Labuanbajo Getting there & around

Getting there & away

Land

Bus & truck

There is no bus terminal in Labuanbajo so most people book their tickets through a hotel or agency, which makes them more expensive than they should be. If you get an advance ticket, the bus will pick you up from your hotel.

There are buses to Ruteng (30, 000Rp, four hours) every two hours, one to Bajawa (70, 000Rp, 10 hours) at 6am daily, and three weekly to Ende (105, 000Rp, 15 hours). Additional buses meet arriving ferries.

Passenger trucks also ply the route to Ruteng. If you travel this way, it’s imperative to get a seat in front of the rear axle; the positions behind are good approximations of ejector seats.

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Boat

No ferries stop at Komodo. The ferry from Labuanbajo to Sape (27, 000Rp, eight to nine hours) leaves at 8am daily. On Monday and Thursday it travels via Weikelo in west Sumba, making the journey time to Sape about 17 hours. Tickets for Sape can be purchased at the harbour master’s office (in front of the pier) one hour before the vessel’s departure.

The Pelni agent (41106) is easy to miss, tucked away in a side street in the northeast of town. The monthly Pelni ship Tilongkabila heads to Makassar and the east coast of Sulawesi, or to Bima, Lembar and Benoa. Tatamailau also travels monthly from Labuanbajo to Maumere, Timor and ports in West Papua.

Many travellers choose to take a boat trip between Flores and Lombok, stopping at Komodo and Sumbawa along the way for snorkelling and exploration. The local Perama boat contact is Central Bajo Tours (41289; fax 41490; Jl Yos Sudarso).

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Air

Merpati has flights between Labuanbajo and Denpasar four days a week. The Merpati office (41177) is between Labuanbajo and the airport, about 1.5km from town.

GT Air has four direct flights per week between Denpasar and Labuanbajo. Its ticket agent is BCB Travel (41088; Jl Kasimo). At the time this book went to press, Transnusa had begun flying to Maumere (586, 000Rp, four times a week).

Departure tax from Labuanbajo is 6000Rp.

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