Indonesia has many volcanoes, active and unactive. One of its most known ones is Mount Bromo, part of the Tengger massiv. Laying in the Valley of the Sea of Sands with other four volcanoes, Bromo is the one that has drawn most attention of all.
Mount Bromo is an active volcano and being so, the danger of explosion is to be considered if you want to visit Bromo. The last eruption was in 2016, but you never know when it can happen again. If the authorities declare the site as dangerous due to increased activity, I would advice you not to go. Even if the danger isn`t on its maximum level, going to Bromo is something you have to overthink.
If you`ve made the decision to go, good for you, because you are about to experience one of the most incredible things to do in East Java!
When to go to Bromo
Don´t go on weekends. It´s a rule you should most certainly apply to any touristy places, because you will be squashed between people. Most tourists are Indonesians, but tourists are tourists and no one can enjoy a beautiful sunrise with hundreds of people around trying to get a picture.
And if it is possible for you to schedule this, try to catch good weather. We had a more or less cloudy morning and the sunrise was great, but we think it could have been even better, with no clouds. The sky cleared up after some hours and we got a really nice view, but at the start it was just clouds and fog and you couldn´t see anything. On the bright side, this gave us the chance to be really impressed when the fog finally gave way to the whole Sea of Sands lying below us with their five volcanos!
Getting to Bromo
There are different ways to get to Bromo. It will depend on how you are traveling Indonesia.
We were on a budget and traveled mostly with local transport. For Bromo we took a bus from Malang (the city we were staying at previously) to Probolingo and from there to Bromo. If you see it on the map it a whole detour, but there is no direct way from Malang to Bromo, or at least that´s what we were told. The bus from Probolingo to Bromo is controlled by a “mafia”. They watch every car that gets into the region of Bromo to drop of tourists. That´s why I wouldn´t advice you to get a Grab (uber-like app with motorbikes and cars to get you to your destination) to go there, it will bring a lot of trouble to the driver. They beat them up, if not something worse. Normally the driver himself will tell you he can´t get you there.
So the bus. They normally leave once a day. I can´t give you an exact hour, because the driver waits until the bus it´s full. That can be 20min, 1 hour, 2, hours, 3 hours. He doesn´t care, he will wait. We were there at 11:00am and left at 2:30pm. The bus can take around 12 people and they should charge you between 50 000 IDK to 80 000 IDK. Prices are never really settled in Indonesia so it can vary. We drove off with only 5 people in the bus, because the other three were ready to go, even if that meant paying more, and Alex and I were not given many other options. The ride took us about 2 hours, up and up, into the great cold of Bromo.
Other options are renting a car. This I would advice you if you are traveling with more people, alone would be waste of money. You can get car rentals for about 300 000 IDK a day, plus the gas.
Another way is renting a motorcycle, which would be good if you are traveling alone or with a partner and of course, if you are confident riding one of those. It should cost you around 60 000 IDK a day.
This two options obviously require you to be comfortable driving, because the rules in Indonesia are different. They drive on the left side and, well, there are practically no rules, so you have to be on your watch ALL THE TIME!
Where to stay in Bromo
Now that you are in Bromo I hope you have somewhere to stay. Ok, actually this step you should take care off before going to Bromo!
We stayed at the town of Cemoro Lawang, right next to the Sea of Sands, to be able to walk up to the viewpoint and get to see the sunrise!
If you are on a budget, like we were, your options are homestays. Homestays are normally good, but in Bromo one is worse than the other. We didn´t want to give to much money out for a few hours of sleep, so we scrolled through endless bad reviews at booking.com and settled for the best of the worst. It wasn´t that bad actually. We got a room in an excessively adorned house, but it was fine. The roomed smelled a little bit of humidity, the shower just had cold water, but that was the worst. Compared to the other places we had read about it was heaven. The others had no windowns, no sheets, no shower, no toilet, and on and on. Ours even had breakfast included. It´s called Sariadi Homestay.
If you want to be very comfortable for the night, you can choose to stay somewhere more far away from Cemoro Lawang and have someone pick you up very early in the morning to drive you to the viewpoint, or drive up yourself. That`s another valid option. There are hotels/guesthouses/homestays like: Bromo Terrace Hotel, Guesthouse Gunung Bromo or De Potrek Bromo Hotel and Restaurant (this are some ideas I took from booking.com based on rating, I haven´t actually stayed there).
