After doing Mt. Ijen ourselves, and it being such a great experience, we decided to keep it up and tackle Bromo next. The same day we came back from Kawah Ijen, we took a bus to Probolinggo, arrived at 8pm and picked up our scooter. We had a quick nap in our homestay and got up early for round two of sunrise hikes! Let me tell you, we were DEAD TIRED after that! But let’s get some practical things out of the way first before we tell you about our experience.
Here’s all you need to know for a DIY adventure to Gunung Bromo!
Getting there
You have two places to start from: Probolinggo, which is about a 1,5 – 2 hours drive with the scooter, or the village of Cemoro Lawang, that lies right next to the crater.
FROM PROBOLINGGO
We choose to do it from here for two reasons. 1. Accommodation is way cheaper.
2. We could go up the same night instead of having to wait for transport to Cemoro Lawang in the morning and doing it the next day. So for us it was a matter of time and money.
When starting from Proboloinggo, you’ll need transport. Maybe you can arrange it with your homestay, hotel or tour company, but we just rented a scooter. For as far as we know there’s only one place you can get one right now. We rented ours from a guy called Habib for 150k rupiah for 24 hours. We got a 150cc bike. His number is +62 813 7324 2198. We can recommend him! A friend of ours stayed at Dhika Adventure in Probolinggo and was able to rent a scooter from them for 90k Rupiah, so asking your homestay might be worth it too!
We left our hostel in Probolinggo at around 3 am. This gave us plenty of time to get up there before sunrise and find a good spot. The road to Bromo is easy to find, there’s heaps of signs leading the way. Set your GPS for Cemoro Lawang. Just like the drive to Ijen, don’t expect an amazing road. It wasn’t the best, with some potholes and steep areas, but very manageable if you have some experience on a scooter. One tip though, make sure you alternate between brakes when coming down, especially if it’s two of you on the scooter. The first part is very very steep. You’ll pass a ticket office at the entrance of the village and you’ll have to pay a small fee there.
So, you’ve got your scooter, you’ve made it to Cemoro Lawang, now what?
I highly recommend downloading the maps.me app (free!) which has all of the viewpoints and tracks on there. Make sure you download the East Java Province map when you have a wifi-spot somewhere. I’ll put some screenshots below anyway.
From Cemoro Lawang, facing up the hill, there’s a fork in the road. You need to take the right, going towards Cemara Indah, for sunrise views. The left one will take you to the ticket office for the sea of sand and mt. Bromo caldera. Not where you want to be for sunrise!
We drove our bikes up to Senuri Sunrise Point. It gets very steep and rocky at some point, but only for a short distance. The parking fee at the top is around 5k Rupiah.
From there you just follow the dotted line, up as high as you like! At some point, the track becomes just a little rocky steep trail so don’t expect a paved sidewalk! You could go up all the way to King Kong Hill viewpoint, but we didn’t climb that high. We found a spot a bit lower with a view that was just as beautiful, but without the crowd (and apparently fee?) that comes with King Kong Hill.
FROM CEMORO LAWANG
You can get there by public bus from Probolinggo. The bus station in Probolinggo is called the Bayuangga bus terminal. Make sure you get dropped off there, and not any of the tour agents on the road. Maps.me will show you where exactly it is. Just left down the road from the bus station you’ll find green ‘bemos’ (minibusses) that go to Cemoro Lawang. They will only leave when they are full though, or when you find enough people to split the cost. From what we found online they want Rp. 525 000 for the whole van, split by 15 people (the preferred number for the driver). This comes down to about Rp. 35 000 each. There’s no real schedule or last time for these minivans, so think about this when you’re planning your trip!
If you spend the night in the village, it’s pretty much the same as from Probolinggo, minus the drive there. This also means you won’t have to get up so early! Yay!
Follow the same road to King Kong Hill, and stop at any nice viewpoints along the way. Easy as that. Just make sure you get up on time, we saw many people walking in the dark that would have NEVER made it in time for sunrise!
Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park
After having enjoyed a (hopefully) incredible sunrise over the mountains, and taking way to many pictures, it’s time to go down there yourself.
To get to the Bromo Caldera you’ll have to go into the crater and cross what they call the Sea of Sand.
There are two options on where to start: The first one is to go to the official ticket booth, taking the right path in the fork and pay a ludicrous amount of money to get in. On weekdays it’s 220k Rupiah and on weekends and holidays 320k Rupiah. I know this might not sound like THAT much, but if you have been travelling around Indonesia for a while, you’ll know it’s ridiculous. Locals pay 1/10 of this price. 22k rupiah. Now, we really don’t mind paying the ‘bule’ price if it’s a bit more than the locals are charged, but this much is just distortion.
Also beware that if you book a tour, they often just pocket the money and don’t pay the entrance fee. A lot of the time their tickets aren’t checked so they get away with this practice.
My point is, if you don’t feel guilty about not wanting to pay a crazy amount of money just to walk up some steps (which in our opinion you shouldn’t), there’s another way!
Option two: taking the villagers trail or horse trail. Next to the Cemara Indah Hotel, there’s a small track, you can see it on maps.me. Just follow the muddy trail down to the Sea of Sand and make your way to mt. Bromo. As easy as that.
Crossing the Sea of Sand
To get to the foot of Mount Bromo, you’ll have to cross what they call the ‘sea of sand’. From the start of the trail, it took us about 45 minutes to walk there. If you don’t like walking, there are people on bikes that will, without a doubt, offer you lifts along the way. In the crater itself, there are some little food stalls and a toilet There’s also a temple but we didn’t have time to check it out. So if you did, let us know how it was!
Hiking to the Mount Bromo Summit
The walk up the hill to the summit is an easy hike up a gentle sandy slope. It took us around 20-30 minutes to get to the top. At the end you’ll arrive at a set of steep stone stairs that will take you up to the actual Caldera.
There are also a lot of horses to take you up the hill, but they looked very thirsty and a bit sad. We’re not sure how well they are treated so we would recommend not to ride them. I just seemed cruel to us, the poor things having to go up and down the hill in the heat, so think about that before riding them.
Again, it’s not a very though walk/climb so you can easily do it yourself. The views while going up are great as well, and there’s some pretty good photo opportunities!
You made it into Bromo’s crater! If you want to go up to a higher point, go left. This will also take you away from the crowds a bit. After the safety railings stop, you can still continue onwards, but please do so with care. The path gets very narrow with steep slopes on both sides. It is still about a meter wide in most parts, but if you would slip down the sides you’re in big trouble.
What to take
Most importantly, especially if you are driving from Probolinggo, WARM CLOTHES. Seriously, it’s freezing on the scooter at night. If you have long pants, wear them. You are (or should be) wearing a helmet, so a beanie is not really needed, but for the driver, gloves are very much recommended. Joachim made DIY gloves out of old socks, that’s how much we felt we needed them. A jacket is also a good idea as it can be chilly in the morning at that height.
Also bring: a torch (needed for when you’re making your way up the trail), a camera, a tripod to get those low light shots, sunscreen (for when you’re braving the Sea of Sand). Make sure you’ve got good enclosed shoes. Most important of all, bring water and lots of snacks! There are not too many food options in the National Park itself.
We hope you found all the info you needed on here!
How did you tackle Mount Bromo, with a tour or DIY? Did you like it or not? Let us know in the comments!
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