4D4N Java Honeybee Safari

A safari like no other

Looking for a holiday like no other? This is the only honeybee safari in Southeast Asia, where the entire trip is nature- and bee-focused. Run by renowned Singapore beekeeper Clarence Chua, he brings his extensive travel experience and aesthetic, combining it with in-depth knowledge about honeybees.

You will move in places untouched by tourism, get to know your local hosts up close and personal, enjoy kampung-cooked food, and dine in spectacular places in the river and padi fields. Safari on foot and nimble local motorbikes as you take in the sights of cool and volcano-elevated West Java.

Then, the bees: Clarence has exclusive access to local honey-hunters, who'll guide you through their landscapes to a magical Tualang tree (Koompasia excelsa), where up to 10 giant honeybee colonies call home. You can even try your hand climbing up these 30m behemoths, in full protective gear. After the exertion, golden reward: Hand-extract the honey and learn all about their origin nectars, while tasting other honeys from around the area.

Your refuge each night is a cosy Rosms Guest House right outside a padi field and river. With heated showers and wifi, you stay comfortably connected to share your adventures with friends back home. This is a tropical safari like no other.

4D 4N Itinerary

Day 1: Journey to guest house & Surprise dinner

Land at West Java Intl Airport for a low-stress entry to Indonesia -- this large airport guarantees fast immigration clearance and an easy bus transfer out.

After a traditional Javan lunch en route, continue through hillside villages and tea plantations, reaching your padi-side guest house by mid-afternoon. Enjoy a sunset walk ending with a welcome dinner in the rice terraces (weather- / season-permitting)! Finish the day with a briefing and relax in your accomm for the next three nights, with heated showers.

Day 2: Trek to Tualang tree & Giant honeybees

The journey is the destination too! Enjoy a 3h trek to the giant Tualang tree deep in the forest, where you'll encounter Apis dorsata nests — with their huge combs one metre across and hung 30 metres up. Locals climb bamboo poles without harnesses, but safety equipment will be provided for your secure ascent (optional). Core memories and photo opportunities await.

After harvesting their honey (sustainably ofc), we trek and motorbike back to your guest house. Dinner is again a surprise: served directly by the river (weather- / season-permitting)!

Day 3: Other honeybee species & Kampung life

Recovery day still includes local honeybee experiences: Ojek (motorbike) to a nearby hillside village where Apis cerana hives are kept for honey, and try harvesting some yourself. You’ll also encounter the native Itama stingless bees — safe, low-hassle, and fun to interact with.

Enjoy a rare chance to explore village life, meet local villagers, and contribute to community work to improve the kampung (optional). A home-cooked dinner is served there.

Day 4: Farewell breakfast, Bandung shopping

We enjoy a farewell breakfast in the padi field, plus a (weather- / season-permitting) rice-harvesting experience with local farmers.

Depart Pakenjeng, stop at a cool tea plantation for lunch, then head to Bandung for shopping along famous Braga Street. After an early group dinner, travel to the West Java Airport hotel, for your return flight the next morning.

---

TLDR:

Day 1: Start from Changi Airport, departure 0600h

Day 1 - 4: Honeybee Safari

Day 5: End at Changi Airport, arrival 1030h

A hard day's night

Your accommodation during the 3D safari is Rosma Saung, a popular locally-run guest house perched amidst padi terraces, and beside pristine Tonjong river flowing from the slopes of nearby Papandayan volcano. This cosy 4 BR wifi-ready cottage has individual rooms, heated showers, a living room, and fish pond outside. Many meals will be served here -- or weather- and season-permitting, in the natural surrounds outside.

On your last night, bunk at Metland Smara, a full international hotel 5 minutes from the airport. Depart early on Day 5 back to Sg.

Where?

Not too far from frenetic Jakarta, our adventure begins at West Java Intl Airport, a strangely peaceful behemoth that ensures your smooth passage deep into the volcanic West Java country.

Board a minibus and ride through thoroughly local landscapes before reaching Pakenjeng, the base for your tropical honeybee safari.

You will experience traditional village life at its truest, with not another tourist in sight. Spend 3 days traversing padi fields, hillside kampungs, and sheer mountain cliffs and ridges.

Just a 2hr flight from Singapore, airfare is cheap yet transports you to another world vastly different from Singapore's urban sprawl.

You'll spend 4 days here, but just like our very first trip, the people, places, and languorous pace of West Java stays rent-free in your head, long after.

An Instagrammable adventure like no other.