The weather in Bromo
While the rest of Indonesia may be living in an eternal summer, Bromo is not. You are high up in the mountain and that means it gets cold, especially at 3:00am. Carry one pair of long pants, closed shoes, and at least a sweatshirt. You can rent coats at some hostels and hotels. We got ourselves some coats at Hotel Lava View Lodge for 20 000 IDK the day and they saved us. We were cold, but without this I don´t know what we would have done!
While you are walking you will be warm, but once you stay still, it will be freezing, at least until the sun comes out.
If you are going up with a jeep or motorbike, you could even carry a blanket with you, you won´t regret it!
Walking up to Seruni viewpoint
There are some options from viewpoints to chose from. One of the most known ones is King Kong Hill Viewpoint. We skipped it, because we figured if it is so known, it must be very crowded, and went to Seruni point instead. There is a road leading up the hill directly from the village. Walking up will take you around 40min–50min.
You can also go up with one of the jeeps, you´ll have to book that beforehand. One day before is fine. Or you can up in the back of a motorcycle. There are guys there all around offering to take you up.
And there are horses, but please don´t take this option. The pour animals aren´t living in the right conditions and you would only be supporting this abuse.
To go up you have to wake up at around 2:00-2:30 am to start going up at 3:00am. The sun starts to rise at around 5:00am. Of course, it depends on the time of the year. We were there in early September.
The best view
Once you are up, you can go ahead and climb all the stairs to the main viewpoint, where all the tourists crowd. Bur Alex and I, after being there, decided to go back down one station. We climbed over a tiny wall, no worries, nothing dangerous, and settled beside a tree. Use this tree as a sign to know where to go. Note: tree behind a low wall with excellent view.
We actually managed to keep this spot to ourselves throughout the whole sunrise. It was dark and nobody noticed us. We could take our pictures and enjoy the view. Once the sun was up and the people started coming down, they climbed over the wall to get their pictures, but by then we had enjoyed and kept on moving.
Climbing Mount Bromo
Now that you have seen the sunrise over Mount Bromo, it is time to get on and climb the volcano.
There is no direct way from the viewpoint to the volcano. You are standing at the edge of a cliff going down to the valley of the volcanoes and there is no way down, just around. We got back to Cemoro Lawang and from there we could have walked to the volcano, but we were going to be picked up at 9:00am to go to Ijen, so we had no time for walking. And looking back it would have been a lot harder than we thought. The valley is called the Sea of Sands for a reason. The whole floor is made of ash and volcano sand so walking through there would have been no fun.
We got into the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park through a side-path. You can judge all you want, but weren´t about to pay that mafia 200 000 IDK each, to get to the volcano. So we got into the first street right, before the main entrance, and through a tiny path to the left, through some houses and down on the other side. There we hired two motorcycle-guys for 50 000 IDK each, to get us to the volcano.
It was my first time riding a motorcycle and it was amazing! The landscape is beautiful and it was so much fun! If you want to do it with your own motorcycle, keep in mind, the floor is all sand, so it requires skill to drive around there!
They left us at the foot of the volcano and waited there. We went up walking. Here you can also take a horse, but I stay by my principles of not riding them.
The path up is covered in ash and sand, so your feet will be completely covered in it too.
When you get to the top, you will be left without words at the scene before you. You are standing so close to the edge! If that scares you, stay at where you are, if not, keep on walking round the crater. There will come a point where there is no railing any more, the only thing between you and the carter is your balance and your common sense. Don´t get to close!
I hope for your sake, that the wind is blowing in the other direction, keeping the smoke of your face, if not, I would advice you to have a cloth or something to cover your mouth and nose, you really don´t want to be inhaling all that smoke.
Wander around the crater as you like, the farther away you get from the main point where everybody climbs up, the lesser people there will be.
The view from up there is one of the most breathtaking things I have ever seen! You can see the whole in the center and the smoke coming out, it is amazing!
Stay up here as long as you want and when you are ready to go down, be ready for your next adventure, because this isn’t everything east Java has to offer!
To watch our video on this trip click here.
For more things to do in East Java check out my other posts!
Tumpak Sewu, the prehistoric waterfalls!
Comments
Great adventure and amazing views. Very good tips! How come is it allowed to climb to the very crater? It is too dangerous I think. Thanks for sharing your incredible photos.
Author
Yes it is allowed to climb to the rim of the crater. It´s dangerous and you do it on your own risk, but if you are careful nothing should happen. There is one part of the crater that has a rail, so if you are afraid you can stay there. But if you want to go further there is nothin between you and the crater.