CINGKUAK ISLAND

CINGKUAK ISLAND

CINGKUAK is also known as KERA (Ape) in
bahasa Indonesia, the naming of Cingkuak Island came from the local folk lore about the Black Ape which can only be found in this Island, well the fact about the Black Ape is only a story from time to time now. Cingkuak is another small island with an area of 4.5hectares (almost as big as Pasumpahan Island) located in the Pesisir Selatan district, 500m away from Sumatra mainland, Carocok Beach, Painan - West Sumatra. Well if you are a good swimmer then crossing to this island wouldn't be a problem, or we can take a cheap single engine boat from Batu Kereta Island, we can cross to Batu Kereta throught the bridge not far from the beach. Painan is about 70km away from the city of Padang, around 2-3hour driving depends on the traffic, the road is very narrow but the view is amazing, just make sure you are not driving to this area during the night because of the view.

When you get to Cingkuak island you will be mesmerized by its beauty and the gently sloping beaches, as well as the clear and clean sea. This island contain history as it has remaining of the Portuguese colonizers. We can find the old frail Portuguese fort and Madame van Kempen Inscription,and an old grave with no names that have been fenced with a "1911" signed on the tombstone

Most interesting activity here at Cingkuak Island (Pulau Cingkuak - In Bahasa Indonesia) are Hiking, Camping, Snorkeling, and Swimming. Hiking to highest hill on this island (200m asl) was good for some nature photography hunting. but snorkeling can be very dissapointing here, even if the water is very clear. A mass mortality of the coral

reefs on Cingkuak Island underwater was extremely exposed in addition to the amount of domestic waste looks horrible and only a few fish were clustered. fishing using poison potassium cyanide have been done sometime of the 1990s. Practices that do not heed nature conservation was allegedly contributed the greatest damage to the aquatic ecosystem. Therefore, wandering around the island is an option. Beside there are lot of tourism facility for students who loves nature activities, like banana boat, outbound, and 300m long flying foxes. Some of the university nearby also found doing some routine nature research in Cingkuak Island. Well travellers my advice is, do not forget to bookmark your calendar and escape to Cingkuak island for a day or two :)
See you on the next articles.

By David Chan 

Sumatra Discovery