Kota Ternate Getting there & around

Getting there & away

Boat

Ternate is the shipping hub for North Maluku. Ahmad Yani port is the passenger harbour for Pelni (21434; 8am-4pm Mon-Sat) liners. The irregular Sangiang loops round Halmahera. Nggapulu and Sinabung both stop at Ternate between Sorong (Papua; 137,500Rp, 14 to 16 hours) and Bitung (northern Sulawesi, 97,500Rp, seven hours). The Lambelu links Ternate with Ambon (115,000Rp, 19 hours) via Namlea (Buru) eastbound only.

Non-Pelni slow boats RM Theodora/Intim Teratai both sail to Manado (145,000Rp, 21 hours) on Saturdays/Thursdays and to Sanana (Sula Islands, 210,000Rp, up to two days) on Tuesdays/Thursdays.

Other jetties:

Bastiong ferry port Vehicle ferries daily to Rum (Tidore, 3800Rp, 7am) and Sidangoli (Halmahera; 14,900Rp, 8am) and overnight to Bitung (North Sulawesi, 66,000Rp, 10am Wednesdays and 5pm Saturdays).

Bastiong ‘first’ port Speedboats to Rum (Tidore), and all boat services to Makian, Bacan (80,000Rp, 8pm) and Obi.

Dufa-Dufa jetty Speedboats to Jailolo (Halmahera).

Kota Baru jetty Twice daily speedboats to Sofifi (Halmahera) from where mobils connect to Weda.

Mesjid Baru/Jati Mall jetty Speedboats to Sidangoli (Halmahera).

Swering/Central Promenade jetty Daily speedboats to Goto (Tidore, 10,000Rp, 4pm) and to Sofifi (Halmahera, 30,000Rp, 10am).

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Air

Lion Air/Wings Air (Almas Mega Travel; 55555; Jl Pattimura; 8am-8pm) flies twice daily to Manado with connections to Makassar, Jakarta and Surabaya. Prices are load-weighted so book ahead.

Express Air (328484; Jl Stadion; 8am-6pm Mon-Fri, 8am-2pm Sat & Sun) flies three times weekly to Jakarta via Makassar using a relatively fast Boeing 747, taking only five hours.

Trigana Air (Archie Travel; 328484; Jl Raya Bastiong; 8am-5pm Mon-Sat) provides a useful Ternate–Ambon–Tual link (out Wednesdays, returning Tuesdays) and hops once weekly to Makassar via Manado and Luwuk.

Merpati (21651; Jl Bosoiri; 8am-4pm Mon-Sat, 9am-noon Sun) flies daily except Mondays to Jakarta via Makassar, four times weekly to Manado and three times weekly to Yog­yakarta via Makassar. It also operates two small planes buzzing to a wealth of North Maluku destinations. See the map on p752.

Bela Travel (25470; fax 25364; Jl Bosoiri; 9am-noon & 2-5pm Mon-Fri, 9am-3pm Sat) can book various onward flights ex Manado or Jakarta.

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