Ujung Kulon
Offers a wide rang of reef diving. Depths here range from 8 meters to 15
meters. The reefs around the park are well preserved offering spectacular
coral formations and rich diversity of tropical reef life.
Ujung Kulon and the South Western Straits
At the South Western end of the Sunda Straits lies Ujung Kulon National Park.
Ujung Kulon National Park protects one of the last extensive remaining areas
of lowland rain forest in Java and is of special importance for the
conservation of Java rhinoceros. In addition, the coastal coral reef
environment ranks among the richest in Indonesia. The point to point ocean
boundary encloses Ujung Kulon Peninsula and the offshore islands of Pulau
Handeuleum and Pulau Peucang, whilst the island of Pulau Panaitan is separated
by the 10km wide Panaitan Straits. The eastern boundary follows contours along
the eastern foothills of the Gunung Honje massif.
Pulau Panaitan/Pulau Peucang Nature Reserve was established in 1937, Ujung
Kulon Nature Reserve in 1958 and Gunung Honje Nature Reserve established in
1967. In 1980, the nature reserves of Ujung Kulon Peninsula, Panaitan Island,
South Gunung Honje, North Gunung Honje and the Krakatau Islands were declared
a Proposed National Park. On 1 February, 1992, the Proposed Ujung Kulon
National Park complex was declared a World Heritage Site following inscription
on the UNESCO World Heritage List in December 1991
Krakatau Group:
The still very active volcanic activity makes diving in this area unique.
Around Anak Krakatau there is an interesting combination of developed hard
coral reefs interspersed with newer lava flows which are raw landscapes with
only the first signs of life beginning to appear.
On Rakarta there are some fantastic wall dives that drop strait down from the
shore line, Pulau Pangang and Rakarta offer some well preserved hard coral
reefs
Krakatau and the Islands of the North West Straits:
The North Western Sunda Straits are dominated by several uninhabited or
sparsely inhabited islands. The most famous of these is Anak Krakatau; the
active volcano that only appeared from beneath the sea in the 1930’s and today
reaches up to a height of over 400m. Apart from the Krakatau Archipelago,
which comprises of 4 islands, there is also
Sibuku, Sebesi, Sangyang and The Lagundi Islands.
These islands offer a range of activities from climbing the active cone of
Anak Krakatau volcano to beach combing the deserted white beaches of Sibuku
and Lagundi. They also offer a wide range of diving including wrecks, walls
and coral reefs. |
