There are several tourist attractions in Bengkulu that can be exploited as travel destinations when visiting Bengkulu Province. Some of the top tourist attractions include:
PANJANG BEACH
Panjang Beach is the most popular beach for the local beach goers in Bengkulu, it stretches for approximately 7 km (4.4 miles). It is located on the Indian Ocean, western coast of Bengkulu city, about 2 km from Suprapto shopping center. The beach has white sand and pretty good for surf. Early morning on a mid to high tide will be the best time for surfing.
In Panjang Beach you can find seaside cottages, nice hotels, shopping center, street stalls and cafés along the beach. Other recreational facilities are also available such as: swimming pools, fishing ponds, etc. Spruce and pine trees that grow along the shoreline is another attraction that complements the beauty of the panoramic sunset at this beach. Panjang Beach has fine white sand so as you walk along the sand just like walking in a velvet sheet. For those who love volleyball can playing on the pitch that was built on sand naturally, for the surfers are also have its own point to conquer the waves with their surfboard.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
FORT MARLBOUROUGH
Fort Marlborough is a building fortress that located on the coast of Tapak Padri - Bengkulu City. Marlborough was built by the British colonial in 1914 - 1719 under the leadership of Governor General Josef Colin during their occupation in the region of Bengkulu.
Fort Marlborough is the largest fort that ever built by the United Nations during colonialism in Southeast Asia. The construction of buildings castle of Fort Marlborough is indeed very thick related with the British architectural style of the 20th century that indeed 'magnificent' and 'established'.
This overall shape of the fortress is resemble a cross-body 'turtle' that impressing the strength and grandeur. The details of European Taste building impress the existence of a great nation and prevail at that time. By many relics inside the Fort Marlborough, we note that at that time, the building were also serves as a center of various activities including offices, even a prison.
There were various historical record have occurred in the Fort Marlborough, among others are about the events British nation in Bengkulu that time, several weddings among them, the stories about spices, wars and the story of the death of Hamilton, the death of Thomas Parr and the submission of this castle for about six months by Tobo Bengkulu with Rajo Lelo as the King.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
SOEKARNO'S EXILE HOUSE
Bung Karno’s exile home is located on Jalan Jeruk – later renamed Jalan Soekarno-Hatta, in the Gading Cempaka District, Bengkulu City.
Bung Karno’s exile home in the town of Bengkulu measures roughly 162 square meters. It is a simple, rectangular house with plain walls, a high pyramid-shaped roof and a spacious yard. The main doors are double leaf with ornate window grills. It is not known when the house was first constructed, but it is estimated to have been built in the early 20th century.
The house was originally owned by Chinese businessman, Tan Eng Cian, who worked as a grocery supplier for the Dutch Government. Chinese characteristics can be found in the structure of the building’s vents, and several doors and windows are still patterned with Chinese characters. The house was later leased by the Dutch government as a home for Sukarno.
Today, the building is maintained by the Bengkulu Provincial Government, and is named Persada Bung Karno. It now serves as a museum, library, meeting room and theater. Within the house is a collection of objects of high historical value, such as Soekarno’s strategy outlines during his struggle in exile.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
SUNGAI SUCI BEACH
Sungai Suci Beach is one of the tourism object that is mainstay of Central Bengkulu. The beach is located in the Village Pasar Pedati, Pondok Kelapa Disitrict, at the Central Bengkulu Regency. Central Bengkulu Regency is one between 10 Regencies of Bengkulu Province, it is different from Bengkulu City. The location of Sungai Suci beach is about 12 km from Bengkulu City central to the north of Bengkulu Province.
Sungai Suci beach is characterized by its hilly topography which directly in contact with the sea. This typical hilly beach such as Sungai Suci beach creating a vast panorama to the sea that meet the need to relaxing our mind. This scenery is becoming more beautiful at the afternoon when the sunset at the edge of Indonesian Ocean. That's why the tourists are very interested in visiting this beach.
Just like the other Bengkulu beaches, we can find many small traditional stores which sell typical sea food and drink especially coconut drink here. The owner of the stores provide many small huts for the customer to eat, drink and enjoying the beach at the hillside of the beach.
Many facilities available on this beach, like water sport. Besides that you can enjoy some sport, swimming or playing around the beach. The waves those strike the hillside, had made the ornamental surface of the hillside edge.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
BENGKULU MUSEUM
Bengkulu Museum is the only city museum in Bengkulu that often become an inextricable part of the city’s history and culture. As a province and city once colonized by the British, Bengkulu holds the heritage of various cultures and nations combined in one place. Here in The Bengkulu Museum, we can find a vast collection of objects, images, audios and ancient texts.
Bengkulu Museum was first founded in 1978, and it became fully functional in 1980. It was originally housed in what was once Fort Marlborough, a fort built by the British in the early 18th century. Three years later, the museum was moved to a new building that was considered to be more efficient and better located.
