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Balikpapan
City in East Kalimantan, Indonesia

Balikpapan

Balikpapan is a seaport city in East Kalimantan, Indonesia.

Plan a trip to Balikpapan→From Banjarbaru

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.

Get in

Getting to Balikpapan

Most people arrive by air.

  1. 01
    Sultan Aji Muhammad Sulaiman International Airport

    It has frequent flights from Jakarta, and commercial services from Surabaya, Banjarmasin, Tarakan, Palu, Makassar, Yogyakarta, Semarang, Denpasar, Manado and numerous smaller airports in Kalimantan.

See

Worth seeing

  1. 01
    Bukit Bangkirai

    The main attraction is the Canopy Bridge, which is famous in East Borneo.

  2. 02
    Monpera Beach
  3. 03
    Kelama
  4. 04
    Melawai Beach
  5. 05
    Sepinggan Beach

    Near airport north-east side, brownish water and very littered.

  6. 06
    KWPLH Balikpapan

    Watching conservation the icon of Balikpapan, sun bear or locals called beruang madu.

Do

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.

Eat

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.

  1. 01
    Bondy Restaurant

    A big restaurant on the main drag with a very nice selection of seafood.

  2. 02
    Dandito

    It also serves kepiting soka (soft-shell crab dish).

  3. 03
    Kepiting Kenari

    Jalan Iswahyudi (10 minutes from Sepinggan Airport).

  4. 04
    Straat Mantau

    Panjaitan No.08, Karang Rejo, Central Balikpapan,.

How locals move

Getting around Balikpapan the local way

  • 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.
  • Get aroundMinibuses serves public transport between points.
  • Get aroundThe color of the minibuses determines their routes.
  • Get aroundThis No 3 bus will take you to and from the Pelabuhan Semayang Ferry Terminal (from outside the terminal) to Balikpapan Plaza via Jalan Jenderal Sudirman Road (along the waterfront).

From Wikivoyage: Balikpapan, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us. Last edited 2026-09.

Text adapted from Wikipedia and Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph: EGimaging (CC BY-SA 4.0), Wikimedia Commons.