Maribaya Resort
The Natural Hot Spring Resort in Lembang

Maribaya used to be a huge park where people have picnic near the waterfalls. Recently, it is divided into two:

• Maribaya Resort, or officially known as Maribaya Natural Hot Spring Resort
• Maribaya park that connected to Taman Hutan Rakyat Ir. H. Djuanda (Djuanda forest park). Tahura Djuanda in North of Bandung is popularly known as Dago Pakar.
  

Let's explore Maribaya Resort first :)

If you drive from Lembang, you have to pass the gate and parking lot of Maribaya park first. The gate to Maribaya Resort is not far from there, but it is not easily spotted from the road because it is right after a sharp turn. Hence, it is easier to park the car in the parking lot across the street. There are shuttle cars that you can ride for free that drive visitors back and forth from the parking lot to the resort. Unfortunately, it takes unknown waiting time to return to the parking lot. Although it is a close walking distance, the uphill walk to the parking lot would be a problem for elders.

Fun Activities in Maribaya Resort

First, let's enjoy the view. Since Maribaya Resort is in the highland surrounded by forest, the weather is cool and the greenery is gorgeous. It is definitely instagramable :)

There are several popular spots here:

• The Eyang Raksa Dinata Gate. This is the welcome gate when you first enter Maribaya Resort. The gate is a wooden bridge with tall pillars.
• Rainbow bridge: a colorful wooden bridge that can be used to cross the river, but more importantly to snap beautiful pictures ;-)
• There are two small waterfalls here: curug Cigulung and curug Cikawari (curug is a Sundanese word for a waterfall). Although you can not walk down to the waterfall, you can take pictures from their side or from the bridge. You also can enjoy the view of the waterfall from the Twig Cafe, the restaurant that is located beside the stream. One drawback when we were there is the piles of garbage in the river, which smells very bad.
• Sky Bridge Tapak Halimun. This is a wooden path where you can see the view of the resort from higher level. At the end of the path you can continue through a bridge called Spider Web, which will end up at a tree house.
• The hot spring pools called Tirta Sawarna and Tirta Wening. Since they are filled with natural hot spring water, the color of the water in the pools are greenish.
• The playground and the mini zoo are also instagramable since they are decorated beautifully.

Being in a hot spring resort, of course the main activity in Maribaya Resort is to soak in the hot-spring pools. There are two location of hot spring pools here. The one nearer to the entrance is called Family Foot Spa, where you can immerse your feet in the warm pool.

You need to walk further to reach the second location, which consists of five pools. The temperature of these pools are hotter than the first one. On average it is forty degrees Celsius! The color of the water in these pools are greenish. You can choose whether to immerse in the big one, or in the smaller ones, which are more secluded and private with bamboo fence surrounded them. Alternatively, you can rent a private bathroom in the three stories building next to these pools. Initially I thought it was a hotel, but it turns out to be bathrooms, each equipped  with a big bath tub.

The third activity in Maribaya Resort is to play the games offered, such as shooting target, trampoline, and fishing. Young children can play in the playground or feeding animals such as sheep and rabbit in the mini zoo.

Although visitors are not allowed to bring food and drinks into the resort, you don't have to worry. There are various food and drinks offered in the entire resort. There is a food court called Langlang Buana near the entrance, Twig Cafe near the waterfalls as well as food kiosks.

The price of the ticket is Rp. 35,000. However, it is only for entering and walk around the park. You have to pay additional tickets for every activity offered. On average it is Rp. 35,000 for each game. The hourly rate for bathing starts from Rp. 90,000. You even have to pay to cross the rainbow bridge and spider web. So, at the end of the day, you will be surprised how much money you spend in Maribaya Resort. 

Ready to explore other parts of Sunda? As a metropolitan, Jakarta has many places of interests, such as Jakarta Aquarium and Taman Mini Indonesia Indah. Do you know that cherry blossom can bloom in Puncak and there is a Hindu temple in Garut?

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