Ferries in Indonesia. Local ferries between neighboring islands The road without end

And other CIS countries can be reached, flown or sailed with transfers. If you are considering the option of getting to Indonesia by plane, it is recommended to make a transfer in either Kuala Lumpur (), or. The flight from Singapore to Jakarta takes 2 hours, and the ticket costs from 30 USD. You can also fly from Kuala Lumpur to the capital in 2 hours, but the ticket will cost a little less – 25 USD. The Dubai-Jakarta flight will take about 8 hours and the ticket price is 295 USD. The most expensive and longest route is considered to be from Istanbul to Jakarta. The flight lasts 12 hours, and the ticket costs from 520 USD.

Water transport

Regarding water transport, it should be said that ferries regularly run from Singapore to the Indonesian island of Sumatra with the possibility of landing in the capital, Jakarta. From Malaysia, most ferries and boats to Indonesia depart from Port Klang, operated by the Port Klang Authority. The average cost of such a trip is 40-50 USD. From some Malaysian ports, for example, Malacca, a boat ticket to the Indonesian Dumaya can cost you 20-25 USD. Also, you can get from Malaysia to Indonesia by sea from Penang, Port Dickson, Kukup.

You can find less expensive boat tickets from Singapore. So, through the Penguin company, you can book a ticket to the Indonesian Sumatra for an average of 15 USD. Such flights from Singapore to Indonesia are daily and operate on a strict schedule.

Bus

You can get to Indonesia by bus from Malaysia, East Timor and Papua New Guinea. Daily buses link Dili (East Timor) and Kupang (West Timor province in Indonesia). The border point is the village of Motaain (Mota'ain). The trip takes about 12 hours and will cost you approximately 23 USD. From Malaysia to Indonesia you can travel via the island of Kalimantan, from the Malaysian city of Kuching to the Indonesian Pontianak. The cost of such a trip, which takes about 9 hours, is 14 USD. Also, you can get to the Indonesian city of Jayapura from the city of Vanimo in Papua New Guinea. The cost of such a trip will be only 3-5 USD, and the duration of the trip will be 2 hours.

I would like to talk separately about such a topic as transport in Indonesia - it deserves a separate post and mention!

In March 2016, we traveled around the island of Java, moving from the capital Jakarta east towards Bali, and managed to try almost all types of local ground transport, and we will tell you about our impressions here. All information will relate specifically to the island of Java; perhaps in other parts of the country the situation is slightly different.

Moving around Java is unlikely to leave anyone indifferent: for us it was sometimes fun, sometimes annoying, and sometimes downright scary :-)

Most tourists fly to the island of Bali, many limit themselves to it, but we still recommend taking a trip to other parts of the country, because Indonesia has 17,000 islands, many of which are completely uninhabited. At least Java has a developed transport system, and the easiest way to get there is from Bali.

You can also get to Indonesia by flying to large cities such as Jakarta, Yogyakarta, Surabaya, Medan from neighboring Asian countries on local airlines. The popular low-cost airline Air Asia has many flights from Malaysia and Thailand, where in turn there are many flights from Russia.

We are approaching Jakarta

How to get from Jakarta airport to the city?

If you have arrived in the capital, exit the airport building and go left. There you will see several buses and a ticket sales counter, the Damri company. The fare from the airport to Jakarta (central railway station) is 40,000 rupees. You can go to various parts of the city or to nearby cities, for example to Bogor.

Indonesia Trains

There are railway connections in Indonesia only on the islands of Java and Sumatra (they are not of particular interest here). Trains are a fairly fast and comfortable way to get around the island, but the prices are much more expensive than by bus.

There are 3 classes of Indonesian trains:

Executive (Eksecutif in local) - air-conditioned carriages with wide and soft seats, each with a power outlet, and plenty of legroom. The most comfortable and most expensive class.

Business (bisnis) - also an air-conditioned carriage, but without prior reservation of seats.

Economy (ekonomi) is a carriage without air conditioning with ordinary benches, like in electric trains. A lot of people with all their belongings.

Executive - class

The main trains in Indonesia are not numbered, but named. Another interesting feature is that in large cities there are several railway stations and different trains depart from different points. For example, in Jakarta, the Gambir Central Station produces expensive trains, while the other station, Pasar Senen, operates economy class trains.

