Karimunjawa is a chain of 27 islands north of Semarang, off the coast of Central Java, Indonesia. The name of Karimunjawa is taken from Javanese language 'Kremun kremun saking tanah Jawi' addressed by one of the Wali Songo [the Nine Saints who introducing Islam in Java] to describe how far this mini archipelago from Java, to be exact from Semarang and Jepara.
Stands from 27 islands, this mini archipelago became marine national park and it's like a treasure for those who loves marine life. Here can be found protected coral reefs [very colourful plateaus and plains in deep and shallow waters], secluded and tranquil white beaches [seems no-one there], pelican and hornbill, seagrass and kinds of sea creatures, from crabs, anchovy, starfish, sharks, stingray, jellyfish, red snappers, etc.
Several additional info from handbook of marine biology:
~ ecosystem type: rainforest plain with seagrass, algae, mangrove and coral reef
~ stands from 27 islands in the chain of archipelago
~ specialities vegetation: Crystocalyx macrophyla
~ type of algae: green, brown and red
~ mangrove with kind of vegetation: Terminalia cattapa, Casuarina equisetifolia, Scaerota frustescens, Strebus asper, Hibiscus tiliaceus and Rhizophora mucronata
~ kind of coral reefs: fringing reef, barrier reef and patch reef. stands from 51 genus, 90 types of hard corals and 242 species of fish.
~ protected items on the sea: Antiphates spp, Tubipora musica, Cassis cornuta, Charonia tritonis, Nautilus pompillius, Turbo marmoratus and 6 types of kima
~ animal on land: Cervus timorensis subspec, Macaca fascicularis karimondjawae, 40 kinds of birds like Ducula aenea, Haliaeetus leucogaster [warning: so rarely found nowadays], Pycnonotus goiavier, Psittacula alexandri, Eretmochelys imbricata, Chelonia mydas and local snake called 'edor'.
Although probably the most famous wreck is that of the Indonur, a Dutch steamship that went down in 1963 after the captain mistook a fire on the beach for the lights of Semarang and hit the reef. With huge steel plates and riveted steam boilers playing home to all manner of reef fish this does make a great dive.
