Ciletuh Geopark

Ciletuh Palabuhanratu was designated a UNESCO Global Geopark in 2018, and the geology is the reason: the rocks exposed here include some of the oldest in Java, an ophiolite and mélange complex from the Cretaceous representing ocean floor and mantle material scraped up at a former subduction zone - so a slice of what was once deep ocean crust sits at the surface on a beach. The landform is a horseshoe amphitheatre some fifteen kilometres across opening to the Indian Ocean, formed by mass wasting, with a scatter of waterfalls coming off the escarpment: Curug Awang, Curug Cimarinjung and others, several dropping onto or near the shore. There are turtle nesting beaches, terraced paddy, and viewpoints along the rim road. Roads inside the area remain rough.

What you actually see

• The oldest rocks in Java - ophiolite and mélange from an ancient subduction zone.
• A fifteen-kilometre amphitheatre - the horseshoe escarpment opening to the ocean.
• Escarpment waterfalls - Curug Awang, Cimarinjung and others off the rim.
• Turtle beaches - nesting sites on the exposed southern coast.

When to go

May to September; the southern coast is rough in the wet season. Two days.

Honest expectations

Roads inside the geopark are rough and slow; a high vehicle helps. Sites are spread far apart. The Indian Ocean surf here is dangerous - swimming is not advisable on most of the coast.

Nearby

Palabuhanratu is east along the coast; Sukabumi is inland.