Timang Beach – I Dare You to Take the Manual Gondola

Years ago, Timang Beach was just an isolated spot at the end of a bumpy road. While there was the gondola used by fishermen to catch lobsters, there were no parking areas and nowhere to buy food or dine at. However, there was a flood of tourists ever since Timang Beach was featured on an episode of Running Man (Korean’s variety show) last year.

Timang Beach is a 3-hour drive from Yogyakarta’s city centre, so you’ll need to hire a driver to bring you there. The ride along the new tarmac roads is pretty smooth, but when you turn off the main road onto the final path to Timang Beach, it starts getting bumpy. Your driver will have to stop and park the car while you switch to a jeep which takes you along the final 3-kilometres to the beach. However, there’s a major turnoff. We had to pay a voluntary contribution to some locals manning an informal stop in order to enter the beach. My girlfriends and I felt scammed because there were no tickets given and the pricing was not fixed.

Upon reaching the beach, you can pay to get to different photography spots before checking the gondola out. Besides the gondola, there is also a suspension bridge that links the mainland with a rocky outcrop about 20-metres or so off the shore. The gondola is constructed from wood, blue ropes, wood washed up on the beach and metal pulleys. We were skeptical about the gondola’s safety issues, but after experiencing the ride across the ocean, I would think that the gondola is actually pretty safe. My two girlfriends took the suspension bridge and was lucky (or unlucky) enough to be drenched by the waves. Personally, I felt that the aggressive force of the waves crashing against the shore was the frightening part.

After you’re done with photography and satisfied with the gondola or suspension bridge experience, you can take the jeep back to the place where your driver is waiting at and have lunch at a restaurant nearby. Since the area is populated with lobster fishermen, we tried grilled and spicy lobsters. The restaurant serves a seafood platter which is very value-for-money.

The following are the costs for Timang Beach:
– Timang Beach Photo Taking Fees 30,000 IDR ($2.75 SGD) per person
– Gondola 200,000 IDR ($18.15 SGD) per person
– Suspension Bridge 100,000 IDR ($9.10 SGD) per person
– Jeep 350,000 IDR ($31.75 SGD)
– Seafood Platter Lunch enough for 3 to 4 persons (consists 3 to 4 lobsters, 1 fish, 1 plate of squid, 2 vegetables and rice) 650,000 IDR ($58.95 SGD)

According to our driver, there are many beautiful beaches in the area, so if you’re only interested in sun-tanning or just relaxing at a beach, he wouldn’t recommend Timang Beach. Timang Beach is only for those who want to experience an adrenaline rush by trying the gondola ride or walking across the suspension bridge.