Like snorkeling? New cultures? Wildlife? $10 beautiful private rooms? Then let’s plan your trip to Indonesia! In 2022, my husband and I spent 6 weeks traveling around Indonesia: snorkeling in Raja Ampat, seeing the orangutans in Borneo, taking the train through Java, hiking up volcanoes Mount Bromo and Mount Ijen, and finally enjoying 2 weeks all over Bali. In our year of travel through 16 different countries in Southeast Asia, Oceania, and Latin America, Indonesia was one of our favorites because of its incredible wildlife on land and underwater, its cultural events, its varied food, its stunning landscapes, and its extremely affordable prices. I made all of this information into one clickable PDF six week itinerary for you here!
How to Plan Your Trip to Indonesia
Priorities
- I’m a teacher, so all of these plans and ideas will be based on a teacher’s budget. I’m not sharing a dorm room with 8 strangers- it was affordable to have private rooms with private bathrooms and breakfasts included all over Indonesia. But almost all of these hotels and meals will be in the $10-$20 range. This is for people with the time to travel but not unlimited money.
- If you want to go to Bali, Java, Borneo, or most of the rest of Indonesia, go May to September for the dry season. No one wants their two week vacation ruined by rain!
- Do you love snorkeling and/or diving? Then you need to go to Raja Ampat, and you’ll want to spend a full week there. Raja Ampat is actually a bit different than the rest of Indonesia, in that it can have strong winds in July/August, and December/January, and rain all year round, so you will have to be the most flexible here. Sometimes it will rain a bit each day, but diving should be good all year round, and snorkeling is likely to be excellent most of the time. We had great conditions all 8 days when we were there July 2022.
- Have you always wanted to see the orangutans in Borneo? Then you’ll need a week to explore that area- May to September dry season.
- Do you want to get to know modern Indonesian culture as well as beautiful landscapes and major cultural sites? Then take the train around Java for two weeks- May to September dry season.
- Always been curious about Bali? Want a bit of all the best of Indonesia in one small area? Only have two weeks or less for Indonesia? My two week itinerary in Bali has food, culture, and wildlife in one incredible trip, all while staying at places for an average of $20 a night for two people! If you have limited time, Bali gets you a bit of everything in the most efficient way. Go May to September for the dry season. If you want me to do to the planning for you, you can buy my two week itinerary in Bali here!
- If you have 4 weeks, I’d do Bali and Java, as it’s easy to connect them and you can see a wide variety of experiences and history of Indonesia while staying in one part. It’s a big country!
- If you have longer than 4 weeks, or orangutans or snorkeling/diving is your biggest priority, then I’d make time for Borneo and/or Raja Ampat, but both are separate ($200 or more) flights from Jakarta (Java)- more time, more money required. If you want me to plan your trip to Indonesia for you, you can buy my 6 week Indonesia itinerary here!
Jakarta: Obligatory Traffic-Filled Mess
You will probably have to fly into and out of Jakarta, both when you arrive internationally and if you fly to Bali, Borneo, Raja Ampat, or anywhere else in Indonesia. It would be very hard to plan your trip to Indonesia without a stopover in Jakarta. There is a tiny old town with a few pleasant museums, a couple of pretty old buildings, and plenty of delicious affordable and high-end restaurants…but we only tried the ones in the old town, because getting from one side of Jakarta to another can take more than two hours! There is no efficient public transport and traffic is truly atrocious, so I’d recommend staying near what you want to do.
For us, that meant one night at Wonderloft Hostel, which is located a short walk from the old town, like the Cafe Batavia, where we had a pretty meal overlooking the nicest square. The hostel wasn’t anything special, but the location meant we could walk everywhere, which is important in such a congested city! We went to a puppet museum and bank museum, and walked around their old Chinatown, eating at Pantjoran Tea House for some excellent dim sum.
When flying into Indonesia, at least when we arrived in 2022, we could get a 30 day visa on arrival…but only after waiting in line at the airport for about 2 hours. Not fun after a 24 hour journey to get to that airport, which will happen if you’re coming from Europe or the U.S. Even worse was when we needed to extend it for another 30 days, and they required our passport for 5-7 days of processing! We hadn’t been planning on being in one place for that long, so we had to change some plans and beg. It was quite stressful.
So please, check the visa requirements and if at all possible, get a visa in advance for the whole time you’ll be there. For us, we had done all that was possible…but we didn’t know it would take so long to extend our visa. If you’re staying for longer than 30 days, which we would highly recommend, then give yourself at least a week in one place to go through the extension process! If it’s possible to deal with this online in advance by the time you travel there, do yourself a favor and do it ahead of time!
When flying out of Jakarta, be warned: the 3 different terminals are all 30-60 minutes away from each other by a free bus that only comes every 15-30 minutes! The terminals are not so logical as domestic/international, but instead are random! So either call your airline, check online, or ask your host to call to double check which terminal your flight is departing from before getting a ride to the airport, as getting dropped off at the wrong terminal can be an expensive/stressful mistake!