There are ancient Sanskrit manuscripts from pre-colonial times, Bengkulu’s unique Bersurek cloths with their Arabic calligraphy motifs, and artifacts of the time when Bengkulu was a British colony, is all can be found here.
By occupying an area of nearly 10,000 square meters, the museum currently consists of two main exhibition halls; the permanent exhibition and the temporary exhibition. The two galleries are dedicated to a collection of over 6,200 relics which are classed into 10 different categories. These include geology, biology, ethnography, history, technology, fine arts and more. Nearly half of this collection is classified under the ethnography category, which is to say, the study of culture. These cultural artifacts are objects of everyday life, such as traditional woven fabrics, ceremonial items and weapons. Some of these are still manufactured today, while others are obsolete and are no longer in use.
The museum is open to the public from Tuesday till Sunday at 08:00 - 13:00, and it is closed on Monday.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
DENDAM TAK SUDAH LAKE
Danau Dendam Tak Sudah (DDTS), can be translate with Never Ending Revenge lake is one of famous destinations in Bengkulu. This lake is settle in Dusun Besar village, Singaran Pati sub-district, Bengkulu and has an area of 557 and 67 hectare wide. The lake thought to have formed from volcanic activity in the area. By located in the strategic importance, in 1936 this lake was established as a nature reserve with an area of 11.5 hectares by the Dutch government. Then, in 1979, this nature reserve area has been expanded to 430 hectares. In 1999 this nature reserve area was expanded to 577 hectares.
As to the somewhat sinister name, there are two versions to the story. The first one tells the legend of a young couple whose love was not blessed by both their parents. The pair of lovers was then said to succumb to depression and eventually took their own life by plunging into the lake. Taking their grudge to the afterlife, their action would later give the lake its legendary name.
The second version is believed to have occurred during the Dutch Colonial period. It is said that during that particular time, the Dutch Colonial Government decided to build a dam in the lake to prevent water from flooding, and then build roads along the lake. Somehow, the project was never completed, thus the name “Unfinished Dam” was widely used. From the “Unfinished Dam” or “Dam tak Sudah” over time this would evolve into “Dendam Tak Sudah”.
In the morning, the visitors can enjoy the sunrise and the beautiful scenery of the lake surface that is reddish in the light of the sun. We can also do fishing and travel across the lake with raft or boat. Since the lake is surrounded by hills and lush forests, then we can get the very fresh cool air, with beauty of the vast nature reserve enivironment.
”Dendam Tak Sudah” Lake is no less beautiful and exotic to Toba lake in North Sumatra and Maninjau lake in West Sumatra. Dendam lake is about 6 km from the center of the city of Bengkulu. The access to the site would not be difficult, for there are many public transportation to the area or if you bring your own vehicle,the distance from Bengkulu is juat about 30 minutes drive away. To get to Danau Dendam Tak Sudah, you can take public minibuses or buses with the route Bengkulu-Danau Dendam tak Sudah. Situated only 6 Km from Bengkulu city, the trip will only take roughly around 30 minutes’ drive through smoothly asphalted roads.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
TIKUS ISLAND
Tikus island or Mouse island is a small island that located on Bengkulu coastal waters and it part of Bengkulu province. This island is precisely located in west side of Bengkulu town. To reach this island, the visitors can ride the rental fisherman boat from Zakat beach or Tapak Pader beach, it takes 45 minutes.
This island is clean and having beauty natural sightseeing, especially the water, which is very clear and sparkling. The visitors may see some fishes swimming around the coral which surround this small island clearly. Moreover, the tourists can also do snorkeling and swimming at the sea.
The existence of Tikus island is not that popular than Bali or Lombok, but everything in Bengkulu is having potential value that worth to be visited. Tikus Island has a natural atmosphere, it clean and soothing. You will feel as it your private island, for it uninhabited and it still virgin. In addition, there is also a lighthouse on the island because this place was a formerly used as a stop ships.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
RAFFLESIA ARNOLDI
Rafflesia Arnoldii or in Indonesia it’s been called as Padma Raksasa, is a flowes member of the genus Rafflesia. In Indonesia Rafflesia Arnoldii is one of the three national flowers in Indonesia, the other two being the white jasmine and moon orchid. It was officially recognized as a national "rare flower".
The naming of this giant flower is connected with the history of the first discovery in 1818 in the tropical forest of Bengkulu (Sumatra), somewhere near the river Manna, Lubuk Tapi, South Bengkulu. By this phenomenon, Bengkulu then became famous as The Land of Rafflesia.
This plant is an endemic plant in Sumatra, particularly in the southern part like Bengkulu, Jambi and South Sumatra. Kerinci Seblat National Park is an area of major conservation of this species. This species, together with the other members of the genus Rafflesia, threatened its status due to massive deforestation.