Sulawesi Transport Guide: Planes, Road and Sea

To travel between regions of Sulawesi, fly. To move inside one region, use the road or a boat. The island covers 174,000 km² and has four long arms that point in different directions, so a short distance on the map can be a long day on the ground. This guide covers each way to travel, with rough costs and a sample two-week route.

Which transport fits which region

If your trip stays in one region, road and ferry are usually enough. If it crosses regions, plan on domestic flights.

Flying inside Sulawesi

Domestic flights are cheap and run often.

Airports

• Makassar (UPG) is the main hub. It handles hundreds of flights a day to Jakarta, Bali and other Sulawesi cities.
• Manado (MDC) is the second hub. It has international routes from Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, as well as domestic ones.
• Smaller airports serve Palu (PLW), Kendari (KDI), Wangi-Wangi (WNI), Gorontalo (GTO), Luwuk (LUW), Mamuju (MJU), Sorowako (SQR) and Selayar (KSR).

Airlines

• Garuda Indonesia: full service, higher fares.
• Citilink: the low-cost arm of Garuda.
• Lion Air, Wings Air and Batik Air: the Lion Group. They fly the most routes and usually have the cheapest seats.
• Susi Air: small aircraft to Wakatobi, Selayar and other remote strips.

What a ticket costs

These are rough one-way ranges from when this guide was written. Check current fares before you budget.

• Makassar to Manado: €48 to €86
• Makassar to Wakatobi: €62 to €95
• Manado to Gorontalo: €33 to €52

Book on Traveloka, Tiket.com or the airline's own website. International booking sites add a real markup and give weaker support.

Flights are mostly on time, but some get cancelled, especially to small airports in the wet season. Leave a spare day between connections.

Travelling by road

Road transport is good in South Sulawesi and patchy elsewhere.

Long-distance buses

Damri is the state bus company. It is slower than private operators but dependable. Private companies run the same routes. Typical South Sulawesi trips, with fares from when this guide was written:

• Makassar to Rantepao: about 8 hours, €10 to €17
• Makassar to Bira: about 6 hours, €5
• Makassar to Mamuju: about 10 hours, €10

Many routes run overnight. A night bus saves a day of daylight for sightseeing.

Shared and private cars

A mobil panther is a shared car with 6 to 8 seats. It runs a set route at a set fare and is a little quicker than the bus. A private car with a driver is the most comfortable choice. Expect roughly €33 to €71 a day in South Sulawesi.

Driving yourself

Self-drive is possible in South Sulawesi if you are a confident driver. The roads are sealed but hilly. Slow lorries and fast motorbikes share the lanes, and local road habits differ from Western ones. Most visitors hire a driver instead.

Travelling by sea

Ferries link the mainland to the outer islands and cross the gulfs.

• Bira to Selayar (ASDP, via Pamatata): 2.5 hours, two sailings a day.
• Bajoe (Watampone) to Kolaka (ASDP): 8 to 10 hours, daily.
• Pelni: long-distance ships to Java, Kalimantan and eastern Indonesia. Good for travellers with plenty of time.
• Manado to Bunaken: public boats every day, 40 to 90 minutes.
• Wakai in the Togean Islands: a daily boat from Ampana (6 hours) and an overnight boat from Gorontalo twice a week (12 hours).

Timetables are on asdp.id and pelni.co.id. They change, and the wet season brings regular cancellations. Check on the morning you sail.

Comfort varies. A Pelni cabin is fine. An open deck on an overnight ferry is hard going. On an overnight Pelni trip, most foreign visitors find the cabin upgrade worth paying for.

Getting around towns

In the cities

Grab and Gojek work in Makassar, Manado, Palu and Kendari. Both are cheap and reliable. Shared minivans, called pete-pete or mikrolet, cost less but are cramped. An ojek (motorbike taxi) covers short trips in any town.

In small towns

The ride-hailing apps often do not work outside the big cities. Locals use bemo, ojek and, in towns such as Palopo and Watampone, the dokar (a horse cart). Most provincial town centres are small enough to walk.

Sample route: 14 days, three regions

1. Days 1 to 4, South Sulawesi. Land at Makassar (UPG). Go to Rantepao and Bira by car or bus, then back.
2. Day 5. Fly from Makassar to Manado (MDC). Sleep in Manado.
3. Days 6 to 9, North Sulawesi. Take a resort boat to Bunaken. Go to Tangkoko by private or shared car.
4. Day 10. Fly Manado to Makassar, then Makassar to Wangi-Wangi (WNI) in Wakatobi.
5. Days 11 to 13, Wakatobi. Use local ferries to reach Hoga and Tomia.
6. Day 14. Fly Wangi-Wangi to Makassar and connect to your international flight.

This plan uses four domestic flights. At the fares above, they come to about €238 to €333 per person.

Transport budget for two weeks

Rough totals for the route above, at prices from when this guide was written:

Plan for delays

• Add spare days. Over two weeks, expect at least one late ferry or cancelled flight.
• Reconfirm 24 hours before. Timetables shift without warning.
• Carry cash to the outer islands. Cash machines outside the big cities often fail.
• Keep a copy of each airline's refund rules. The Lion Group sometimes cancels at short notice.

Transport in Sulawesi works well. It does not always work on schedule, so build slack into every plan.