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How To Visit Ciletuh Geopark: Waterfall Valley In West Java
The Ciletuh Geopark is a scenic valley in West Java that’s loaded with big waterfalls and other good things to see.
This area is a UNESCO-designated global geopark, and it has some of the best waterfalls in Indonesia, but most international tourists have never heard of it.
We spent several days here and we were glad we went! The location is pretty remote, but it’s worth the trip if you like waterfalls and hidden gems.
This travel guide will explain how to visit Ciletuh, where to stay, and what to see there!
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How To Get To Ciletuh Geopark
The Ciletuh Geopark is located in the far southwest corner of West Java province.
It’s not near any major cities, so you’ll have to do a bit of a road trip for this one. It’s a 2.5 hour drive from Sukabumi, 4 hours from Jakarta, or 6 hours from Bandung.
We traveled here from Bandung, and then went to Jakarta afterwards. Either way, the roads are mostly in good condition all the way to the geopark.
We hired a private driver from Bandung to take us to the geopark in his van, but you could also go just fine with a motorbike, and it would be cheaper.
Best Things To See At Ciletuh Geopark
• Curug Puncak Manik Waterfall
This is the first waterfall we visited in the Ciletuh area, and you’ll most likely pass it on your drive into the geopark.
It’s a 45 to 60 minute hike each way, with a steep descent, but they’re working on improving the path so it’s more manageable. When you reach the stream, you’ll have to cross and go left. It was ankle to knee deep when we were there.
This is a twin waterfall and it’s 100 meters tall. Along the way, we saw a rare hawk, a giant centipede, and other interesting things. A local guy showed us the way and helped us take pics, so we tipped him 50k Rupiah.
• Curug Awang Waterfall
This is another waterfall near Puncak Manik. This one is shorter, but it runs over a wide cliff. It’s a 5 minute walk to the viewing platform, or 10 minutes to the top, and another 5 or 10 minutes if you go to the bottom.
This waterfall was already drying up when we visited, which was a bummer, but there were rice terraces surrounding it.
• Curug Tengah Waterfall
This is an unusual looking waterfall that you can reach from the same parking as Curug Awang. The waterfall was nice and big even in April.
It’s a 10 minute walk to see the falls, but there’s no easy path to the bottom and it would probably take another 30 minutes to go down.
We decided to stay at the top and do a drone pic instead.
• Curug Cikaso Waterfall
This is a nice turquoise colored waterfall that requires a 1.5 hour drive outside of the main Ciletuh area. It’s worth the trip.
To reach the falls, there’s a short and easy 10 minute hike on a cobblestone path through scenic rice terraces. You can also go by boat along the stream, although we didn’t see much point since they were wanting to charge us more for that.
The best time to photograph this one is at the start of the dry season. If you come in the middle of the rainy season, it’ll probably be heavy brown water and you won’t get to see the nice turquoise color.
The lighting is best early in the morning or maybe in the late evening. You can swim here, and we saw some small fish and crabs near the waterfall. Cool!
• Curug Cigangsa Waterfall
This is a big waterfall surrounded by rice terraces. It’s a 1 hour drive from the main Ciletuh area, in the same direction as the Cikaso waterfall, so you can visit both of these places together.
Once you get there, it’s only a 2 minute walk to the waterfall, but then another 5 or 10 minutes to reach the bottom if you want to see it up close.
This waterfall most likely dries up from May onwards, so it’s not going to be as impressive after that. It was almost dry when we went in April.
