Short Trip to Pasir Putih Beach - Situbondo

24-25 Desember 2010

During Christmas long weekend we actually already have plan to visit Mount Bromo, but due to recent condition of Bromo, we decided to look for other safe place to visit. Having asked for recommendation from some friends, we decided to go to Pasir Putih Beach located at Situbondo-East Java.
Since my father and mother in law are visiting the city, it’s also a good chance for them to spend quality time with Habibi.
We departed from Surabaya on Friday Dec 24th at around 10 am, and come across traffic at Jl. Raya Porong for around one hour. After finally manage to pass Porong and Gempol, the traffic was normal. We stopped by for having lunch and pray at Rumah Makan (Restaurant) Tengger located just beside the main road on Pasuruan. The place offers great Indonesian meal and relaxing place, but unfortunately the price was a bit expensive. All four of us spent around Rp 180.000 for lunch by having roasted chicken, lalapan, and tea.

Mount Bromo Volcanic Ash – Probolinggo
Trying to forget the price of the lunch, we continue the journey. Creepy thing happened when we passed Probolinggo. We actually already knew that volcanic ashes from Mount Bromo are spreading to some areas, but we didn’t know how bad it was before we experienced it ourselves. I was surprised with the drastic changes outside the car. Bright sunny day suddenly replaced by a dark-evening-like atmosphere with limited vision (approx. 10 meters only). All people there wore masks; trees and roofs are covered by dark ash from the mountain. I had to pull over for a while to wait for another car to pass, since actually canceling the trip has come across my mind that time considering the safety of my family.
We continued the journey after realizing that many cars are continuing the trip, and gradually the surrounding is getting brighter as we move further from Probolinggo. After a quick stop at PLTU Paiton we finally arrived at Pasir Putih Beach Area before nightfall.

Enjoying Pasir Putih Beach
After visiting some venues to spend a night, we decided to stay at Hotel SidoMuncul, a nice hotel that offers various types of room with reasonable price. The price range started from Rp 590.000 for the suites to a simple room with no air conditioner for Rp 80.000.
Since we’ve missed the sunset, we only spend the night enjoying the air of the beach and having Bakso for dinner.
On the next day, all of us went to enjoy the beach. The silky-sand and clear water beach with friendly wave is a perfect place for healing my son beach-phobia. After a while he was able to enjoy the beach and accompany me in finding small beach creatures. We also got the chance to go to an interesting spot of beautiful coral reefs using a local boat that cost only Rp 50.000.

Journey Back to Surabaya
After enjoying the beach, we headed back to Surabaya on midday. The story on the way back is far better, since the volcanic ash is not as bad as previous day and on the way back, we found a great Padang restaurant; RM Padang Siang Malam. The trip back is faster since there’s no traffic and we all arrive safely back to Surabaya before 5 in the afternoon.

Alhamdulillah