The Eid al Fitr holidays, which were brisker as it came at the same time with school holidays, were also a great boon for "small people" around tourist destinations.
In the beach resort of Tanjung Lesung, in the district of Pandeglang, and Anyer, in the district of Serang of the province of Banten, fishermen and small traders enjoyed handsome earning from the spending of large number of tourists.
Karatteh was among the traditional fishermen in Tanjung Lesung feeling blessed by Ied ul Fitr holidays.
With his small motorboat, the traditional fishermen from the village of Tanjungjaya, sub-district of Panimbang, earned hundreds of thousands of rupiahs from transporting tourists to the island of Liwungan , around 30 minutes away by boat from the fish harbor at the Nelayan Cottage village.
"Thanks God, I could take tourists three times to the island of Liwungan, and earned at least Rp500,000 to Rp600,000 in one way trip," the father of three children said at Tanjung Lesung, on Sunday.
However, the owner of 24 PK boat that could carry 25 passengers said the money was not all for him.
"It is to be divided with a crewman. My net income in taking the passengers to the island is around Rp200,000-Rp300,000," the man, who already has four grand children, said.
He said normally in the days when there is no tourist that need his service, he went to the sea fishing . The earning depends on on how much the fish he could catch.
Tourists could enjoy the natural beauty of coral reef and various fish species under the sea surface. Many holiday makers at Tanjung Lesung chose the sea off the island of Liwungan for snorkeling and diving .
The island with sparkling sand beach not far from Tanjung Lesung was crowded with not only tourists wanting snorkeling and diving but also those wanting to enjoy the soft touches of the sea breeze or idling under the shadow of leafy trees.
The island , measuring around 49 hectares is crowded with holiday makers only during long holidays like Ied ul Fitri and national holidays, Karatteh said.
"Praise be to God, thanks to the visit here of President Joko Widodo around three years ago, Tanjung Lesung became known to many people in other parts of the country. Now growing number of people have visited here during holidays, he said.
Among the tourists visiting the island of Liwungan on that Sunday (17/6) afternoon were a family from Cikarang, West Java.
"We spent half of the day on the island of Liwungan this morning . We hired a vessel at Rp700,000," a member of the family group from Cikarang said.
Pak Ade, the owner of a food stall on the Bandulu beach in the sub-district of Anyer, Serang also enjoyed extra income during the Ied ul Fitr holidays. He said he earned up to Rp500,000 per day in a number of days during the week as against around a daily sales of Rp200,000 to Rp300,000 normally on Saturdays and Sundays.
The area along the coast of Tanjung Lesung-Carita-Karang Bolong-Anyer of Banten is a favorite destination for many tourists from Jakarta, Bogor, Tangerang, Bekasi, Bandung, and Lampung.
The number of visitors to Anyer and Tanjung Lesung peaked at Sunday, the third day of the Ied ul Fitr holidays.
During those days the traffic was very heavy. It was a condition inevitable with the many tourists coming either with private cars, or by tourist buses or intercity passenger buses even by motorcycles that had to move slowly at a snail pace. It took 8 hours to cover the distance from Tanjung Lesung-Carita-Karang Bolong to Anyer. Many travelers had to spent hours longer than normal in the road before they reach their destinations.
Normally the distance of 105 kilometers between Tanjung Lesung-Cilegon could be covered in only 2.5 hours by car.
Meanwhile, the Island of Untung Jawa in the district of the Thousand Island in the Jakarta bay also hosted many holiday makers from various areas mainly in Java.
The island that could be reached by a motorboat in 30 minutes from Pantai Tanjung Pasir, Tangerang, Banten, was visited by 16,046 domestic tourists in four days during the Ied ul Fitr holidays.
The owners of motorboats earned extra income from the tourists, who came in groups and individuals. They offered to take the tourists across the sea to the island and generally negotiations on the transport cost would not take long. Many small traders offered food and drinks to the tourists.
Hajj Rodi, a food and soft drink sellers at the main boat pier in the tourist village of the island of Untung Jawa , said the sales turnover of his food shop was 30-35 percent higher than normally every weekend.
"Normally on Saturdays and Sundays sales average only Rp1.5 million per day," the 49-year old man, who has lived and was born on the island, said.
Suryadi, a young man who makes a living by operating "banana boat" , also enjoyed good days together with a number of his friends from the island, which looks fresh with leafy mangrove.
On Tuesday (19/6) afternoon, Suryadi and his friends were quite busy serving the tourists playing in the sea with their banana boats.
"They needs only to pay Rp30,000 each to enjoy floating on board the `banana boat," Suryadi said, while busy helping the people mostly young boys and girls to get on to his boat. (AS/H-YH)
Reporter: Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Andi Abdussalam
Copyright © ANTARA 2018
