Making the most of Ujung Pandang Makassar Sulawesi
Use these notes to shape a realistic day ashore, then confirm any time-sensitive information for the date of your call.
Arriving at the port
Cruise ships dock close to the center of town. The terminal has few facilities.
Printable map to take along.
Ujung Pandang, formerly Makassar, is capital of southwestern Celebes (Sulawesi) Island, on the Makassar Strait. The largest city and chief port it serves as a commercial center and a transshipment point for goods being transported to and from the eastern Indonesian islands. The city is the site of Hasanuddin a museum of handicrafts and Fort Vredenburg.
Getting around
Experience an historic and impressive reminder of the city’s Dutch colonial history with a visit to Fort Rotterdam.
There's a lot of taxi companies, all have the same fare and all use meters. About 50 USD for a 4 hour tour.
Also plenty of trishaws are available for town tours. 10 USD per hour.
Nearby places
3 kms north of the port is the old harbor of Paotere. Paotere is the harbor in the north of Makassar where traditional Buginese sailing boats (pinisiq) load and unload their cargo. It is fascinating to see the boat workers running across narrow wooden planks from the dock to the boats carrying unbelievably large loads
Food and shopping
Dine on a delicious mix of Chinese, Sulawesi and local cuisines, take a stroll along the mid-city waterfront
Money
ATMs are common in any major cities in Indonesia.
Be careful when using credit cards, as cloning and fraud are a major problem in Indonesia. Visa and Mastercard are widely accepted, but American Express can be problematic. At smaller operations, surcharges of 2-5% over cash are common.
Staying connected
The sole official language is Indonesian, known as Bahasa Indonesia.
There is WiFi at the terminal.
mobile phones emergency number: 112