Balikpapan My Home Town

Hi 3 years ago, I was home to my home town to visit grandfather but now he was gone. What do you do when you holiday there?

Balikpapan, the centre of Kalimantan's oil industry is also the gateway to East Kalimantan with air and sea connections to and from Jakarta and other major points in Indonesia and also from Singapore or Malaysia. Even the trip to Samarinda, begins from Balikpapan. Living up to its importance, Balikpapan has a number of good hotels, including one of international standard, as well as recreation facilities. It has the second busiest airport in the nation after Jakarta, due to its strategic position.

This adventure for uncoreved holiday takes us to an area hidden deep in the jungle, a part of the island as yet undiscovered by tourism from outside province and with little influence from the outside world. We travel towards our destination by rented car or taxi, an adventure site seeing in itself, enjoying the scenery of rice fields and jungle along the way, and shopping on the way. The location can be explored on foot, discovering a natural world and lifestyle practically unchanged for centuries. Our nights will be full of star in skieswith romance dinner near beach. This holiday is ideal for people who enjoy nature. However, the pace is relaxed and all of your bags could be leave in hotel. The remainder of the holiday consists of natural visits which require no particular fitness.
This the place list that I suggest you visit while in Balikpapan :

1. Penangkaran Buaya Teritip (Teritip Crocodile Breeding)
This object located in Teritip. 20 km from Balikpapan. This Breeding have almost 5 Hektarare.

2. Meriam Peninggalan Jepang ( Japanese Canon)
The canon ex Japanenese Army from collonila time is situated in area call Asrama Bukit, Kelurahan kampung Baru Ilir (sidodadi) which only ± 8 km from centarl city. This canon explain that Balikpapan is strategic city for defence in world war II. This location has 2.500 m2 area. From this place we could see Balikpapan city view such as oil refinery and Balikpapan bay. we could reach this place by taxi or rented car.

3.Monumen Perjuangan Rakyat ( People Monument)
This monument situated in central city to be exact Jl. Jenderal Sudirman just in front of Markas KODAM VI Tanjung Pura (official Army office). This monument show how great and brave Indonesian people fight agains colonial.

4.Wanawisata KM 10 (Natural park)
This park located at Km. 10 Jl. Soekarno Hatta just need ± 15 menit by vehicle from central city. this place is Arboretum park which built by PT. Inhutani I Unit Balikpapan. In this park they grow some rare species of tree and fruit, also they breed some Rusa Sambar (Servus Unicolor). This park has jogging trac also camping arena.

5. Hutan Lindung Sungai Wain (Conservasion Forest Wain River)
Hutang Lindung Sungai Wain is one of the forest that Indonesia Goverment claim as protected forest which has 10.025 ha. Wain river lay along 18.300 m with clear water. Fish, crab, bird, monkey, orang utan and many more lived in this area.

6. Tugu Australia (Australia Monument)
This monument located in Jl. Jend. Sudirman and stand near Strand Banua Patra beach has are almost 725 m2. Autralia monument was built as reminder for Australian Army ( VII Division Australia) which died when fight with Japanese army.

How about beach? of course every island have wonderful beach, Balikpapan also. This beaches in Balikpapan

Kemala/Polda Beach


This beach is situated in the city. This easy-to-reach beach is usually visited by locals to enjoy the sunset with friends or family. It is located about 600 meters (650 yards) from the main street.

Click the picture on the right for more and bigger photos of Kemala Beach.

Location	:	Jl. Sudirman
Operating hours	:	Monday-Friday, 10am-10pm, Saturday-Sunday & public holidays, 10am-11pm
Entrance fee	:	Rp. 500/person; Rp. 1,000 for motorcycles; Rp. 1,500 for cars
Facilities	:	food court, parking area, toilets, shower room (Rp. 3,000/person), water sport facilities such as banana boats: Rp. 25,000/person; jet ski rental: Rp. 800,000/person for 1 hour
Nearby facilities	:	warungs
How to get there	:	By own transport By public transport, "mikrolet": take the number "6" dark blue mikrolet from "Damai" terminal and ask the driver to drop you off at "Pantai Polda" (about 20 minutes away).
Remarks	:	it might be crowded during weekends or public holidays. Cash payment only.

Lamaru Beach


Its location is about 23 kilometers (14 miles) from the city center, not far from Manggar beach and the Japanese Funeral Park. This beach has a beautiful landscape.

Click the picture on the right for more and bigger photos of Lamaru Beach.

