Checking Out Anyer: Sambolo Beach and Bodyboarding

We had one public holiday, right in the middle of the week. On a Thursday. So did we stay in Jakarta and go to the malls? Nooooo thank you. You see, we soooo want to refresh ourselves and just be out in the outdoors again! (I really needed to take a break away from the daily busy-ness, routines, indoors, and traffic jams!) But, where can we go? What can we do as a family with 3 young children, given just ONE day?

Well, we decided to head over to ANYER beach! Together with a few other friends and their kids, we left early in the morning (to beat the traffic, you know, just in case!) Anyer is about 130km away from Jakarta, and we started driving out at around 6.30am! (Actually we left home at around 5.30am, and ate some porridge from a street stall for breakfast first =) The traffic was not bad, the highway was quiet alright, and ... we reached Anyer by around ... 8.45am! What a glorious, sunny, warm and very glary day! Haha.

And this is SAMBOLO BEACH, everyone! (Near Nuansa Bali Hotel, Anyer) Yes the weather was very warm, but I loveeeeeeed this kind of a day out! Been so long since we're in the outdoors like this!

Plus, Daddy and the 2 older kids tried out what bodyboarding was like, for the first time! And they loved it!

The beach was relatively clean. Not too big a crowd. And you know what? Though the 'shower area' has no lights, it was relatively clean, and the water was clean and super fresh!

Oh, we love the Krakatau view in the background too!

The younger ones (2-3 year olds) had some sand-play fun! Towards the end, Daddy carried Brie and walked amidst the waves too! Great experience! =D ... As for me, well I didn't come prepared for a totally-soaked day out, so other than snapping photos of everyone that day, I did rent this ATV and drove along the beach with Brie, haha. Too bad they didn't allow me speeding along the beach (for other beach-goers' safety lah =)

Anyway. We had a great day out! And our trip back to Jakarta took us about 2.5 hours. With all three kids sleeping in the car =)

Btw, here's some info to share with you: - Entrance to the beach : Rp50,000 / car - Rental of hut : Rp 60,000 each (comes with 'tikar', ie. rattan mats) - Freshly opened coconut : Rp8000 - Shampoo : Rp1000 / small sachet - Beach shorts sold at the shops : Rp30,000 (hehe... just in case you don't come prepared!) - Rental of bodyboards : Rp15,000 each - Rental of black tubes :Rp10,000 each - Rental of ATV : Rp60,000 / 20 minutes ride - Shower area : Rp3000 / person

And here's one cheesy photo of me and hubby to close the post, haha. Look forward to coming back here next time!!

... How to get to Sambolo Beach, Anyer: - Take 'Merak Toll Road' from Jakarta - Travel towards Merak, exit the toll road at 'Cilegon Barat' - After the toll gate, turn left, follow the signs to Anyer and Carita - You'll pass through the markets (a bit slow traffic), but just keep on driving along straight - Sambolo Beach is near Nuansa Bali Hotel, and this is BEFORE Marbella Hotel Have fun!