TRAVEL HERE | Bluemotion

GETTING TO BANDA

Updated 17th March 2020 (You may be seeing and old version. Please click on your browser refresh button to see the latest update)

THIS IS THE LATEST INFORMATION WE HAVE ABOUT TRANSPORT. WE KINDLY ASK YOU TO READ THIS SECTION THOROUGHLY BEFORE ENQUIRING VIA EMAIL ON HOW TO GET TO BANDA.

Notice:

Please keep in mind that even though these travel options have been mostly reliable, this is still a very remote area of Indonesia -which is a great part of its charm. It is recommended to avoid tight flight schedules/connections and have a flexible plan if possible due to occasional problem with local transportation.

The Banda Islands are easiest accessed from Ambon. Direct flights to Ambon with Lion Air, Batik Air, Garuda and others are available from Jakarta, Surabaya and Makassar and some smaller airports in Maluku (Wings Air from Tual) and West Papua. From Bali, Ambon is easily reached with Garuda or Lion air with a stopover in Makassar or Surabaya.

Once in Ambon, these are the options to get to Banda:

Please note: If you need to plan your dates far ahead -buy plane tickets, book hotel room, etc- and the transport schedules are still unclear, please plan with the fast ferry schedule below, which is the most reliable option in the high season months (October/November) -unlikely to change schedule in the future.

FAST FERRY (recommended for October/November)

schedule:

TULEHU (Ambon)-BANDA: Tuesday and Saturday, around 9am

BANDA-TULEHU (Ambon): Wednesday and Sunday, around 9am

The Express Bahari 2B fast ferry covers the route from Tulehu (Ambon Island) to Banda twice a week: Tulehu-Banda Tuesday and Saturday at 9 am Banda-Tulehu Wednesday and Sunday at 9 am. The trip takes 5 to 6 hours.

Tickets do not need to be booked, they are bought in the harbour before boarding. The boat is quite large and we never heard it ran out of space in the past. The price for an economy ticket is IDR 415,000 (recommended), VIP is 650,000.

Tulehu can be easily reached by taxi from the airport or from Kota Ambon in less than an hour for around IDR 200,000 -enough time to reach Tulehu harbour after landing around 6 am or 7 am in Ambon.