Why you should visit mount Bromo

Climbing the 2300 meters tall Mount Bromo in Java, Indonesia is a highlight on any traveller’s Java itinery. Watching the sun rise behind the volcanic landscape, and touring through the sea of sand with a 4×4 jeep provides you with a mix of awe and adventure.

How to visit

When to visit Mount Bromo?

The best time to visit Mount Bromo is during the dry season from April to October. Incidence of rain is higher during the wet season from November to March, but the national park is still open to visitors during this period.

Should you book a tour?
We opted for a 3-day tour, which covered Tumpak Sewu, Mount Bromo and Kawah Ijen. However, focused 1-day tours of Mount Bromo are also available for those short on time.

These tours usually include a driver and a 4×4 vehicle, which is necessary due to the rough and challenging terrain, especially when navigating in the dark, early morning hours. Self-driving is not recommended because of these conditions.

For those mindful of their budget, organizing the trip independently is viable. This involves using public buses and hiking quite a bit. However, managing time to see both the sunrise over Bromo and visiting the crater itself might be tricky due to logistical constraints.

How to get to Mount Bromo?

Most journeys to Mount Bromo start from Cemoro Lawang. This village is the closest access point to the volcano but is known for being quite touristy, catering primarily to visitors of Mount Bromo. Accommodations here are basic, often with limited amenities such as cold showers and squat toilets, and might come at a higher price due to its location. It’s also possible you’ll have some unexpected wildlife encounters in your room, we woke up with a pretty big spider on the wall next to our bed.

Alternatively, tours can start from Malang for which you’ll have to wake up much earlier to be in time for the sunrise.

Costs

A one-day tour to Bromo starts from €30, excluding accommodation and entrance fees. For a 2 day/1 night tour expect to pay a minimum of €50 and up to €200. Prices will differ depending on the amount of comfort, group size, and which viewpoints you’ll visit.

If you are interested in our experience with a 3 day/2 night tour including Mount bromo, Tumpak Sewu and Kawah Ijen, click here.

If you organise a visit yourself, expect to pay an entrance fee to Mount Bromo of 220.000 IDR / €15 on weekdays and 320.000 IDR / €21.5 on weekends. Renting a scooter to get around will set you back around €15 euro’s.

Preparing for the trip

What to Wear

To see the sunrise at Mount Bromo you’ll have to wake up early. It can get really cold in the mountains at the night (expect temperatures between 0-10 degrees with a cold, strong wind). However, when the sun comes out, the temperatures will start to rise quickly. To adapt to these changing temperatures, we suggest you layer up.

This is what we wore when visiting Mount Bromo
1. Base layer: Light weight t-shirt, sports leggings
2. Mid layer: long sleeve and hiking pants
3. Outer layer: A warm sweater or cardigan, and an extra pair of pants.
4. Extra: Some lightweight gloves, and optionally a beanie and scarf.

A trip to the Bromo volcano does not require a lot of hiking, as you will be transported by car from viewpoint to viewpoint. However, it may still be adviceable to bring some hiking boots with good profile as especially the path to the crater is quite slippery because of all the loose sand. In addition, wear some thick hiking socks to keep your feet warm, and blister free.

What to bring

• A small to medium-sized backpack: Bring a backpack that is lightweight and comfortable to wear. It should be big enough for you to put in all the extra layers of clothing that you won’t need anymore when the sun comes out.
• Water bottle and plenty of snacks: Staying hydrated and well-nourished is crucial during your hike. We brought breakfast, fruit and some energy bars.
• Headlamp: While you only have to hike about a minute or 10 in the dark, a headlamp is not necessarily needed. However, it’s nice to see where you’re going and it keeps your hands free for support.
• Sunglasses: When the sun finally comes out you’ll be needing these.
• Camera and Tripod: Kawah Ijen offers stunning views and the opportunity to capture incredible moments, so a camera and tripod are great for taking memorable photos.
• Powerbank: You’ll likely use your electronic devices, such as smartphones or cameras, extensively. A power bank ensures you can recharge these devices and stay connected or capture photos throughout your visit.
• Lipbalm: The air can be dry, and exposure to different elements can cause chapped lips. Lip balm helps keep your lips moisturized and comfortable.
• Cash: Bring enough cash to cover parking fees, entry ticket, guide fee, and a potential snack. Along the way there are some stops where you can buy a warm cup of tea, or noodle soup.

💡 Good to know: Flying drones is prohibited near Mount Bromo, however when we went we saw many people flying drones without any problems. If you bring your drone, do so at your own risk.

The Tour: our experience

Our driver picked us up from the hotel at around 1:30 AM. We stepped in an old jeep, and drove for about 1.5 hours to the view point. It was really dark outside, the only light we saw was from the other jeeps that formed a line up the road to the viewingpoint. The ride was anything but smooth and we had to hold tight as to not bump into the ceiling of the jeep.

Once we arrived, at 3:00 AM it was pretty cold, but luckily there were some food stalls where you could buy tea and coffee, and warm up near a camp fire. We only had to walk up a small hill by ourselves to get to the viewpoint. Since we had over 2 hours left until sunrise no one was there yet, and we just sat quietly in the dark watching the stars over the mountains.

From around 5:00 the viewpoint slowly becomes more crowded. If you want an unobstructed view, it’s good to already have claimed your spot. When the sun finally gets out, you get to enjoy this magical view.

💡 Good to know: We actually had no clue which of these mountains was actually Mount Bromo. Mount bromo is the caldeira on the right, behind the smaller mountain (Mount Batok) in the front!

There are many viewpoints from which you can watch the sunrise. The best views of Mount Bromo are from Mount Penanjakan, these are the 3 most popular spots:
– Seruni: The lowest and closests spot for viewing Mount Bromo
– King Kong Hill: Slightly higher up the mountain.
– Penanjakan Bromo: Highest up the mountain.

We went to Penanjakan Bromo and had beautiful views of the sunrise and all the mountains. It was a bit crowded, but we didn’t feel like this impeded on the experience. Looking down at another much more crowded viewpoint, we felt like we definitely had the better spot.

After having enjoyed the sunrise, we headed back to our jeep for the drive down towards the Bromo crater. Due to the many jeeps, traffic jams are very common so the drive down can take a while. Don’t linger for too long at the sunrise point if you want to avoid being stuck in the traffic jam.

💡 Tip: The earlier you arrive at the crater, the better as it gets more difficult too peak inside of the crater because of increases in smoke and fog as the day continues

From the parking spot down by the crater you have to walk to the top of Mount Bromo Summit, which takes about 30 minutes. Some people choose to go up by horse, but we decided to walk as the animals did not seem to be treated well.

There are stairs just before you reach the rim of the crater. Since there is only one line up and one line down, this is where human traffic jams emerge.

Once you are finally at the top, take peak inside the crater and listen to the rumbling sounds of the volcano! You can walk all around the rim of the crater, but keep in mind to be careful as the sand is slippery and there is barely any safety fencing.