Raja Ampat: Best Snorkeling in the World
When you plan your trip to Indonesia, you should consider how you can see marine life. I got scuba certified, but I’ve had such severe ear issues I don’t dare dive again. But I absolutely love the underwater world, and snorkeling is my favorite activity on Earth. There’s just nothing like seeing marine life in its natural environment: sea turtles, sharks, dolphins, coral, sea slugs, colorful fish, and so much more (Christmas tree worms! Sea snakes!).
I have snorkeled in Australia, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, Mexico, Belize, Hawaii, and many more…and by far the healthiest and most diverse coral reefs I’ve ever seen were in Raja Ampat. We stayed for eight magical days at Raja Ampat Biodiversity Eco Resort, where I experienced the best snorkeling of my life. We also got to see the mating dance of a red Bird of Paradise, right out of a Planet Earth episode, and stunning views of the archipelago. The food was family-style, freshly made, with excellent vegetarian and meat options, and all the staff were helpful and competent.
It was our honeymoon, and while it was the most expensive stay of our year of adventures, it’s also one of the best places we’ve ever been. You can walk from your beautiful cabin straight into the water and have the best snorkeling of your life.
If you love snorkeling and/or diving, I think the Raja Ampat Biodiversity Eco Resort is the best place in the world to go. We spent 5-7 hours every day underwater! Here were a few of our underwater highlights:
- Seeing enormous giant coral in a million different brilliant colors and shapes, new species every day
- Observing corals covered in Christmas tree worms, feather duster worms, giant clams in a million gorgeous colors, and coral on top of coral!
- Victor finding a very elusive octopus turned into a coral (!)
- Seeing so many Nemo and other anemone fish
- Spending time with a green turtle
- Watching four black tip reef sharks encircle a school of fish
- Seeing five blue spotted rays scurry around in the shallow water and sand
- A few seconds with a gentle giant dugong
- Finding a spiny painted lobster hiding in a cave
- Watching a cuttlefish change color to match its background multiple times
- Swimming with a sea snake through caves
- Seeing my first comb jelly, all lit up
- Observing a squid flashing through the water
- Swimming with schools of thousands of fish
- Finding lionfish hiding under rocks and inside of giant corals
- Staring into a moray eel’s face
- Having dolphins come to say goodbye to us as we left
Above water, we loved the delicious food, the candlelight dinner they made for the two of us on our last night there, the birdwatching trip to see the red Bird of Paradise do its mating dance in front of multiple females, the cuscus (monkey/sloth like animal that’s adorable and slow in a tree right by our cabin), lizards, and the gorgeous view of dozens of tropical islands and coral reefs from a viewpoint. The staff was fantastic. For a honeymoon or for anyone who loves being underwater, this is the best place to go.
Borneo: Orangutans
When you plan your trip to Indonesia, maybe you’ve thought about seeing the orangutans in Borneo. You’ve probably also heard about the devastating effects of palm oil plantations on the orangutans’ habitat. We went with the wonderful organization Local Guides, doing their 5 day/4 night trip to Tanjung Puting. It’s an organization that employs local people who had been involved in the palm oil trade, training them instead to take tourists to see the still-intact rainforest and visit the orangutans surviving in what is left of the wilderness.
When you go to Tanjung Puting, the way all the tours are arranged is by private boat! So it was my husband Victor, me, our wonderful guide Teguh, the captain of the boat, and our chef! We got to sleep on the deck of the boat on a very comfortable bed, have all our meals on the boat (delicious and varied), and then dock at various locations around the national park.
Of course, we were there to see the orangutans. What you do need to understand about going to Borneo is that the palm oil devastation is very real: the national park is a tiny strip when you fly in, all surrounded by palm oil plantations. The river your boat is on has the national park on one side and palm trees on the other. There are rehabilitation centers that help orangutans that have lost their habitat because of the palm trees- or have been shot or burned by the palm tree owners- but they haven’t been able to release them back into the wild because there isn’t enough wild left to support the number of displaced orangutans.
The park is one of the largest protected rainforests in the world, and yet it’s a tiny area compared to what used to be jungle- and is now palm tree plantations. The Orangutan Foundation International rehabilitates orangutans hurt and orphaned by the plantations taking over their habitat and tries to buy more for the park- but at the moment, there are more orangutans than rainforest for them- they don’t have enough rainforest left to release the orangutans they have rehabilitated. If you want to learn more and help out, here is their website: https://orangutan.org/ .
Being on the boat searching for monkeys was wonderful, and watching these primates up close is an incredible experience. Orangutan babies stay with their moms for 5-8 years learning all they need as adults, like how to make a new nest to sleep in the rainforest canopy every night and every siesta, and it was moving watching the mothers and toddlers interact. We hope everyone gets to see orangutans in the wild for generations.
The rehabilitation centers can’t release any more orangutans because there isn’t enough habitat left for them. Nevertheless, the charities still monitor the “wild” orangutan populations and check on the orangutans they released years ago. To do that, they put out food at specific locations and times. Your boat takes you to these sites, which means you see the orangutans eating and interacting with each other.
There are treks you get to do as well, but it’s actually really unlikely you’ll see any orangutans away from the feeding centers, as they (and all other animals) can hear you coming from miles away and run away. While we enjoyed our treks, we saw far more wildlife at the feeding centers and from the boat.
