Floating market tours · Banjarmasin
A wooden kelotok, a guide who grew up on this river, and the Lok Baintan floating market at the hour it is actually alive, not the version arranged for cameras at nine.
Every tour leaves from the same jetty. Seats are limited by boat, so the counts below are real.
Seats shown for tomorrow
Depart before dawn, arrive as the boats begin to gather. Breakfast served on board.
After the market, stop at Kembang Island to see the long-tailed macaques, then cruise past riverside villages.
Departure time of your choosing
The whole boat for your group. Route and timing flexible, suitable for photo shoots.
Timings for the combined tour. The basic tour skips the island stop.
Meet your guide, put on a life vest, hot tea while we wait for everyone.
Upstream along the Martapura in the dark. The city lights thin out within minutes.
Boats converge and trade begins. Bring small notes: you can buy fruit and cakes directly from the canoes.
Soto Banjar served while the boat drifts. Coffee and tea included.
The Floating Market Tour turns back here and reaches the jetty at 09.00.
Forty-five minutes among the long-tailed macaques. Keep bags closed and do not carry food in hand.
Slow cruise past stilt houses and floating shops on the way back.
Ends where it started. We can arrange a ride back to your hotel.
Come to the jetty on Jl. Piere Tendean, next to the small warung with the blue roof. We wait ten minutes past departure time, no longer. The market does not wait either.
Payment
Pak Ahmad has run boats on this river since 1995, first carrying goods, then passengers. He knows which sellers come on which days and which channels are passable at low tide.
Rifqi guides in English and handles bookings. Ask him anything: he would rather explain than let you photograph something you do not understand.
Guests write in this book after they step off the boat, each in their own language.
Om vijf uur ’s ochtends waren we de enige toeristen op het water. Toen om negen uur de bussen aankwamen, hadden wij al ontbeten op de boot.
Marieke de Vries Utrecht, Netherlands
Translated from Dutch We were the only tourists on the water at five in the morning. By nine, when the tour buses arrived, we had already had breakfast on the boat.
Rifqi explained who the sellers were and what they were trading. It stopped feeling like a photo stop and started feeling like a visit.
James Okafor Melbourne, Australia
Pesan lewat WhatsApp gampang, dibalas dalam sepuluh menit. Perahunya berangkat tepat waktu, tidak molor.
Ayu Lestari Jakarta
Translated from Indonesian Booking over WhatsApp was easy, they replied within ten minutes. The boat left right on time, no delays.