Gambir railway station schedule

You can view the schedule and find out prices at. Enter in the right column from where to go, and all trains with prices will appear. You can buy it there, but you need an Indonesian SIM card and most likely a local bank card.

We simply bought tickets at the box office, having previously found out the price on the website. In Jakarta, we saw ticket machines and even used them (they don’t give change, you need a local SIM card!) It’s better to get train tickets at least a few days in advance, they run out quickly, especially on weekends.

Indonesian Railway Map

Indonesian Railways

Airplanes and domestic flights in Indonesia

The internal network of air traffic in Indonesia is quite well developed, and this is understandable - how long it takes to travel by land and by ferry from island to island! Often, an airplane is the only way to get to a particular island. Flights between major cities and to/from Bali are inexpensive and can cost the same as trains.

— Garuda Indonesia

— Sriwijaya Air

You can buy tickets on airline websites, although some either do not sell them online at all, or you need an Indonesian card. Travel agents and travel agencies can also help with tickets.

Luxurious Ngurah Rai Airport in Bali

Buses in Indonesia

Intercity buses are the main and most popular transport in Indonesia, well at least in Java. Moreover, they can walk not only within one island, but also on neighboring ones.

There are three classes exactly the same as for trains. The fastest and most comfortable Executive class buses are equipped with air conditioning and travel from start to finish without any special stops. And economy buses are many times worse and trashier.

Java has very dense traffic (140 million people on one island) and narrow roads, plus sometimes in the mountains, so all the buses are very slow. You can’t even imagine how long they can trudge, stopping at every pillar and picking up passengers. For example, we sat down in the city of Jember with the goal of getting to Banyuwangi (to the ferry in Bali) some measly 100 km. Well, we’ll get there in two or three hours, we naively thought. Ha! Seven! Our difficult journey that day took seven hours.

5 seats in a row - a regular Indonesian bus

On almost all of our trips, luggage could not be stored in a special compartment, so we had to keep our backpacks on our laps for several hours. Legroom is very limited and the seats are narrow and arranged three abreast rather than two.

But this is not all the delights of Indonesian bus transportation. When you enter the station, a whole company of men swarms at you asking “where are you going?” Once we were prompted to answer, we thought it was a station worker in uniform (well, in Thailand we are used to the fact that everything is arranged in a human way). He took us to the bus (which we could have found ourselves in 3 minutes) and told us to get on. A conductor in uniform immediately came up and took 50 thousand rupees each and issued tickets. Well, okay, we think, everything seems to be official, although it’s a little expensive, maybe inflation.

Already during the trip, we saw how the locals were giving a completely different amount, we began to ask them - it turned out that the fare costs 16 thousand. We're going to the conductor, why did you charge us more? He turned on the fool, they say, I don’t understand anything and in general “Offer” (deal). That is, he took three times as much from us, took some for himself, gave it back to that guy at the bus station, and now, of course, he can’t return it! Moreover, the locals sit and understand everything, but no one will say a word. It seems like the amount is small, but a residue remains...

We often found ourselves in such situations while moving around Indonesia on buses and bemos (minibuses).

The wheel is smoking - the pads are burning

Another way of scam: just the left person (taxi driver) gets on the bus and says that you have arrived, although in fact you have not yet. The conductor on the bus is silent and says nothing, although he understands everything. This is how you go out late in the evening and don’t understand where, and here’s a taxi :-) Use a map and GPS.

Plus to all this, Indonesians smoke a lot right on the bus, and it doesn’t matter that their own small child and wife are sitting next to them. Some smoke without stopping at all! At all intermediate stops, as well as at the initial and final stops, all kinds of sellers of everything in the world and musicians walk around the narrow interior of the bus. The latter act on the principle of “Give me money and I’ll leave” and sing terribly, playing broken, out-of-tune guitars. Interestingly, a trip on an expensive VIP bus will not get rid of all these characters! To get acquainted and immerse yourself in the local flavor, you can’t think of a better way than riding a local bus.

I apologize for the poor quality, but this is what riding a Bemo looks like from the inside, fun, but cramped.

Bus drivers drive straight into oncoming traffic, accelerating motorcyclists and dodging oncoming trucks. In general, it's still fun!

Boats and maritime transport

We didn’t go on boats, except for the ferry from Java to Bali, so I can’t say anything for sure about them. I know that maritime transport in Indonesia is quite well developed; most of the populated islands are connected by sea transport by the Pelni company. On their website you can see the schedule and cost of ferries. They don't run that often, so if you plan to travel between the islands by ferry, allow plenty of time. It is also better to book and buy tickets in advance.

