From Rivers to Megaterraces, Another Blessing of Pangandaran Nature

Santirah and Sukamulya offer alternative tourist destinations that are rich in nature and culture.

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Tourists enjoy the Santirah River Tubing attraction in Selasari Village, Parigi District, Pangandaran Regency, West Java, on Saturday (4/5/2024). The tourism attraction along the 1,500-meter-long Santirah River takes two hours to travel, passing through four caves and five waterfalls. This water tourism was opened in 2014 and is now managed by a village-owned enterprise (BUMDes).

Tourism in Pangandaran is not just beaches. The beauty at the eastern tip of West Java stretches from the rice fields to the river flow. Residents in the surrounding area also feel the many benefits.

Just come to Santirah, a tourist attraction in Tulisari Village, Parigi District, if you want to enjoy the sensation of river tourism. The distance is about 17 kilometers from the entrance gate to Pangandaran Beach.

Visitors are invited to enjoy the bends of the ancient river that forms a natural valley by using river tubing. Just sit on a car tire, anyone who comes will be treated to a cave with stalactites and adrenaline-pumping rapids.

It is not uncommon for visitors to get stuck on rocks as the tires they use are not sufficient enough to pass through the gaps that are filled with clear river water.

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"Watch your assets and hold on tight! There are no reserves here! Hang on tight!" shouted Septian Nugraha (28), a resident of Selasari Village who has been guiding visitors since 2014. The assets he referred to were not material possessions, but rather the derrieres of visitors as they crossed the rocks around the rapids.

The visitors who attended the attraction on that Saturday afternoon (4/5/2024) immediately lifted their hips to avoid the rocks at the bottom of the river. Occasional screams and laughter rose and fell with the sound of the rapids.

Darkness enveloped the river as it passed through four caves with varying lengths, ranging from Goa Gendang with a length of 10 meters, Goa Panjang Santirah (100 m), Goa Lengkob (8 m), and Goa Cukang Taneuh (10 m). In Goa Santirah, Septian and other guides turned off the lights and let visitors immerse themselves in darkness.

KOMPAS/AGUS SUSANTO

Tourists enjoyed the Santirah River Tubing attraction in Selasari Village, Parigi District, Pangandaran Regency, West Java, on Saturday (4/5/2024). The 1,500-meter journey along the Santirah River, passing through four caves and five waterfalls, took two hours to complete.

The calmness of these few minutes disappears as the river current starts to get stronger. Everyone prepares to swing together on inner tubes again. Along the way, visitors stop at a "kasbon" stall where they can pay later.

"Please, enjoy the delicious taste of bala-bala (fried fritter) when your body feels cold. You can pick the chillies straight from the tree," said Septian, pointing to a chilli tree with red and green fruits.

"The place is interesting, and it matches the description I saw on social media. This is my first visit, and I don't hesitate to come back," she exclaimed happily.

The enjoyment of visitors is also reflected in the happiness of the village residents who benefit from this tourist attraction. The Santirah river trip has been open to the public since 2014 and is now managed by Selasari Tourism Village.

Involve residents

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Abah Kunay, manager of the Santirah tourist attraction

Narli (58), who is affectionately called Abah Kunay, one of the founders and initiators of the Santirah water tourism site, is grateful that the destination is now more well-known. In fact, no less than 1,000 visitors per month come and play there.

According to Kunay, this water attraction supports around 250 residents in the surrounding area who work to enliven this tourist destination, ranging from guides, parking attendants, to the nearby food stalls. In fact, this potential can also be enjoyed by other residents if it is maximized.

"I continue to encourage residents. This tourist spot is only a way to invite people to this village. When they come, residents can use it to sell their agricultural products," he said.

To get to this point, they reportedly used various means to introduce Santirah. Aside from using social media, they also organized various activities that invited many people.

One of them is the 1,000 tumpeng festival that was visited by 10,000 people in 2016. "If not for that, people wouldn't know. If we wait for the government to act, who knows when we can be like this. Everyone needs creativity and consistency," said Kunay.

Sukamulya Megaterrace

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The farming activities in Megaterasering Sukamulya Tourist Village, Pangandaran Regency, on May 4th, 2024, are visible. Visitors can experience farming activities through agricultural tourism packages in Megaterasering Sukamulya.

