Banjarmasin Transportation Tips by Rinjani

Reach Banjarmasin from Jakarta and to City Center

From Java, Banjarmasin city can be reached through Jakarta, Surabaya and Semarang. Airlines are Garuda Indonesia, Sriwijaya, CityLink and Lion Air. Garuda Indonesia flies three times a day from Jakarta to Banjarmasin. From Jakarta, the ticket starts from Rp 450,000. The flight duration is about one and half hour.

From the Airport to City Center
From the Syamsudin Airport, it took around 45 minute to reach the city center. You can take airport taxi that will drop you off. Price around Rp 60,000, depend where you go. If you prefer to take public transportation, you have to walk outside the airport to get them. The problem that the public transportation is taking longer time to wait for other passengers before it’s finally departing. Expect to wait 30 minute and more if you decide to take the public transportation.

The Looong …Jalan Ahmad Yani
I decided to include this in the tips. When I took taxi from the airport, I mentioned Jl Ahmad Yani for the taxi to drop me off. Typical question is “in which kilometer?” that left me puzzled. Then I discover that Jalan Ahmad Yani is a province main hub street that connect Banjarmasin and stretched to other provinces. The kilometer 1 is located in the Banjarmasin city center. Expect to pay several hundred thousand if you mention Jl Ahmad Yani kilometer 30 or beyond. To reach Jalan Ahmad Yani in Martapura, taxi will charge you Rp 350,000 for example.

Mode: TO

Type: Other

Kelotok Hire for Floating Market

To visit floating market, you can hire Klotok or boat. The boat can take up to 15 passengers and the price can be shared. But, if you want to arrive early in the market, you can consider to hire Klotok for yourself for Rp 250,000. Usually, departure time is at 4.15 am if you want to go to Lok Baintan, the famous floating market, that will take you 1 hour boat drive. I include the telephone number here in the picture for Pak Madi’s Kelotok. He is informative, helpful and very on-time.

Mode: TO

Type: Ship/Boat

Motorcycle in Loksado

To go around Loksado, it’s practical to rent motorcycle. The Ojek charges around Rp 30,000 to reach Haratai waterfall, as the road is rock and slippery. Or, you can rent for Rp 50,000 so that you can reach Malaris, a Dayak small village with waterfall on the back of the village.

Mode: AROUND

Type: Car/Motor Home

Motorcycle Rent to Loksado

As it was taking nearly two hours to wait for public transportation from Kandangan to Loksado, I decided to take motorcycle or Ojek. The trip is nearly one hour and half, as I made frequent stop, but if you want to go fast, you can go up to 45 minute to 1 hour. You can ask the hotel to arrange Ojek for you. It costs around Rp 50,000 per motorcycle for one trip. You can also ask them to pick you up from Loksado to return to Kandangan. Ask for helmet, as the Ojek is rarely providing helmet to protect head.

Mode: TO

Type: Car/Motor Home

It’s Always Called “Taxi”

If you use public transportation, people here will refer them as “taxi”. So, don’t get confused if your taxi is minibus taxi shared seven other people inside, or minibus with 12 seats (usually squeezed into 15 passengers!) or if you want the real taxi as you use to know taxi is, dont forget to mention it. Then you will get the (mostly) Toyota car with four seats (include the driver) like any other typical taxi.

Mode: AROUND

Type: Car/Motor Home