About the ferry from Java to Bali

Getting from Java to Bali is very easy - the islands are separated by only about 5 km of strait, where ferries run very often. The easternmost point of Java is the city of Banyuwangi (ferry departs from the village of Ketapang), and the westernmost point of Bali is Gilimanuk.

You can get to Banyuwangi by bus from Surabaya, Yogyakarta, Probolinggo and some other cities in Java, or by train from Surabaya and Probolinggo.

The ferry itself costs 8,000 rupees per person and 18,000 rupees per motorbike. From Gilimanuk you can already drive to Denpasar (30-40 thousand rupees). We recommend taking a bus in Java directly to Denpasar, you and the bus will be loaded onto a ferry, and then you will travel around the island of Bali on the same bus.

Urban transport in Indonesia

City transport in general is difficult and unclear; only in Jakarta, Yogyakarta and Solo (Surakarta) did we encounter a more or less clear bus system with routes and fixed prices.

Buses

There is no metro in the multimillion-dollar capital, but only trains to the suburbs from the Gambir central bus station. But there is a bus network, Trans Jakarta, with routes throughout the city. Buses run along a dedicated lane and stop at specially equipped pavilions. To get inside, you need to buy a ticket from the cashier, then go through the turnstile, and then sit on a bench to wait.

Yogyakarta and Solo have a similar system with similar names TransYogya and Batik Solo Trans. The fare is fixed and does not depend on the distance; you can travel like on the subway, jumping from line to line - quite convenient and inexpensive! All buses are equipped with air conditioning, although it is often not very cold inside and can be stuffy.

In addition to these buses, there are many others; in Jakarta there are generally a lot of different companies; it is quite difficult to understand their routes.

In all cities in Java we came across local minibuses; in different places they are called differently - bemo or angkot.

Bemos are very small minibuses that ply around the city and surrounding areas along a given route, but it is quite difficult for a foreigner to understand them, as they are not always signed. They pick up and drop off passengers anywhere, stand for a long time, gathering people, there are small benches for sitting inside and it’s very crowded. Drivers are constantly trying to deceive, calling the price 2-3 times higher than normal, it is better to find out in advance from the locals.

Often, a bemo is the only way to get somewhere, so you have to grit your teeth and put your feet under you and drive for more than one hour. For example, from Yogyakarta it took us a couple of hours to get to the volcanic lake Kawah Putih.

Bemo - Indonesian minibuses Bemo Indonesia

This is a simple motorcycle taxi, which is found everywhere in cities, mainly near markets, shopping centers, and major intersections. They will find you themselves (by the end of the trip their importunity even ceases to irritate you). It's fast, but it's inconvenient to travel with luggage. You can also travel by ojek outside the city; for example, they can take you to the nearest village.

Becak are three-wheeled pedicabs where the “basket” is located at the front and the driver pedals at the back. Drivers usually sleep lazily in the shade, waiting for you at hotels and guesthouses. The seat can accommodate two people, and quite slender ones at that :-) As a rule, travel is inexpensive if you bargain well, but in my opinion, there is little practicality in this transport, unless you travel for the sake of the exotic.

Asian ferries

In Asia, the situation with ferries is quite complex and contradictory. While the world's largest archipelagos with thousands and tens of thousands of islands are located here, international ferry service - due to unresolved border conflicts between neighboring countries and poverty - is poorly developed. Indonesia and the Philippines, the most populous archipelagos on Earth, have a complex, well-developed and heavily used domestic ferry network. And at the same time, there is no international ferry service either between Indonesia and the Philippines, or between the Philippines and Malaysia. From Malaysia you can take a ferry to Thailand, Singapore and a number of Indonesian islands: Sumatra, Batam and Bintam (the last two are located in the Riau archipelago, in close proximity to Singapore). But you will have to get to the most densely populated Indonesian island of Java by land and by local ferries. Indonesia. “The Bali Strait is narrow but deadly” was the headline that caught my eye in an English-language Indonesian newspaper while I was waiting for the ferry to depart from Java to Lombok. The note reported that another ferry sank. The fact is that in Indonesia, old European ships written off for scrap are used as ferries, and they are also loaded to capacity, and often overloaded. So there is nothing surprising in the fact that they periodically go to the bottom. After another disaster, a total check of the entire fleet begins. This is when it is safest to use Indonesian ferries!

