Fritzjames Stephen
Located on the Northwest coast of Indonesia is the bustling and thriving city of Jakarta that serves as capital city of Indonesia and is also the economic, cultural and political hub of the country.
The waters off Jakarta are home to some of the most renowned and stunning diving sites in the world. There are many smaller islands off the coast that have breath-taking coral reefs and thriving marine life making these sites favorites amongst many diving enthusiasts. Snorkeling and diving are rather easy to engage in while in Jakarta as the city has numerous reputed PADI certified diving schools and adventure sports centers that will be more than willing to give you the necessary training and equipment. While there are so many diving sites in the waters of Jakarta make sure you check out the Ujung Kulon National Park and Carita. Of the many apartment hotels Jakarta has to offer, one of the most pleasant and recommendable is the Citadines Rasuna Jakarta.
Jakarta, being Indonesia's most urbanized city, is considered by many to be a concrete jungle. But that does not mean that the city lacks any sort of greenery; on the contrary the city is home to many botanical gardens. These botanical gardens, serving as green lungs to the city, are very popular amongst the locals and are great places to absorb the culture and lifestyle of the city. One of the most popular botanical gardens is the Bogor Botanical Garden; known for its large variety of flora and fauna and is also spacious enough for you to relax in privacy. Other botanical gardens include the Mekarsari Garden, PT Perkebunan Nusantara VIII, and the Cibodas Botanical Gardens.
One of the fascinating aspects of Jakarta is that on Sundays, from 6.00am to 11.00am, there exists a 'car-free' period, meaning that there are no cars on the road during this period. So you can take out your bikes and cycle on the main road through the streets of Jakarta. This truly is a great way of exploring the city, as exploring while cycling has something special about it. Anyway, even if it isn't a Sunday, you can quite easily cycle about in Jakarta as the city has quite an active cycling movement, and cycling is currently one of the hip things you can do in Jakarta.
Java is home to as many as nine National Parks, many of which are easily accessible from Jakarta. For example the Thousand Islands National Sea Park, one of Indonesia's popular National Parks can be reached from Jakarta in just 45 minutes. Other national parks such as Gunung Gede Pangrango National Park and Gunung Halimun Salak National Park are also not too far away from Jakarta, and can be reached without too much hassle. These national parks are great for some adventure, as they offer some amazing sights as well as hiking, climbing and many other exciting activities. So if you are nature lover who wants to have some adventure while exploring nature, then head to one of Java's national parks while in Jakarta.
