Peucang lies off the northwest tip of Java, a small island of white sand and thick forest on the edge of Ujung Kulon National Park, the last wild corner of that crowded island. Ujung Kulon is a peninsula whose coast was swept by the Krakatau tsunami of 1883, which emptied it of people and let the forest take over, and it is the last home of the Javan rhinoceros, one of the rarest large mammals on earth. The animals are shy and live in the dense lowland forest on the mainland, so you are very unlikely to see one, but the park also holds banteng wild cattle, deer, gibbons, macaques, wild boar and crocodiles.
There is no road to the island, so your ride ends on the mainland, and the usual route is from Labuan or Carita on the west coast of Banten, then south along a coastal road through villages, rice fields and coconut groves toward Sumur and the park gate at Tamanjaya. The road gets narrower and more broken as you go, with potholes, buses, motorbike taxis and chickens, and heavy rain brings mud and standing water. Distances take longer than you expect. From the end of the road you go by boat, a couple of hours across a sea that can be rough, with tourist boats booked through the park office or a guide.
On the island itself, the sand is white and the water is clear, with coral just offshore, and monitor lizards patrol the beach looking for scraps. Rusa deer graze on the lawn near the old guesthouse, which dates from a Dutch era, and long-tailed macaques raid anything left open. Walk quietly and you may hear hornbills in the canopy. The sea is warm all year, but the dry season, from about May to September, gives the calmest crossings and the clearest skies. Monsoon months can cancel boats.
Bring cash, since there are no machines, and take drinking water and insect repellent, since mosquitoes are a real concern. Permits for the park are needed and should be arranged ahead, ideally through an authorised operator, and rules change, so ask locally before relying on any detail.