Mutiara Beach The Gate To Underwater Wonders

In my previous two stories, I happened to visit the beach during rain storms and scattered rain. It was something we did not expect because rainy days aren’t really upon us until November to February. But these days the weather is so unpredictable that it’s all about luck when it comes to the beach.

Mutiara beach is located in trenggalek east java and is less popular than prigi. In this place, people rarely visit because the road going there is quite slippery and muddy especially during the rain. Not to mention, the sand here is actually black rather than white sand like its neighboring beaches along the bay. For some reason, people would rather go to white sandy beaches than those with black sands. However Mutiara beach itself offers more water sport activities than prigi and is actually closer for freediving and snorkeling. Not to mention, the other side of this beach actually portrays that picture perfectly of “tropical beach”.

We started the journey from home very early and reached tulungagung, a city next to it for a food adventure. This place is known for its chicken soup that’s served with crisp cow skin and also peanuts. There are two famous vendors in this place but we went to a place called “ Sop ayam pak djono” which has existed for more than 50 years. Ever since I was a kid, my parents have brought me here, so this legendary food stall has a special place in our life. As you can see below, it's a pretty humble meal and a bowl of this warm soup costs around $2 since it was drizzling, a warm soup fits the atmosphere. In the past, the soup was served in small bowls that we can eat up to 2-3 bowls but nowadays, they serve it in bigger bowls and even one is quite filling.

After eating at that soup place, we continued the journey to Mutiara Beach. It was not easy to reach this place because its location that’s actually in the corner of Trenggalek bay. The road was meandering, somewhat slippery and especially the rain was pouring heavily in the middle of our journey. But after another hour and half from the soup place, we reached the beach.

The view was unmatched although it rained quite heavily. The place has two sides, the first one showed a beautiful mountain range which was misty at the time and another side was a tropical beach through and through. I also walked through the rocky pathway just to get closer to the beach. The palm trees and coconut are more around here than in Mutiara beach.

We stopped at a warung and had warm tea while eating fruits we were carrying from home. At first, we were planning for a picnic at this site and half day snorkeling. Alas, the weather was as you see dark, gloomy and it rained now and then.

So, I just pulled up my laptop and did hive stuff. It’s nice to have a set of supportive parents who even told me, “ do your work and just swim later” because they saw I was disappointed due to the weather. It took a while for me to actually be fine and then, when the rain stopped for a bit, I went to take pictures. It’s strange how these pictures below look somewhat from a snowy mountain with a cabin instead of the beach and the surrounding bay.

I was honestly drenched in water at that moment and was ready to just walk around everywhere. But I got back because I didn’t bring an umbrella. At that point, I was also starving, so I got cup noodles. We also talked with the owner who told us that the rain was only starting that day and they were also wondering why it rained from early morning until midday. They also informed us about many things, especially around the area. The toilet in that warung was also super clean and it was nice to know that there is a clean place to be because often, public toilets are quite horrible in Indonesia.

We were also curious about another side of the beach, so we walked to the tropical side of the beach. Yet upon arriving at the spot, it was thundering and the wind blew really hard. However, like I said earlier, it was all worth it. As you can see some of the results below including the swing by the sea which looked even more amazing had it not rained. After taking pictures on the tropical side, I got back to the warung and once again, typing on my laptop. This place is actually pretty nice and I could see boats cruising through the bay even when it rained. Well, as you know, I ended up taking the boat even without life jackets haha. It was fun though and I am looking forward to going back there soon. Some of these pictures turned out amazing and I wasn’t expecting that. Although now, it made me want to get a GoPro hero or even water protection for my camera, especially if I want to shoot during rainy days.

Mutiara beach itself is closer to the snorkeling spot than Prigi and the floating house is closer. It’s also a bit massive as even when I left the place, I still took some pictures and there were lots of boats parked and waiting for the rain to stop so they could reach the floating houses and also the spots where they grow lobsters and asian sea bass.

To me, it seems so peaceful even during heavy rain to be in the floating house since actually it’s quite more stable in the middle than around the shore. Not to mention, a great place to be when anyone just wants to stay away from phones,society and people. From what we gather, the floating houses are also for rent and also often rented by people who like fishing. Do you want to try staying in a floating house like this?