If you’re visiting East Java than a visit to Mount Bromo has to be on top of your list of things to do. If you have seen photos then you would know the ultimate way to experience a Mount Bromo sunrise is with a Jeep. In this blog we will share our Jeep experience, what to bring and share tones of photos to inspire you to see Mount Bromo in a Jeep.
What is Mount Bromo?
Mount Bromo is an active volcano in the Tengger Massif region, situated in the middle of a plain called the ‘Sea of Sand’. There are a total of five volcanoes in the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park National park- Mount Bromo 2,329m, Mount Batok 2,470m, Mount Kursi 2,581m, Mount Watangan 2,661m and Mount Widodaren 2,650m.
This active volcano is surrounded by several other volcanoes in part of the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park. Also known as Gunung Bromo in the local language of Bahasa, the name Bromo is derived from the Javanese pronunciation of ‘Brahma, which is the Hindu god of creation.
Once you witness a sunrise over Mount Bromo you will understand why its one of the most visited tourist attractions in all of East Java. Even though it is an active Volcano it is very safe to visit Mount Bromo. You can keep up to date with its level of activity via Bureau of Meteorology.
How to get to Mount Bromo?
Mount Bromo was the last destination on our East Java road trip which we had a private driver called Dayat. He works for Zaini Transport and is the most reliable and friendly driver. Having Dayat as our driver made this trip more comfortable and less stressful. You can contact him on his WhatsApp number +62 812 4978 1542 or Zaini Transports website.
There are a few options on where to stay if you plan on visiting Mount Bromo. With our private tour we decided to stay right in Bromo town to do the sunrise hike. This way we were closer to Mount Bromo and could have a little bit more of a sleep in. Mount Bromo is a cute little mountain town with a few cafes and restaurants.
We stayed stayed at Parama Hotel which was a great location and has its own restaurant and cafe. A double room costs about 250,000 IDR, check out prices of Parama Hotel here.
You can also stay in the town of Malang or Probolinggo but you will have to drive either two hours or 45 minutes in the morning to Mount Bromo.
What to bring for Mount Bromo?
Mornings are very cold so I recommend wearing warm clothes like a puffer jacket and pants. As soon as the sun rises it will however warm up so layer up. It gets very hot once the sun is up so you will definitely will want to get changed.
The second location you will visit after sunrise is down on the lava field with the Jeeps. I chose to take a spare change of clothes to change into for these photos. You are supplied with head torches so no need to bring one. The trail is an easy one so normal sneakers will be fine. Bring a Re-usable Water Bottle to stay hydrated and to also do our part with helping the environment in reducing plastic waste.
Want to explore more of East Java’s incredible scenery? Check out East Java’s most famous waterfall Tumpak Sewu here for your ultimate guide.
The Ultimate Mount Bromo sunrise
There are multiple tours that you can either book online, from your hotel or in the town of Cemoro Lawang or Probollingo. We booked our Mount Bromo sunrise tour through @bromo_jeep_tour which we highly recommend. You can send them a WhatsApp on +62 853 3776 3806.
The tour costs 600,000 IDR per Jeep which includes hotel pick up, drop off and all morning to shoot with the Jeeps.
Entry into Mount Bromo is 220,00 IDR per person on weekdays and 320,000 IDR on weekends and public holidays.
The tour will start early in the morning but don’t worry you will be able to wake up with a coffee once up King Kong Hill. A Jeep will come and picked you up from your hotel at around 3:30am.
From there you will first drive up the Penanjakan Hill the dark, driving through the black lava landscape. This early in the morning it is hard to take in there vast, incredible landscape.
King Kong Hill
Driving up towards King Kong Hill you will pass hundreds of jeeps. Their head lights zig zag all the way up the mountain. At the top of the mountain is where all the Jeeps stop and park on the side of the road. Here is where you can grab a quick coffee or tea in one of the small shops before making your way on foot up the mountain.
Your jeep guide will then take you up the mountain by foot to the highest viewpoint – King Kong Hill viewpoint . Continue up the hill past the first viewpoint where you will come to another flat viewpoint. If it is busy it can be hard to find a spot all to yourself. We continued to the right, past all the people and walked down a dirt path. We were able to find a flat section of the mountain where we had room to enjoy the sunrise, free of trees and we were able take photos without any people in the way.
Watching the sunrise over Mount Bromo and Mount Batok has to be one of the most amazing sunrises we have ever seen. As the golden light aluminates the landscapes, you have spectacular views of the mountains, craters and uniques swirls of the black lava sand. This landscape truely is from another world.
Time for Jeep photos
Once you have enjoyed watching the sunrise and taken lots of amazing photos, it is time to head down to Mount Bromo to the ‘Sea of Sand’. Walk back to where your guide and is and make the slow drive down. At the bottom the Jeeps make there way through the sand where you can find your own spot to take photos with the Jeeps. We had a yellow Jeep and our friends had an orange Jeep. We wanted to position our jeeps in front of Mount Bromo for photos. The pop of the bright colour Jeeps against the unique dark ridges really made for epic photos!
Feel free to ask the guide to drive around with the Jeep to get all the angles. The drivers were so patient with us, waiting for over an hour for us to take all our photos.
What’s really cool is that here in Mount Bromo has the biggest congregation of FJ Toyota Jeeps in the world!!!!
Thank You for reading
We hope you have enjoyed reading our Mount Bromo sunrise guide. We have no doubt that you will have loads of fun just like we did. If you have been to East Java and have any more recommendations on what to do we would love to read about them in the comment section below.
Want to see more East Java’s incredible scenery? Why not add East Java’s best waterfall Tumpak Sewu. Do you plan on spending a few days in East Java? Check out our jam packed 3 day East Java itinerary here.
Enjoyed this post? Why not pin it or save for later!
