Bawean Island

Bawean sits about a hundred and twenty kilometres north of Gresik in the Java Sea, an island of some two hundred square kilometres administratively part of East Java, and it has two claims. The first is the Bawean deer, a small deer found on this island and nowhere else in the world, listed as critically endangered with a wild population in the low hundreds, protected in a reserve in the island's interior. The second is migration: a very large share of Bawean men work abroad, historically in Singapore and Malaysia, to the point that the island's economy runs on remittances and the Bawean diaspora in those countries is a recognised community. The island itself has a crater lake, hot springs, beaches, offshore islets including Noko Selayar's sandbar, and very little tourism.

History

The name is believed to come from the Kawi phrase ba we an, "having the sunlight", and legend says Javanese sailors lost in mist in 1350 named the island when they glimpsed light around it; before that it bore the Arabic name Majidi. The Dutch renamed it Lubok, a name that fell out of use in the 1940s, and because since the 19th century most of its men have taken work away from the island, it is also called Pulau Putri, the island of women, while in Malaysia and Singapore it is known as Boyan (Wikipedia, Bawean).

The landscape

• The Bawean deer - critically endangered, found on this island and nowhere else.
• A remittance economy - the island shaped by long-standing migration abroad.
• Danau Kastoba - the crater lake in the island's interior.
• Sandbars and islets - Noko Selayar and the offshore shallows.

When to go

April to October; crossings stop in rough weather. Three days.

Before you go

Ferries are slow, weather-dependent and can strand you. The deer are in a reserve and hard to see. Accommodation is basic homestays and banking is limited. Very little English is spoken.

Nearby

Gresik and Surabaya are on the Java mainland to the south.

Key facts