Pantai Goa Cemara - A popular black sand beach in Bantul, Yogyakarta

Arisarmu - Having excursion to a beach during holiday is one of the most favorite options for many Indonesians, so no wonder why Goa Cemara Beach (Pantai Goa Cemara) was flooded by tourists when I came there.

Yogyakarta Special Region is known as the heaven for beach lovers. Gunungkidul Regency may proud of "Indrayanti beach", "Baron beach", and other white sand beaches, and Kulon Progo Regency may offer travellers with "Glagah beach" and "Pasir Kadilangu beach", while Bantul Regency has "Goa Cemara beach" and "Parangtritis beach" as the main tourist attractions.

Goa Cemara beach is located about 29 kilometers, a fifty three-minute drive from the center of Yogyakarta. It is famed with its pine trees (casuarina equisetifolia) that grow high on the shore. So when you walk inside, as if you were entering a cave (goa) of pine trees (cemara). Therefore the words are taken as the name of the beach.

To accomodate more tourists who tend to visit a beach during holiday season, the availability of a wide parking lot is so essential. So far, Goa Cemara Beach has the widest parking area among the beaches I visited on that day (see my previous blog posts), where many cars and even buses I saw parking there.

The position of pine trees on Goa Cemara beach is fantastic, it looks like a forest beside a beach, and so it reminds me to "Cemara Sewu beach", which is located between "Gumuk Pasir Barchan - Sand dunes" and "Depok beach", although Goa Cemara beach has bigger pine trees and also has more facilities.

Like other beaches in Kulon Progo Regency and Bantul Regency, Goa Cemara beach has black sand beach. But this is not a spot for swimming as the currents and waves are strong and will be dangerous for swimmers. In addition, you must be careful when you are strolling around the beach because I saw some short sharp stems from dead pine trees were still remain on the beach. Honestly, I didn't enjoy my time there for the beach was so crowded by visitors, it was hard for me to get good photos as they left much garbage on the beach.