The most popular Indonesian ferry services connect the island of Java with the islands of Sumatra and Bali.

Malaysia. In terms of quality, safety, speed and comfort, Malayan ferries are far superior to Indonesian ones.

Penang Island is connected by ferry to the mainland (Georgetown - Butterworth line, departure daily, every hour, trip duration 40 minutes, fare $0.06 - the same as on the toll bridge). Ferries also run to the islands of Langkawi (daily, 1 hour 45 minutes, $8) and Tioman (daily, 2–3 hours, $6).

In Japan, all the largest islands are connected by tunnels and bridges; ferries are used only to get to the small islands in the southern part of the Japanese archipelago. The country is connected by international ferry service to Russia, South Korea (4–5 times a week, trip duration 3 hours, cost from $120), China and Taiwan.

South Korea is connected by ferries only to Japan (Busan - Hakata ferry, 4-5 times a week, trip duration 3 hours, cost from $120) and China (Incheon - Tainan ferry 2 times a week; Incheon - Qingdao ferry - Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, the cost is approximately the same - from $120 (economy class).

Asian ferries

Beetle(Japan, South Korea): www.beetle.jrkyushu.co.jp

Weidong Ferry(China - South Korea): www.weidong.com

Bintan Resort Ferries(Singapore - Indonesia): www.brf.com.sg

Shanghai ferries(China): www.shanghai-feny.co.jp

From the book Secrets of Ancient Civilizations by Thorpe Nick

From the book How to Travel author Shanin Valery

European ferries European ferries resemble floating hotels. They have comfortable cabins and soft seats, TVs and cinemas, swimming pools and saunas, restaurants and bars, casinos and children's playgrounds, duty-free shops and exchange offices. Meals on board and prices

From the book 100 Great Adventures author Nepomnyashchiy Nikolai Nikolaevich

Ferries in Australia and Oceania There are no ferries between Australia and New Zealand, nor are there any between most of the islands of Oceania. Ferry services link the Australian continent with the island of Tasmania, the two largest islands of New Zealand and the South Island with the island

From the book Vacation without intermediaries author Romanovskaya Diana How ferries are arranged There are many decks, open and closed, observation platforms, areas with entertainment, restaurants, cafes, bars, spas, swimming pools, shops. Lots of entertainment for children: children's playgrounds, TVs with cartoons, animators, show programs. Also by ferry

For an island country like Indonesia, water transport is of particular importance. Indonesia has more than 300 passenger ports, 43 of which have international status. Passenger ferries and boats allow more than 14 million passengers to travel annually throughout Indonesia, as well as to neighboring countries - the Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore.

In addition to sea routes, Indonesia has more than 10,000 km of river passenger routes along the country's 50 rivers. Most of their length is on the islands of Kalimantan and Sumatra.

The largest ferry network between all the inhabited islands of Indonesia belongs to the state-owned company PELNI, which operates modern and spacious European-built ships. Another leader in the country's passenger sea transport market is ASDP, which organizes high-speed boat flights between popular destinations around the country.

Indonesian ferries are often overloaded (sometimes up to 2-3 times),
which dramatically increases the chance of an accident during bad sea weather.
Therefore, before you travel on an Indonesian ferry, make sure that the weather will be calm during the journey.

Popular ferry routes in Indonesia

• Java-Sumatra (every hour, from Merak port to Bakauheni port)
• Java-Bali (every 15 minutes, from Ketapang port to Gilimanuk port)
• Bali-Lombok (every hour, from Padang Bai port to Lembar port)

The most important ports of Indonesia on the map

Water transport ticket classes in Indonesia

Depending on the amenities and level of service, ferry seats in Indonesia are sold in several categories:

• I class - cabin with 2 berths, with private bathroom, TV and air conditioning
• II class - cabin with 4 berths, with private bathroom, TV and air conditioning
• III class - cabin for 6 beds, with shared bathroom and air conditioning
• IV class - bed in a dormitory
• Economy class (ekonomi class) - shared cabin with unlimited passenger seats and a minimum of amenities

Travelers looking for an unusual experience will surely enjoy a trip on the traditional Pinisi schooners, on which members of the Bugis ethnic group have been traveling between the islands of Indonesia for many centuries. You can easily hire such an exotic vehicle in the largest port of Jakarta - Sunda Kelapa.

