Goa Jomblang and Pindul Cave – A Mysterious Cave Adventure Followed by Water Tubing

When you visit Yogyakarta, you should definitely rappel 60-metres down a cliff to the bottom of the Jomblang cave, and end your day tubing along a river into the Pindul cave. These two activities are perfect contrasts to the usual visit to cultural places and the temples of Borobudur and Prambanan.

Let’s begin with what you should take note of before heading to Goa Jomblang. It is important to arrive early because you need to be able to get a queue number in order to enter the cave. Preservation of the cave is always the number one priority so a limited number of visitors are allowed into the cave daily, and we heard that it’s between 20 and 25. You also have to catch the right timing because the best time to see the rays of light in the cave is between 11.30am and 12.30pm.

From the top of the cliff, you will be well equipped with full body harness, helmet and boots before getting lowered into the Jomblang cave. It’s good to travel with a friend because the guides usually lower visitors in pairs. Imagine if you are afraid of heights but have to pair up with a stranger, I suppose your trip down wouldn’t be too comfortable or enjoyable. After gathering all the visitors at the bottom, the 250-metres cave trek to Goa Grubug will begin. Although we couldn’t see the Kali Suci River clearly at the bottom of Goa Grubug, we could hear the flow of water. If your timing is right, you will be awed by a natural phenomenon of “heavenly” light streaming in through an opening on the roof of Goa Grubug. You’ll have to trek back to Jomblang cave and be pulled back up before having a simple lunch and some beverages.

The total cost (including lunch and beverages) for exploring Jomblang cave is 500,000 IDR ($45.55 SGD) per person.

After lunch, we went for a water tubing adventure in the Pindul cave. It was our first time tubing in a cave, and we did not know what to expect. The guide provided us with life vests and torchlights to navigate in the cave. You’ll come across stalactites and stalagmites while tubing in the cave. When you’re deep enough, you will also notice numerous bats hanging on the ceiling of the cave. Before reaching the end of the cave, there is an area for you to swim. After exiting Pindul cave, we took a short scenic drive on a lorry through rice fields to a nearby river and continued with our water tubing activity. You can cliff dive 3-metres into the river, and there are a couple of small waterfalls along the river.

The total cost for water tubing in both Pindul cave and along the river is 210,000 IDR ($19.05 SGD) per person.

Though both Jomblang and Pindul are caves, they are poles apart and both offers a different and unique experience.