Bangkaru Island Tour:
Bangkaru Brochure in English
Bangkaru Brochure in indonesian
Turtle Conservation
Intro to Bangkaru
Bangkaru Island, which covers an area of 15 thousand hectares, is a turtle conservation island included in the Banyak Islands Marine Nature Tourism Park.
From MB Palambak Island Resort it takes about 2 hours to reach by chartered speedboat.
Bangkaru is very strategic for saving turtles from threats. The location is far from residential areas. Every night, up to 30 individuals come to this island to lay their eggs.
The challenge of turtle conservation in Aceh is not only egg hunting, but also turtle hunting in the sea for their meat.
There are 3 (three) types of turtles that often lay their eggs on Bangkaru Island, namely the Green Turtle (Chelonia mydas) and the Leatherback Turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) and the Hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata), all of which are strictly protected under Indonesian Law.
The Tour Itself
Journey there: can be rough
From palambak, the journey to Bangkaru takes 2 hours by speedboat. expect to leave Palambak at 1000 and arrive at Bangkaru at 1130. The speed driver will introduce you to the site rangers/guides. after lunch, explore and swim. the first turtle watching tour will be after dinner at about 2100. The following morning wake up at about 0600 and go on the second turtle watching tour. have breakfast back at the camp and then leave to go back at about 1100.
Bangkaru can only be reached by speedboat because of the geography of the landing site and the high waves. it can a rough ride in and cannot be reached by slowboat. Speedboat is the most expensive transport, which makes the tour a lot more expensive than if it could be reached by slowboat. The Speedboat and driver will wait for you at Bangkaru.
accommodation: simple
Once at Bangkaru you will check into your room at camp.
they have a house with 5 rooms shared among guests and staff, another tiny house, and a house with the kitchen.
there are 2 squat toilets and 2 taps outside.
day 1 activities:
-swimming, playing cards and relaxing.
arriving at about lunch time, you can swim or play card games and relax. there are high waves around the whole island so when swimming be careful. You can snorkel the rebuilt reefs, but need to bring your own gear.
-lunch
-dinner
-turtle observing tour at 2100. The rangers will take you to the amandangan beach, which is a 15 min walk through the jungle and a 30 walk along the beach. you can observe the wildlife on the way.
day 2 activities:
-turtle observing tour at 0700 The rangers will take you to the amandangan beach, which is a 15 min walk through the jungle and a 30 walk along the beach. you can observe the wildlife on the way.
-breakfast.
-head back to Palambak by speedboat at about 1100.
Food:
At Bangkaru the custom is to bring your own food supplies for the Bangkaru staff to cook up. This will be organized by us.
What to bring: head torch, snorkelling gear.
Note: no cellphone signals or internet. staff have a satellite phone but it is not always on.
Tour Cost
1 nIGHT tour:
Rp.4.8m for 2 persons (rP.2.4M/pERSON)
2 nIGHT tour:
Rp.9m for 2 persons (rP.4.5M/pERSON)
theoretically IF YOU WANT TO EXTEND A NIGHT YOU HAVE TO PAY ANOTHER rp.400K.PERSON/NIGHT (ACCOMMODATION: rP.200K, bksda: rP.100K, fOOD: rP.100K) but the actual price charged is a lot more.
for BKSDA Entrance fees for Locals are only Rp.5k on Weekdays and Rp.7.5k on Weekends!
The majority of the tour price goes to the speedboat cost in getting there and back which is a shame because it ends up quite a lot. the more people in your group the cheaper it works out, so why not share the tour with other guests.