Located approximately 18 km from Santirah, Sukamulya Village, Langkaplancar District, is also awaiting the arrival of tourists. Its main attraction is the terraced rice fields covering an area of ​​1,200 hectares. Not only offering a picturesque green landscape of rice fields, the area is also rich in potential crops such as mangosteen, coffee, and cardamom.

Sukamulya's terracing is located approximately 40 minutes from the Pangandaran Regent's Office. To reach the location, visitors can pass through Jadimulya Village. Most of the roads are still rocky and the terrain is steep and undulating, with four-wheeled vehicles needing to be cautious.

After arriving in the village of Sukamulya, visitors have to walk less than 1 kilometer as the road is still unpaved. "This year, we received assistance from the province of West Java for the improvement of a 780 meters-long road," said Acting Village Chief Jajang Sumantri.

Despite walking, the terraced panorama on Saturday afternoon (5/4/2024) paid off the previous fatigue. As far as the eye can see, green rice fields and yellow ready-to-harvest rice can be seen. The terracing originates from the villages of Sukamulya, Jadimulya, and Campaka in the Cigugur district.

Jajang said that the Sukamulya terraces became known when Dede Cahyadi, a young pioneer of the village, recorded a video of the terraces via drone in 2020. The image was then uploaded to social media and received a positive response. Residents began to arrive in the area.

In 2021, the Pangandaran Regency designated Sukamulya as a tourist village. At the same time, residents also built gazebos and several seating areas. From a height of about 250 meters above sea level, tourists can witness the terraced panorama.

Several officials from the Ministry of Agrarian and Spatial Planning/National Land Agency and former Deputy Governor of West Java, Uu Ruzhanul Ulum, visited there in April 2021.

“In the past, goat herders came here to rest. "The road only existed in the 1970s," said Jajang.

In November 2021, the regional government even held the Sawah Market Megaterasering Festival which highlighted the potential of the village. Apart from the terraces which are best enjoyed in January and July, this village is also rich in mangosteen, coffee and cardamom.

"When people come to Sukamulya, local products can be promoted. BUMDes is ready to facilitate this," he said. In fact, they are ready to collaborate with Ogi Suprayogi (27), a young man who plans to open a coffee shop with a unique village taste. He is a millennial farmer, part of the West Java Provincial Government's program.

"Here, there used to be Nenek Seni's coffee shop that was famous. She was the creator of the local coffee here. She has passed away, and there is no successor. I am trying to revive Sukamulya coffee," said Ogi. He has also made packaged coffee with the theme "Carita Budaya Ngopi Urang Sukamulya."

Tour packages

KOMPAS/FABIO MARIA LOPES COSTA

The view in Megaterasering Sukamulya Tourism Village in Langkaplancar District, Pangandaran Regency, on May 4th, 2024. This place has become one of the widest terraced rice field tourist destinations in West Java.

One of the tour packages offered by the Tourism Awareness Group (Pokdarwis) Wahana Mulya in this village is to see and experience firsthand the activities of farmers in the rice fields. Pokdarwis Wahana Mulya is led by Jaswadi (59) and has 16 officials.

This activity ranges from plowing rice fields, cleaning grass on the sidelines, harvesting, to manually threshing rice using wooden tools until it becomes dry rice grains. The terraced rice fields, especially in Sukamulya, cover an area of 525 hectares.

In addition to rice, visitors can also enjoy durian, mangosteen, and various other fruits at the community-managed agrotourism garden. The agrotourism garden in Sukamulya covers an area of approximately 10 hectares. Meanwhile, the robusta coffee plantation in Sukamulya covers an area of 4 hectares.

Jaswadi stated that Sukamulya Village Government received a competitive fund worth Rp 550 million from West Java Provincial Government this year. The fund will be used to add gazebo and saung facilities as well as prepare a parking area.

He mentioned that Pokdarwis Wahana Mulya currently has a farming tour package, art attractions of ebeg or kuda lumping typical of Pangandaran, plantations, and local cuisine cooked by local residents. The number of residents empowered by Pokdarwis is already between 100-200 people.

"We hope that the government can improve the condition of the road to Sukamulya which is not yet optimal. The length of the damaged road to Sukamulya from three villages is around 10 kilometers," said this father of three children, hoping for a change.

Pangandaran is blessed with a complete landscape to attract tourists. However, the creative work of the people living within it needs to be supported so that its benefits can be felt in the long term and sustainable.

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