Balikpapan
Balikpapan is a seaport city in East Kalimantan, Indonesia.
Balikpapan is a seaport city in East Kalimantan, Indonesia. Located on the east coast of the island of Borneo, the city is the financial center of Kalimantan. With a population of 688,318 according to the 2020 census, and an official estimate of 757,418 as at mid 2023, Balikpapan is the second most populous city in East Kalimantan, after Samarinda.
Adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Worth seeing in and around Balikpapan
One place within 25 km that the world writes about, in the order of how widely: the ones a visitor has heard of first, then the ones only a local would name.
- 01Persiba Stadium
Persiba Stadium was a multi-use stadium in Balikpapan, Indonesia. It was used mostly for football matches and was used as the home stadium for Persiba Balikpapan.
3.7 km · stadium in Balikpapan, Indonesia · Wikipedia
Ranked by the number of language editions of Wikipedia with an article on each, from Wikidata; the sentences are the openings of those articles, CC BY-SA 4.0.
What Wikivoyage says to see
- 01Bukit Bangkirai
The main attraction is the Canopy Bridge, which is famous in East Borneo.
- 02Monpera Beach
- 03Kelama
- 04Melawai Beach
- 05Sepinggan Beach
Near airport north-east side, brownish water and very littered.
- 06KWPLH Balikpapan
Watching conservation the icon of Balikpapan, sun bear or locals called beruang madu.
From Wikivoyage: Balikpapan, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Things to do
On Merdeka (Independence) Square you can play soccer and other sports. Local tour operators arrange river safaris on the Mahakam River and orangutan tours. Kalimantan Tour Guide, nilawarti@gmail.com. Mahakam river trip Rp 7,000,000, Samarinda city tour 2 days Rp 3,650,000. Borneo Eco Adventure, Pakumpayan 26, RT.03 Angkinang, Hulu Sungai Selatan, +62 821-1009-4658 (mobile), info@borneo-ecoadventure.com.
From Wikivoyage: Balikpapan, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Where to eat
A local delicacy is Amplang/Kuku Macan, a kind of chips made from fish. Pacifica Food Court in Balikpapan Plaza Mall has good food and a lot of choice. Also, a crab dish is very common in Balikpapan and you must try it.
- 01Bondy Restaurant
A big restaurant on the main drag with a very nice selection of seafood.
- 02Dandito
It also serves kepiting soka (soft-shell crab dish).
- 03Kepiting Kenari
Jalan Iswahyudi (10 minutes from Sepinggan Airport).
- 04Straat Mantau
Panjaitan No.08, Karang Rejo, Central Balikpapan,.
From Wikivoyage: Balikpapan, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Getting to Balikpapan
- Airports
- Sultan Aji Muhammad Sulaiman Sepinggan (BPN), 7 km
- Stations
- Sultan Aji Muhammad Sulaiman Sepinggan International Airport, 7.5 km · Port of Semayang, 2.5 km
- Banjarbaru → Balikpapan328 km · quickest by air, 4h 1m · Rp809,060–1,254,680
- Makassar → Balikpapan519 km · quickest by air, 4h 30m · Rp1,000,960–1,551,910
- Surabaya → Balikpapan804 km · quickest by air, 4h 54m · Rp1,227,780–1,903,230
- Plan a tripFrom anywhereThe planner compares every way there from wherever you are.
Road and air are today’s quick answer; timetabled trains, buses and ferries load on the results page from the operators’ feeds.
No local-transport research exists yet for Balikpapan
Our researched notes are written from a sourced entry: every shared taxi, boat and village bus with its operator, its rule, its fare and the year we saw it, and what could not be confirmed. Nobody has done that work for Balikpapan. What is above is what we hold from open sources; nothing here pretends to be more.
- Get inThe angkot route 7 is passing in front of the airport to Terminal Damai (also named Bus Terminal Permai), Rp 8,000, about a 20-min drive.
- Get inThis port is the second busiest port in East Kalimantan, serving passenger Pelni ferries.
- Get inGet to the terminal with minibus #6 (dark blue) which plies the coastal road.
- Get aroundList of taxi companies and their call centre number: City Taxi ( or ) Mawar () Kalung Mas () Globalindo Taxi () Public transportation in Balikpapan consists of small minibus named angkutan kota or angkot for short.
- Get aroundLocals often call angkot as taxi and metered taxi as taxi argo.
From Wikivoyage: Balikpapan, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us; that article was last edited 2026-09.
- 01563 km
- 02717 km
- 03791 km
- 04841 km
- 05874 km
If you know how people move in Balikpapan – the stand, the rule, the fare – tell us, and the note gets an entry.
Next door to Balikpapan
- Penajamdistrict in North Paser of Penajam Regency, East Kalimantan Province, Indonesia3 km
- SMP Negeri 3 Balikpapanjunior high school in Balikpapan City, East Kalimantan, Indonesia5 km