The Queen of the South Sea

Indonesian legend has it that there is a queen of the South sea of Java. This mythical lady, princess, mermaid, or other magical being, lives in the sea and will take whom she pleases. So when I headed to Depok Beach with my language program they told us not to wear green because this is a color that will make the queen come after you. I didn’t see anyone wearing green at the beach.

The beautiful black sand beach and warm water made me want to go swimming. But, no one swims at Depok Beach because the currents and waves are so strong – perhaps the queen exists after all. It made me wonder how the fishermen manage to take their wooden boats out to sea. This area is known for seafood and I hear that the fisherman catch a lot of fish here. Depok Beach is close to Parangtritis Beach which is well-known. I was happy just looking around and feeling the very warm sea breeze.

I’ve never seen so many breaking waves so far out and so close to the shore at a beach before.

The drive to the beach took us through rice fields and lush areas with palm trees full of coconuts all around. This island nation (17,000 plus islands) looks like the tropical paradise that airline companies use for marketing on brochures.