Banjarmasin

By ship

Alternatively, if you are coming from the neighbouring provinces of East Kalimantan and Central Kalimantan, there are a lot of boat transportations through the rivers of Kalimantan. This could be an adventurous or boring ride depending on your taste. A range of boats are available, from slow moving boats to speedboats. It’s a great choice if you are extremely adaptable with the locals’ way of life.

By ship

Another alternative to get to Banjarmasin is by ship from various places in Indonesia to Banjarmasin’s main harbour, Trisakti. Be forewarned that the condition of passenger ship transportation in Indonesia is poor, albeit cheap, and you might want to consider that before spending the night at least 1 night if you come from Java. You best bet is Express Ferry where it’s available, only 8 hours from Java, and 2 days + 2 nights of seatrip from Jakarta Tanjung Priuk Harbor Passenger Terminal. Plus, there are ferries from Semerang and Surabaya, both on Java. There's a ferry every 2 days between Surabaya and Banjarmasin.

The ferry between Surabaya and Banjarmasin is 21 hours. If you have a problem with cigarette smoke, this is not a good method of travel. Smoking is permitted in the sleeping area. There are no cabins. Solo females should be aware that they will receive a considerable amount of male attention, most of it unwanted. The food is not good.

By plane

Banjarmasin’s airport is Syamsuddin Noor BDJ, half an hour drive from the city. To go to the city, you can take a taxi with fixed rate or better yet, tell your hotel to pick you up.There are daily flights from many Indonesian cities including Jakarta and Surabaya. The airport is 26km from Banjarmasin. Or, if you walk about 2 minutes to the street outside of the airport, you should be able to share a mini-van which costs 10,000 Rupiah to go to kilometer 6 terminal.