Bromo Mountain

A volcanic massive extending from Semeru volcano, the Tengger highlands date back to about 820,000 years ago and consists of five overlapping strato-volcanoes, each truncated by a caldera. An overlapping cluster of post-caldera cones was constructed on the floor of the sand sea caldera within the past several thousand years. The youngest of these is Bromo, one of Java’s most active and most frequently visited volcanoes with a caldera extending 16 km wide.
Visitors come for the surreal experience of crossing the empty sea of black sand inside the caldera of an ancient volcano. In the dry season, people walk or take horses at three in the morning in order to reach the peak in time to catch the sunrise over the mountains.

How to Get There:
Most visitors come through Probolinggo, a small transit town located on Surabaya – Banyuwangi coastal route. From there, catch the
public minibuses that go to Cemara Lawang village, located 3 km away from the crater wall.

The Best Season to Visit:
April to October every year.

Mount Bromo (Gunung Bromo, 2,392m) is an active volcano in the Bromo-Tengger-Semeru National Park of East Java, Indonesia. Bromo isn't the highest mountain in Java — that honor goes to nearby Mount Semeru at 3,676m — but it's probably the most famous one. Bromo is in fact only one of many peaks inside the massive Tengger Caldera, but it's easily recognized as the entire top has been blown off and the crater inside constantly belches white sulphurous smoke. The inside of the caldera, aptly dubbed the Laut Pasir (Sea of Sand) is coated with fine volcanic sand and the overall effect is unsettlingly unearthly, especially when compared to the lush green valleys all around the caldera.

When timing any activities in the area, bear in mind that sunset is soon after 5 PM and sunrise is correspondingly early at around 5:30 AM. This means you'll usually need to get up by 3:30 AM or so to get there in time for dawn. What we could see in Bromo mountain?

* Mount Batok (2440m) is a brown volcanic cone at the north center of the caldera. Unlike the other nearby peaks it is no longer active and actually has some vegetation growing on it, mostly the local cemara tree that somehow manages to survive even on volcanic ash.

* Mount Bromo, edges tinged with white sulphur and always bubbling, is the main sight. To reach it on foot, pick the left fork at Cemoro Lawang's solitary crossing, then head down the ramp into the caldera and then across the caldera to the Hindu temple at the foot of the mountain. From the temple a steep path of 250 steps leads to the edge of the crater and a precarious meter-wide ledge from where to gaze into the volcano.

* Mount Penanjakan (2770m), located just north of the caldera, is a mountaintop viewpoint accessible by paved road from Tosari and hence popular with jeeps and even tour buses. Most of the crowd comes to see the dawn at 5 AM, and you'll likely have the large concrete observation post to yourself if you arrive later in the day.

* Viewpoint #2, along the trail from Cemoro Lawang to Mt. Penanjakan, is an excellent way to get a stunning view of the caldera (see pictures above) without the crowds. To reach it, head west from Cemoro Lawang (past Cemero Indah) for 6 km, past farms and fields. The paved road eventually turns into a twisty mountain trail that ends with a flight of stairs on the right, and the viewpoint (with concrete shelter) is at the top. Allow 1.5 hours for the climb up at a steady pace, and bring along a torch if attempting this at night.