Location	:	Jl. Mulawarman, east of Balikpapan
Operating hours	:	daily
Admission charge	:	Rp. 2,000/person (adults/children). Parking/entrance fee for motorcycle: Rp. 2,500, car or taxi: Rp. 5,000, bus: Rp. 15,000
Facilities	:	warung, toilets, parking area, information center
Nearby facilities	:	warung
Nearby attractions	:	Japanese Soldier Monument, Manggar Beach (access by car)
How to get there	:	By own transport By "mikrolet": from "Damai" terminal, take the green one (number No. 7). The fare costs Rp. 5,000 and it takes about 45 minutes to get there. Tell the driver that you want to go to this beach. After getting off, the gate to the beach is on the right side of the road. From there you need to walk about 500 meters (540 yards) to reach there.
Remarks	:	it is not allowed to swim further than 50 meters from the beach line. Pay the ticket at the ticket counter at the entrance gate. No staff attending the ticket counter before noon. It is usually open in the late afternoon and it might be crowded, especially on weekends.

Manggar Segarasari Beach


This white sand beach lies on a total area of about 13,000 square-meters and surrounded by pine trees. The beach seems to be very appreciated by the locals. Here visitors can enjoy swimming, riding banana boats, sailing, playing beach volley ball or simply just relaxing.

Click the picture on the right for more and bigger photos of Manggar Segarasari Beach.

:	Jl. Mulawarman, Manggar (about 17 kilometers/11 miles east of downtown Balikpapan)
:	daily
:	Rp. 1,000/child, Rp. 2,000/adult, parking fee: motorbike: Rp. 2,500, car: Rp. 5,000, bus: Rp. 15,000
:	"warung", toilets, parking area, rented boats
:	warung, toilets
:	Lamaru Beach, Crocodile Farm, Japanese Soldier Monument (by car)
:	By own transport By "mikrolet": take the dark green mikrolet No. 7 from "Damai" Terminal, and get off when you see the signboard of the beach on the right side of the road. The entrance to the beach is located in front of the Indonesian Army battalion office called "YONIF/600 RAIDER". You can also tell the driver that you are going to this beach, so he will drop you off at the entrance (fare: Rp. 5,000). The beach is about 500 meters (540 yards) from the main road. You can walk or get an "ojek" (fare: Rp. 5,000).
:	it might be crowded during weekends or public holidays. There are many small warungs selling local food. You can also rent a buoy at a cost of Rp. 15,000 to Rp. 25,000 (per one time rental), depending on its size.

Melawai Beach

This main beach, which lies along Sudirman street is also often visited by the locals to enjoy the sunset and affordable traditional Indonesian food and drinks, such as "pecel lele" (fried catfish served with peanut sauce and fresh vegetables), "pecel ayam" (fried chicken with peanut sauce and fresh vegetables), chicken satay, "bakso" (meat balls), and so forth. From this beach visitors can see two small islands called "Pulau Babi" and "Pulau Tukung". "Babi" Island can be visited during low tide. Locals usually do fishing nearby this island.

Click the picture above for more and bigger photos of Melawai Beach.

Location	:	along Sudirman Street
Operating hours	:	daily
Nearby attractions	:	Kilang Minyak
How to get there	:	By own transport By "mikrolet": take the No. 6 from "Damai" terminal and get off at the beach. Your mikrolet will pass along the beach.
Remarks	:	it is recommended to visit the place to see the sunset.

Kampung Baru Floating Village

Unlike other floating villages (such as in Phnom Penh or Siem Reap), where people live in boats, the people who live in this old village of "Kampung Baru" dwells in houses, which are made of wood and built over the water, at seashore. "Kampung Baru" (/kam-poonk bha-roo/) itself means "new village".

Click the picture on the right for more and bigger photos of Kampung Baru Floating Village.

Location	:	near "Kampung Baru Tengah" mikrolet terminal
How to get there	:	By own transport By "mikrolet": take the No. 5 from "Damai" terminal to "Kampung Baru Tengah" terminal, then walk into the "Kampung Baru" harbor. You will see these wooden houses that are built over the water.
Remarks	:	unfortunately, visitors might see trashes on the water under or near the houses.

The "Caribbean Island" Water Park

This is a recreation site that is usually visited by local families. It offers some adventurous rides, such as "Spilled Bucket", sliding from a height of 13 meters and many other attractions.

Location	:	Jl. Kol. Syarifuddin Yoes (Ring Road II)
How to get there	:	by own transport