Tickets and prices

Passenger ferry tickets in Indonesia can be purchased at ticket offices at departure ports, carrier offices, post offices (Pos Indonesia) and travel agencies throughout the country. You can purchase ferry tickets in advance - a maximum of 21 days before departure.

The cost of ferry tickets in Indonesia depends on the travel distance and seat class. You can learn more about the cost of ferry tickets in Indonesia on the websites of transport companies and directly at port ticket offices.

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Numerous Indonesian islands are connected by state-owned ferry services. Large and even huge ferries carry trucks, buses, cars, motorcycles and many passengers with numerous belongings and livestock. The ferries are very diverse: from vintage ships, painted and repainted many times, to modern Japanese ones with air conditioning, sensor doors, and automatic toilets. How are different ferries arranged inside?

"Children's" ferry Dewana Dharma(built in 1982, lifting capacity 232 tons)

Dewana Dharma is one of two ferries that operate daily between Sumbawa and Flores. What makes this ferry different from others is its children's playground and cheerful coloring.

You can sit in the sun on a colored sun lounger

Or on a colored chair

You can play with a lifebuoy

Or play chess on the roof of a truck

It takes a long time to sail on it - 7 hours. After two hours, children get tired of riding on carousels and swings, and by the fifth hour, adult Indonesians are already sleeping peacefully on the carousels.

And there are trucks below, from them, standing on the technical platform, you can carry bananas

Paired with Dewana Dharma on the same line is Cakalang ( Indonesian: tuna) - built in 2006, load capacity not published.

More ferries
A small ferry from 1969 with a “bus cabin” on the captain’s bridge. Satya Dharma at Poto Tano port. Loading capacity - 150 tons.

Passenger ship DIngkis (1993)

Three more ferries at Labuan Lombok port

Sindu Dwitama— built in 1997, 305 tons.

We have sailed quite a lot on different Indonesian ferries, so when we got on this one we were very surprised. Instead of a rusty, good-quality ship, we found ourselves on a sparklingly clean one, with carpeted floors, a soft air-conditioned interior and painted over hieroglyphs from a past Japanese (or maybe Chinese) life.

The ferry was introduced on the Bali-Lombok line in September 2009, joining the other 18 ferries that operate 24-hour services between the ports of Padangbai and Lembar. Already in November 2009, a ferry with cargo and passengers ran aground off the coast of Lombok. A ship sent to refloat him joined him. Passengers were removed from the boats, and both ferries sat aground until the next high tide.

The ferry is more modern than all the others. For example, he has two pneumatic guns that shoot corks from a line, which then pulls the mooring lines ashore. Indonesian sailors, not accustomed to progress, do not use cannons and throw the cork with their hands.

A modern captain's bridge is equipped with a computer, two stands (what if the captain turns out to be short) and a mattress

In the salon, instead of benches there are armchairs, sofas and tables

Latrine of the 21st century. On the wall on a piece of paper: “Save water!” Above the door handle in yellow letters: “The door is touch sensitive, do not pull the handle.”

Without trade, a ferry is not a ferry. Sellers of necessary things are everywhere

I don’t know what this salon is for, but Indonesians sleep here.

We prefer to ride on the upper deck. There is, of course, no air conditioning, but you can see dolphins chasing flying fish.

Entering the technical room of the ferry is very simple: scrub the door and go in. Here are the anchor and mooring drums, a mooring air gun (on the left on the bulwark), a long boarding ladder, boarding hooks, fire extinguishers, a government telephone and other small items. In addition, from here it is convenient to carry bananas on top of the body of a truck parked inside (I was unlucky, I got caught by a bus).

If you pull this handle, the exit ramp will open and trucks with bananas and coconuts will become prey for dolphins. To prevent this from happening, the trucks are tied with cables to the walls of the ferry while still on the shore, and passengers are strictly prohibited from entering the technical department. But if you stand at this parapet, you will be doused with cool spray from under the stem. And it's great to see dolphins from here.

Large ferry Salindo Mutiara I(1977, lifting capacity 459 tons)

This ferry runs side by side with the previous one: between Bali and Lombok.

There is a lot of seating on the upper deck and it is even cool in the evening

The captain's bridge is not that modern and there is no mattress.

Inflatable rescue rafts are always located on the upper deck. Now you know where to run and what to pull if something happens

What can be seen from the ferry