Balikpapan Getting there & around

Getting there & away

Land

Bus

Buses to Samarinda (19, 500Rp, two hours, three daily) depart from the Batu Ampar bus terminal north of the city, accessible by taxi on route number 1, 2 or 3 for 3000Rp. Buses to Banjarmasin (75, 000Rp, 15 hours, two daily) depart from the bus terminal on the opposite side of the harbour to the city. To get here take route number 6 taxi from Jl Sudirman near Balikpapan Plaza to the pier on Jl Monginsidi. You’ll know you’ve arrived at the pier because kids mob the minibus to solicit passengers for speedboat charters. Speedboats to the bus terminal cost about 6000Rp per person, or around 30, 000Rp to charter, and take 10 minutes.

Air-con buses to Banjarmasin (110, 000Rp, 12 hours) also leave from a stand on Jl Soekarno-Hatta on the way to the Batu Ampar terminal.

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Boat

Pelni (424171; Jl Yos Sudarso 76) ships travel fortnightly to Pare Pare (economy 180, 000Rp) in Sulawesi and then onto Surabaya (economy 300, 000Rp) in Java. The Dobonsolo travels fortnightly to Toli Toli in Sulawesi (economy 130, 000Rp) and then back to Tarakan (economy from Balikpapan 157, 000Rp) and north to Nunukan (economy from Balikpapan 219, 000Rp).

There are also Pelni weekly services to Makassar in Sulawesi (economy/1st class 116, 000/357, 000Rp, 1½ days).

At the next dock over, the Tanjung Selamat Express leaves twice a week for Pare Pare (80, 000Rp, 22 hours). Tickets are sold at the dock between 10am and 2pm or at the nearby agency office (734516; Rt 1, Jl Mong­insidi 4), about 500m from the docks.

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Air

Adam Air, Bouraq, Garuda Citilink, and Kartika fly daily to/from Jakarta. Garuda Citilink and Kartika also fly daily to/from Surabaya, and Merpati has daily flights between to Makassar. There are daily flights to Tarakan.

Kal-Star and DAS fly to/from Berau, and DAS flies to Pangkalan Bun several times a week. Batavia flies to/from Banjarmasin.

Silk Air (730800; www.silkair.com; Hotel Gran Senyiur) flies to Singapore (US$480) daily.

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