Pulau Pisang, A Magical Island across West Coast of Lampung

Welcome to the island

I should have stayed at home. Doing everything at home like reading books, watching movies, keeping parents’ shop, playing with dogs and sleeping in, doing everything only at the house, was all the plans I’d arranged before going back to Liwa. There would be no going out but watching Sekura Party. Plans finally were ruined. I went out with some friends who all of sudden came to my hometown and asked me to accompany them and absolutely, that was impossible to be denied as a host.

First, It was begun with my cousin Ben and his girlfriend Uci from Tangerang coming to our home for spending their holiday. So, they asked me and my brother Vincent to accompany them to the ocean. For them and many people, beach with big waves was rare to see.

Uci and Ben, you guys are cool.

Our home is in a hilly regency called Liwa, yet we can reach the ocean only in an hour by motorcycle. Liwa is the best place you can stay where you can go to many sorts of places like the rice field, mountain, plantation, forest, lake, waterfall, ocean, etc. Of course, it takes time so long to reach our home, 8 hours from Bandar Lampung City, but you’ll be delighted here.

Mandiri beach, one of the most popular beaches for surfing

So we first headed to Mandiri beach in Biha, one of the most popular beaches for surfing there. It was so crowded because everybody in the world was still celebrating the big holiday by having a vacation as well. In Liwa, most people will spend their long holiday visiting the beaches in Krui and Lake Ranau.
  

While we sat enjoying the wave and the people, suddenly, Uci started asking us about Pulau Pisang and how to get there. Literally, pulau means island, and pisang means banana. It is called so because there were a lot of banana trees. To reach the island, people can go by a boat called jukung from Kuala Stabas or Tebakak dock. So, we decided to pack our stuff and head to Tebakak, the closest dock to the island. Less than half hour, we were already there.

Pulau Pisang from Tebakak. Technically, no dock here yet.

Tebakak is just a small village along the country road. We parked our motorcycles right on the side of the road, just like that. We didn’t need to be afraid of theft, because no one would. Then, we went to the beach as I said dock, a stony beach where the boat would come to pick the passengers up. The fare was only Rp25.000,- per person for a trip. I just realized that the price was so cheap. I thought it would be more expensive even less it was a holiday.

Just arrived from the island.

It was my first time to pass the big wave of The Indian ocean (Samudra Hindia). It was really immense. We felt like we were on a roller coaster I guessed. I’ve never been on it. The boat went up and down but the captain was skillful to control the boat and the passengers got splashed. I was told by the captain to sit right at the bow of the ship and it was a pleasure and I didn’t get splashed anymore.

Pulau Pisang, exotic island in Lampung, Southern Sumatra.

Sea is a vitamin, no littering.

The captain asked me where we came from by speaking Lampung language. I answered if we came from Liwa by the same language, too. Then, he laughed loudly and said, “Hahahaha, no wonder you are all shouting. You never go to the island if you never get wet.” “Leluangan ombak ni, Pak (how crazy the waves are, Sir)”, I said, then we laughed loudly together.

The dock of the island.

The more we got close to the island,  the lighter the color of sea was. Less than 30 minutes, we four finally stepped our feet on the most tremendous island in Lampung. The captain told us to pay Rp20.000,-. Wow, amazing! I guessed this was because of the power of language. The sky was so blue and the sea was so blue, too. The sand was really bright and the wave touching the coast seemed like to come into it. The island is magical. No wonder why people out there desire to come to this island. I found a luck of the devil.

Will you spend your leisure time here?

The lighthouse of the island.

Queuing to the top.

My brother Vincent.

The village from the top of lighthouse.

The island was not so small as I guessed. To explore all the entire island, we needed to rent a motorcycle or bicycle, so we just walked a third of the island. We climbed the hill to the lighthouse not far from the big village Pasar Tugu. From it, we could see all the island. We were sightseeing to prove that the island consisted of banana trees, but in fact, coconut trees dominated the island.

Elementary School of Pulau Pisang, a Dutch heritage which still stands here.

Here we can find an elementary school which was built from Dutch colonization. Most of the houses have the same model of construction. Those are different from many conventional houses in Indonesia, houses in Pulau Pisang have a two-leaf door and symmetric shutters. There is no car in Pulau Pisang, they use motorcycle or bicycle as the main transportation in the island.

Big Mosque on the island.

typical appearance of the house in Pulau Pisang. The door has 2 shutters and tall.

It’s almost 5 pm, we had to go back or no boat would come. We went back across the sea by riding the same boat again. Then, we went to Labuhan Jukung beach, the nearest beach for enjoying the sunset. The trip had made my day. I just realized that an unplanned plan will always surprise me. I hope someday I have time to explore this island more.