Holiday Ayo - Sukamade Beach is not a typical beach where tourists come to swim, sunbathe, or snorkel. The beach welcomes another kind of visitor, such as the sea turtles.

Located deep at Meru Betiri National Park, Sukamade beach is a favorite nesting ground for turtles.

Sukamade Beach is about 97 km southwest of Banyuwangi. It is a natural and quiet, a beautiful place. Sukamade beach is the center of the turtle’s conservation program in Meru Betiri National Park. The beach was discovered in 1927 by Dutch colonial and serving as a turtle sanctuary ever since. Every night, green turtles crawl their way out from the ocean to lay eggs. In the past, up to 80 turtles could come to Sukamade every night. But, the number is only a handful these days. On a certain day, it can be none. The light coming from fishing boats assume to be one of the causes, as it scares the turtles away.

Aside from green turtles, there are 3 other species nesting at Sukamade: olive ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys Olivacea), hawksbill sea turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata), and leatherback turtles.

A night adventure tour to Sukamade is an unforgettable trip. You will be guided by a natural resource to find sea turtles come to a shore to lay eggs. You can see a female turtle lays more than one hundred eggs on the sandy beach.

The female turtles usually start landing at 7:30 pm and return to the sea at 12:00 pm. November to March is the peak season for laying eggs.

How To Get To Sukamade Beach

A trip to Sukamade is 90 minutes drive from Banyuwangi to Rajegwesi’s village. After, there’s still 18 km from the park’s entrance to Sukamade beach. In total it would take 3-5 hours to get to Sukamade.

The best transportation mode is rental cars, preferably off-road ones. The route is Banyuwangi – Jajag –  Pesanggaran – Sarongan –  Rajegwesi –  Sukamade. There’s a public transport option but it will take even longer.

For public transport options, people can hop the Damri bus from Jajag bus station to Sarongan village. Then head to Rajegwesi village using a motorcycle taxi. From there, visitors can rent park rangers’ vehicles to reach Sukamade beach.

The beach situated in Sarongan, Pesanggaran, Banyuwangi, East Java 68488.

Sukamade Beach Entrance Fee

There’s an entrance ticket to enter Meru Betiri National Park. Visitors will have to pay IDR 150.000 and IDR 225.000 during holidays. There is an extra cost to see the turtle conservation in Sukamade beach. And participation donation to release the baby turtle. Vehicles also pay an access fee, IDR 5.000 for motorcycles and IDR 10.000 for cars.