"Pangandaran West Java" a Pangandaran Travel Page by DidiBeachBum

Pangandaran Beach is about 8 hour- drive from Jakarta or 6 hours from Bandung.
This is one of my favorite long weekend getaways. Me and my friends usually take earliest train to Bandung and then we rent a car from Bandung to Pangandaran. But nowadays since the new toll road has connected jakarta direct to bandung, in 2 hours you can reach there already.
There are plenty of beautiful places to see and activities to do in and around Pangandaran. The highlights are Batu Karas, Pangandaran National Park, Citumang River and the best part: Green Canyon.
You dont' expect white sandy beach here. Instead, black volcanic sand, but it's still pretty in its own way. I heard it's also very healthy for your skin :D

ONe place i would not miss is Batu Karas beach. It's located about 30 km from Pangandaran Beach. It's less crowded, great spot for amateur surfers, good food, no hawkers and plenty of cheap places to stay.
If you want to learn how to surf, Batu Karas is most definitely the best place.The beach has a large outcropping of coral that rises about twenty feet out of the sea. Smooth waves between two and four feet high breaks on the west side, aside from that the water is flat, since Batu Karas is in a bay shielded from the ocean surf. The weather is warm but not too warm, though the sun could quickly burn unprotected skin.

Citumang, located on the outskirts of Pangandaran is a gorgeous crystal clear river that flows out of a cave. It's a 15 minute walk from the village road down into the woods. The crystal clear water is disrupted only by the falling of leaves from the surrounding trees and a 2 meter waterfall. You can jump off the waterfall and swim underneath and you'd find a small cave behind the waterfall. Before the waterfall there is another bigger cave with vines growing up from all sides . The further in you swim, the darker it gets, and more fun