The town was a considerable port in the 19th century, but was completely destroyed by the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa. The present settlement still houses the Cikoneng Lighthouse built by Dutch government two years later as a memorial for the townspeople killed by the eruption. It was also the starting point of the Great Post Road, built by the Dutch in the nineteenth century, which ran around 1,000 kilometers (620 mill) to the eastern tip of Java. Off the coast of Anyer is the island Pulau Sangiang, an uninhabited island with vast areas of untouched jungle. The area is also known for coral formations swarming with tropical fish.
Anyer Beach is a tourist attraction with hot swimming water, a hotel and rental of resting sheds, boats, four-wheeled motorcycles, water scooter and a banana boat.
On 22 December 2018, a tsunami that followed an eruption and partial collapse of the Anak Krakatau volcano in the Sunda Strait struck several coastal regions of Banten in Java and Lampung in Sumatra, Indonesia. At least 426 people were killed and 14,059 were injured. The tsunami was caused by an undersea landslide that followed an eruption of Anak Krakatau, the “Child of Krakatoa”. On 23 December, it was found that much of the island of Anak Krakatau had collapsed into the sea.
A landslide tsunami in Indonesia is regarded as a rare occurrence by the Indonesian National Board for Disaster Management. Thus, it is not considered as an imminent threat and therefore authorities often don’t pay enough attention to it. Due to this fact, the Indonesian Coordinating Ministry for Maritime held a joint discussion with the Indonesian Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysical Agency, the Indonesian Agency for Assessment and Application of Technology, geological agencies and the Indonesian Institute of Sciences to investigate and to study the tsunami and Mount Anak Krakatau