Bima & Raba Getting there & around

Getting there & away

Land

Bus

For most buses to/from the west, Bima bus terminal is a 10-minute walk south along Jl Sultan Kaharuddin from the centre of town, though you can buy a ticket in advance from bus company offices on Jl Sultan Kaharuddin.

The majority of buses heading west to Lombok leave in convoy (7pm to 7.30pm), but there are some daytime services too. Fares to Mataram range from 78, 000Rp for normal services (without air-con) to 118, 000Rp for the luxury, air-con buses that take about 11 hours. Tiara Mas has the best buses. Many continue to Denpasar, arriving at 11am the next morning, then Surabaya and Jakarta.

Destinations in Sumbawa are mostly serviced by smaller crowded buses that stop anywhere and everywhere. They run between 6am and 5pm. Destinations from Bima include Dompu (9000Rp, two hours) and Sumbawa Besar (45, 000Rp, seven hours).

Buses east to Sape go from Kumbe bus terminal in Raba, a 20-minute (1500Rp) bemo ride east of Bima. Pick up a yellow bemo on Jl Sultan Kaharuddin or Jl Soekarno Hatta. Buses leave Kumbe terminal for Sape (9000Rp, two hours) from about 6am until 5pm. If you leave at 6am sharp you may just make it to Sape for the 8am ferry to Flores, which usually leaves a little late, but don’t count on it. It’s much safer to charter a bemo which will do the run in 1½ hours and cost around 130, 000Rp.

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Boat

Travel agencies in town can organise tickets, since the Pelni office (42625; Jl Kesatria 2) is at Bima port. There are currently no fast ferries leaving Bima. Tatamailau travels monthly from Bima via Maumere and Timor to ports in West Papua, while the monthly Kelimutu connects Bima with Larantuka, Timor and Papau. Tilongkabila goes to Labuanbajo and Sulawesi one way, and Lembar and Benoa the other.

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Air

You can fly to Bima with Merpati (42697; Jl Soekarno Hatta 60), which has five flights a week to/from Denpasar and regular connections to Mataram, Ende and Maumere. The flight to Labuanbajo leaves on Monday only. Services to Tambulaka (Sumba) and Kupang may resume in the future. Note that some Sumbawa-bound planes from Lombok and elsewhere will not accept surfboards; always phone to check first.

Departure tax from Bima is 6000Rp.

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