shaped like a sail called “batu layar”. 
Rumah Bagang 
Batu Layar
Me and my brother at the boat
Finally, the boat stopped at the beach where a group of monkeys and deers were peeking through the trees.
We visit a small cave that was known as the place where Dewi Renggani bathes. The special thing about the water is if you wash your face with it, it will give you eternal youth . The scientific explanation is the ph here is neutral because the water was absorbed by the hills through the limestone until it drops inside the cave. 
The next cave is called Parat Keramat. It is dark inside so I suggest you to bring a flashlight with you or rent one for Rp 10.000. There are lots of rocks such as batu gajah that resembles an elephant, batu jodoh that has a legend that if you took a picture there you could find your soulmate faster and my favorite one, batu gamelan that if you hit the rocks it has different sounds that sounds like gamelan cause of the difference resonance.
Batu Gajah 
Ando and Iko seeking for love at Batu Jodoh
2. Green Canyon
Pangandaran is famous for its green canyon. But wait, this canyon is different from the grand canyon. It is basically a greenish blue river that is surrounded by tall trees and cliffs. The water is really clear, you could see fishes and small crabs inside. There are 2 ways to explore this place, by boat or by body rafting. A 45 minute boat ride cost Rp 150.000 for a maximum load of 6 people. But the exploration is limited cause of the narrow river. So I recommend you to try body rafting for Rp 200.000/person cause you could explore further, but you have to have a good endurance cause to get to the river you have to ride a truck and walk quite far. Sadly I didnt get to try it cause I woke up late, so you have to go there at the morning.
3. Batu Hiu Beach
This is a beach with huge waves and a cliff. Its just beautiful and really clean. I spend most of my time here just staring at the ocean, relaxing. 
4. Snorkling
It cost Rp 250.000 for five of us to snorkle for an hour near the sanctuary. Cause Ando is afraid of water, he waits in the boat while the rest of us (Rido, Maya, my mom) jumped into the water. The water was clear and we get to feed the fishes with bread. It was cool to see different fishes gather around us the waves pushed us further from the boat so we sometimes have to swim towards the boat. The surprising thing is there are jelly fishes in the water! I have to be careful not to touch their tentacles but after 30 minutes in the water I felt a slight of pain on my feet. I decided to finish snorkling, assuming I was stung by a jelly fish (but it turns out that the sea water manage to get into my skin).
5. Night cycling
There are alot of bikes for rent here. The unique thing is that some of it was shaped as a cart and vw beatle (my favorite) with neons and music. These things definitely cause traffic but it doesnt stop me to rent a beatle bike for Rp 150.000/hour. It fits 4 people but there were 7 of us so we cramped inside it and Maya stands at the back of the “car”. It was really heavy to cycle but its just a fun thing to do at night! 
The food
The seafood here is fresh, delicious and relatively cheap so this is my main menu here. There are also food like bubur ayam, ketupat tahu and their friends. I also tried a popular noodle (I forgot the name). Oh yeah, and I love hanging out at Bamboo Cafe that is exactly infront of our hotel. They got free wifi (so important cause the reception there was bad), good food and live music (the menu said “party all night” LOL)
I began to notice how beautiful Indonesia is and cant wait to explore more! So why sit around at home when you have the energy to travel and do other useful activities?
firachika 