Jembrana, Where You Can Start The Journey to Bali from Java
Jembrana
Jembrana is a regency in Bali, located in the most western part of Bali island, with the capital city of Negara.
For those traveling by land and ferry from Java to Bali, Jembrana regency is where you start your journey to discovery. The distance between the two islands is only 4kms. The ferry ports of Ketapang in Java and Gilimanuk in Bali, was first opened in the 1970’s have recently been upgraded to handle the massive increase in transportation needs between the two islands.
This regency is thought to have been established in the early 1400’s, although civil war broke out and the regency became part of the Badung regency. in the 17th century, sparsely populated Jembrana was not of much interest to the royal Balinese Kingdoms and for a time it was ruled over by a prince of Sulawesi. Jembrana was one of the first kingdoms to surrender to the invading Dutch in the 1800’s.
Jembrana is perhaps the most ethnically heterogeneous regency in Bali. The Loloan area is populated by a Malay-speaking populace of Bugis descent. There are also many Balinese Christians, because part of Jembrana was converted into a settlement area for Balinese who converted to Catholicism and Protestantism at the start of the century. And there are, of course, plenty of traditional Balinese communities, particularly in the rice-growing areas of the regency.
The natural scene is no less varied than the cultural one. Jembrana contains a large mountainous northern half which is part of west Bali National Park, while in the south there are 71 kilometers of beaches. The sand on the coastline is mostly volcanic, hence black, but there are also some beautiful white coral beaches especially at Medewi, and some mangrove forests. Southern Jembrana also has some of the most beautiful rice terraces on the island, while the mountainous northern half is part of West Bali National Park.
Even though, most of tourists are not familiar that much about Jembrana regency, but it has some tourism destinations that worth to be visited, like:
Gilimanuk bay, West Bali National Park, Medewi Beach, Candikusuma Beach, Baluk Rening Beach, Perancak, Delod Berawah Beach, Rambut Siwi, Bunut Bolong, Pengambengam, Pengeragoan Beach, Pre Historic Museum and more.
