Karimun Jawa,
a group of islands in the Java Sea, a few miles northeast of the city
of Jepara, Central Java, is a haven for coral reefs, mangroves, and
coastal forests. Karimunjawa,
which has a land area of 1,500 hectares and waters of 110,000
hectares, is an excellent habitat for nearly 400 species of marine
fauna.Publications
of the ecological environment in the relatively still awake until now,
because of the 27 islands in the archipelago Karimunjawa only five are
inhabited, while 22 islands pristine, beautiful and a virgin. The islands are inhabited island Karimunjawa, Kemujan, Mosquito, Parang, and Genting.
Looking
charm, panorama, as well as natural wealth owned Karimunjawa, since
March 15, 2001, Publications has been established by the Government of
Jepara as a National Park to protect the natural wealth of coral reefs,
mangroves, coastal forests and marine fauna kepualaun it.Some
of the rare species that live comfortably in Karimunjawa, including sea
eagles white chest, hawksbill and green turtles, as well as the
approximately 242 species of ornamental fish.Panorama
and the natural resources are owned by Karimunjawa often tempt tourists
come to the island although they had a long journey. They usually visit Menjangan Besar.Big Menjangan Island is an island that is used for breeding center sharks, sea turtles, and eagle. On the island, tourists can see firsthand a very vicious sea predator that.The
visitors who have more guts can also swim or do snorkeling and swimming
pool shark captivity accompanied dozens of sharks benign.Visitors
can also see the beauty of the coral reefs of Menjangan Small boats
have been equipped with a glass in the bottom of the boat hull. Through the glass, visitors can see different kinds of coral reefs and pristine coral animals.Currently
there are hotel or home stay on the island Karimunjawa, for tourists
who want to spend the night in Karimunjawa, because sea travel in
Karimunjawa rides will not be resolved in one day.
Adventure to Karimunjawa does cost money, effort, and time is not small. To
rent a boat in need of funds at least once a lease approximately
200,000, while to stay at the hotel, travelers must spend at least
100,000 permalam-300 000. "Until
now there are about 30 units Karimunjawa Island home stay is always
crowded every weekend," said Regent of Jepara, Hendro Martojo.Tourists usually not be satisfied if only one day in Karimunjawa. They will usually hire a boat on the second day to get around the island. "Adventurers are fond of diving can visit Pine Island Pine Island Big and Small," he said.On
the island, visitors can dive in deep waters to enjoy the beauty of
coral reefs and other marine animals directly, or snorkeling in the
shallow waters around the island are.Access LimitationsIn order to attract tourists Karimunjawa, Jepara regency long enough capture these opportunities. Jepara
Regent Hendro Martojo said the number of foreign tourists visiting the
Publications every year around 2,600 people, while domestic tourists
numbered about 7,000 people."We
continually strive to increase the number of tourists, both foreign and
domestic to visit Karimunjawa, but the obstacles faced was access to
transportation Karimunjawa quite difficult," he said.Access
to transportation to Karimunjawa can be reached from Semarang aboard
Motor (KM) 1 with Kartini takes about 3-4 hours, while when departing
from Jepara only takes about 2.5 hours.Another alternative is to use KM Muria, but with a longer travel time of about 5-6 hours from Jepara. "KM Kartini one is faster, but more expensive than the KM Muria," said Heri, a tourist from Semarang.Until now, access to the Publications can only be reached by sea with a very limited number of vessels. "We've
actually been proposed to Mr. Mardiyanto (while still serving Governor
of Central Java) for the addition of a small boat," said Hendro Martojo.
But until now the plan has not been realized.According to Hendro, limited transportation greatly affect the number of tourists visiting the Publications. Currently
Jepara regency is also working to expand access to the Publications by
developing the only airport in Karimunjawa, Dewandaru airport runway to
be extended."Dewandaru
airport currently only has a runway length of about 900 meters, and
will be added to about 1400-1500 meters," said Hendro. Jepara
regency, he said, took the Central Java provincial government and the
central government in the development of the airport.He
said, Jepara regency and province of Central Java is only responsible
for providing the land, while the central government will take care of
airport infrastructure Dewandaru. "We
allocated approximately Rp3-4 billion for an area of about four
acres, and construction is expected in 2010 has already begun," said
Hendro.Dewandaru
airport development intended to facilitate the landing of large
aircraft, so the level of tourist visits to the famous Karimunjawa
Dewandaru plants (crystocalyx macrophyla) will be increased.In
addition to the problem of limited transportation, development
Karimunjawa also constrained by an electrical problem, because the
supply of electricity to Karimunjawa rely solely on diesel power
generators (diesel) with limited capabilities. "However, we are also developing wind power plants (coal-fired plant)," he said.Further obstacles facing the development Karimunjawa is communication access. "In
the event of big waves, the communication with the Jepara Karimunjawa
disconnected for weeks due to no one dared ships at sea," said Hendro
