Siung Beach is located in a remote area in Gunung Kidul
Regency, to the south of Tepus Sub-Regency to be exact. The distance is
around 70 kilometer from the center of Yogyakarta city or it will take
you around 2 hours drive. Since it is difficult to get public
transportation to go the beach, it would be easier if you make your
travel with your own vehicle. Public bus or mini van from Wonosari city
will stop at Tepus area only and you have to wait long to get one.
When you plan to make your travel by your car or
motorcycle, make sure that they are in a very good condition. The reason
is that you are going to go through challenging road with climbs, sharp
bending and sometimes slopes under the hot sun in between limestone
hills and vegetable fields. You will have to overcome all the hindrances
since you come to Pathuk area (the first Sub-Regency that you will pass
by in Gunung Kidul Regency) until you get to the beach.
You cannot escape from the hindrances. The easiest
route with smooth asphalted road you best take is Yogyakarta - Wonosari
continued with Wonosari - Baron - Tepus route. Another route, namely
Yogyakarta - Imogiri - Gunung Kidul, has harder challenges with road
full of holes, while Wonogiri - Gunung Kidul route is to far to take
from Yogyakarta city.
Suffering before getting the happiness seems to
represent your journey to Siung Beach. You will fee happy, released and
peaceful after you get to the beach. The blue ocean and white, clean
sands will cure tiredness. Some wooden houses are available for visitors
to take shelter or to have a chat with friends while enjoying the
beauty of the beach panorama.
One of the prominent enchantments of Siung Beach is its
coral reef. The huge coral reefs at the west and east parts of the
beach have important function to add the beauty of the scenery and to
border with other beach.
The coral reef of which form resembles the fang of a
monkey protrudes little bit to the ocean. The name of the beach was -
according to Wastoyo, the local senior leader - taken from the form of
the coral reef that resembles the shape of a monkey's fang. The coral
reef remains beautiful to enjoy with the waves sometimes hit it and the
seawater permeates through its cavities.
The monkey's fang coral reef that still stands firmly
despite eroding waves becomes the witness of the triumph of Siung area
in the past. Wastoyo tells that Siung area was one of the trading
centers during the time of Islamic leaders in Gunung Kidul area. Close
to the beach, in Winangun area, there is a traditional market. Here, Mrs
Kami and Mrs Podi, the widows of the servants of the Yogyakarta and
Surakarta Kingdoms lived.
Most of the people in Siung area make their living by
producing salt. They rely their lives on the seawater that is rich in
rich content. The salt produced by the local people becomes the main
commodity in Winangun market. Even though the sea is rich in various
kinds of fish, not many local people dare to go sea by that time. Most
of them just catch fish at the shallow waters.
The trading in Winangun market was decreasing when the
market was "moved" to Yogyakarta. The new market in Yogyakarta that used
to be the Winangun market in Siung area was named Jowinangun that
stands for Jobo Winangun, meaning outside the Winangun area.
Local people lost their livelihood and not many people come to this
area. There is no history telling what local people did to keep alive.
It was during the vacuum time that the beauty of the
coral reefs in Siung Beach regained its popularity. In around 1989, a
group of nature lovers from Japan utilized the coral cliffs to the west
of the beach as an arena for cliff climbing. Then, in 1990s, there was a
competition of Asian Climbing Gathering utilizing the coral cliff at
Siung Beach. Since then, the popularity of Siung Beach began to come
back.
As many as 250 climbing routes are now available at
Siung Beach to facilitate the lovers of cliff climbing sport. Referring
to the rule that the existing route can be added with the consent from
the maker of the previous path, the routes can possibly be added. Many
groups have made use of the climbing routes in this beach, such as a
group of students from the State University of Yogyakarta that was about
to climb.
The other facility supporting the cliff climbing
activity is the camping ground in the eastern part of the beach. Tents
are erected in the camping ground and fire can be set to spend the
night. The only requirement to go camping there is destroying the
environment and disturbing the turtle habitat as the sign board there
says.
Close to the camping ground, a wooden stage-house can
be functioned as the base camp as another choice than erecting the tent.
It contains 10 - 15 people. The stage-house enables visitors to get
wider view of the exotic beach. You only have to get permission from
local people and pay some amount of money to use the stage-house.
When night comes or when there are not many visitors,
the long-tailed monkeys will get down from the cliff to the shore. The
existence of these rare long-tailed monkeys can be one of the reasons
why the naming of the coral reef was analogized with the fang of the
monkey, not other kinds of animals.
Wastoyo explains, based on what wise men explained, the
prosperity and triumph of Siung Beach will come soon. The visit of more
people and the increasing popularity as an arena of cliff climbing
signal the movement of this beach to its triumph. The visit of tourists,
including you, will surely speed up the attainment of the triumph.
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