Madakaripura waterfall on the island of Java competes with Sipiso-piso waterfall on the island of Sumatra for title of Indonesia's #1 waterfall. I loved them both.
Madakaripura is 3 hours' drive from Surabaya. Many visitors combine a Mt. Bromo visit with the waterfall, but you'll need an overnight stay to do this, and I didn't have the patience for such a long trip. (I'm also not sure the sulfur at the mountain is good for anyone's health.) For Madakaripura, you'll need an experienced driver who knows how to use the new toll roads/highways. Tolls *roundtrip* will total about 64,500 rupiah (about 5 USD). Parking will cost about 8,000 rupiah (less than 1 USD), and park entrance fee will be 26,000 rupiah (about 2 USD). (All numbers accurate as of December 2018.)
I found my driver through my hotel and paid 1 million rupiah (about 70 USD, *including* gas) for up to 8 hours, with each additional hour charged at 100,000 rupiah. My roundtrip totaled about 7 and a half hours from Surabaya's city center.
Once at the parking lot, you can hire a motorbike for between 10,000 or 15,00 rupiah (about 1 USD) to get closer to the waterfall, but I enjoyed the 4 km hike. You can hire a guide at the park entrance. My guide and I didn't agree on a price beforehand, but 100,000 rupiah was the going rate for foreigners/bules. I tipped him an additional 50,000 rupiah because he was incredible. He carried my backpack and also put my shoes under his parka to keep them dry. You don't really need a guide until the very end, when you reach the waterfall, but unless you're an expert climber, it's worth it. It's very difficult for anyone not used to climbing to get to the final (and most spectacular) waterfall on his/her own, but I saw most Indonesian teenagers able to make it. I brought my own sandals, but I also saw several touts selling them along the way. Obviously, you'll get wet, so if you bring hiking or athletic shoes, you'll need a plastic bag to protect them when you switch to sandals at the waterfall.
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