The boat is actually the best viewing spot for seeing wildlife, as many monkeys and birds liked the vegetation and bugs by the river. Our 5D/4D tour also included canoeing and on a night trek- where we saw tarantulas, as well as sleeping birds!
In addition to orangutans, we also got to see a lot of wildlife around the feeding centers and from the boat, like proboscis monkeys, gibbon monkeys, and long-tailed macaques, which all live in big social groups with lots of chatting and swinging among branches. We also saw rhinoceros hornbill birds (understandably sacred to the local Dayak people, what a bird!), kingfishers, lots of butterflies and dragonflies, and at night, tarantulas. There were mosquitoes, but almost none on the boat- they were only an issue when we were walking on land, and insect repellant and long clothes worked well.
Our beautiful river boat and home for these incredible 5 days was called a klotok. We got the whole top deck, and our wonderful guide, the captain, and the chef had the rest of the boat. Locals who used to poach or illegally log in the national park get jobs that now depend on the orangutans and rainforest staying healthy, and we got to see these incredible animals. We highly recommend visiting, and we highly recommend Local Guides!
Java: Culture, History, Modern Indonesia, and Volcanoes
If you want to see modern life, it’s important to include Java, the main island where Jakarta is and the home of more than 150 million Indonesians! While I can’t recommend spending more than a day or two in Jakarta, I would highly recommend two weeks in Java.
From Jakarta, you can fly or take the modern, clean, on time, and safe train straight to Yogyakarta, which is a six hour ride. I learned how to buy tickets by using this site, and then was able to buy them online using their directions. It all worked smoothly, and the trains were really very comfortable and modern! We took the train multiple times in Java, as did most other travelers, and it was very easy and safe. Honestly, much more pleasant than dealing with the Jakarta airport!
Yogyakarta
We spent a week in Yogyakarta, which is the cultural capital of Java. From there, you can do a ton of fun day trips while staying in comfortable, affordable hotels with delicious food options in walkable neighborhoods. We stayed at Aloha Hotel for a week, with clean, quiet, and helpful staff at about $15 a night, walked a block to pick up delicious baked goods at ViaVia Bakery for breakfasts, and ate dinners at ViaVia Jogja. We had excellent lychee, mango and dragonfruit gelato at Tempo Gelato. We drank Belgian hot chocolate at House of Chocolate Monggo and tried traditional food from this region at Warung Bu Ageng.
In Yogyakarta itself, a major highlight was learning all about traditional art forms. We made our own batik for our moms at Batik Winotosastro. Victor drew a design in advance, or you could have chosen to trace one of their designs, and then you trace it in wax, choose different stamps, and dye the fabric in an elaborate multistep process that the kind workers teach you.
We also saw beautiful silver filigree work being made at HS Silver, and watched some fantastic cultural performances. At the Sonobudoyo Museum, you can see shadow puppets, masked performances, and different forms of dance on different nights. When we were there, the performances were $3.50 per person! We also wandered around the Sultan’s Palace, where there are also dance, gamelan, and shadow puppet performances available, so we got to see many different forms of traditional art at extremely affordable prices when we were there. When you plan your trip to Indonesia, I’d highly recommend trying out at least one performance with traditional dance, puppets, and/or gamelan (their traditional orchestra).
But the real reason we spent a week in Yogyakarta was to go to the 2 UNESCO World Heritage sites that are easy day trips from there: Prambanan and Borobudur. These are absolutely spectacular Hindu temples over a thousand years old that alone make it worth it to plan your trip to Indonesia.
Prambanan
To go to Prambanan, where the light is spectacular for the sunset, we took a bike tour around rice paddy fields and smaller temples around, seeing how local people make tofu, crackers out of beans, and tried honey from stingless bees (that look like flies), getting to taste them all.
Then we walked around the temple complex itself- hundreds of Hindu temples over an enormous plain. Some local students gave us a free tour as a homework assignment for them to practice their English! These temples from 850 C.E. had the Hindu story of the Ramayana as friezes all around them…
At night, we got to watch that same Ramayana story performed with the Prambanan temples in the background! The full gamelan orchestra, dozens of performers in beautiful and elaborate costumes, and gorgeous dance- it was an incredible experience, and so special to think of this same story written on the temples behind and told for the last five thousand years! It’s affordable, but I would recommend buying the best seats at least a week in advance, because this is something you don’t want to miss! It’s generally performed every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday night.
Borobudur
We also went to Borobudur on a sunrise and cycling tour. Borobudur is a Buddhist temple complex from the 9th century. We saw sunrise over Borobudur and the two towering volcanoes looming above it, walked around Borobudur itself, and then did a bike trip in the surrounding area looking at local crafts. For both Prambanan and Borobudur, it was most affordable to do a group excursion, so we looked on TripAdvisor for the ones that had the activities and timing we wanted and good reviews- there are many good options!
Surakarta (Solo): Java Man, Batik, and More Temples
We spent a couple of nights in Surakarta, also known as Solo, which is more off the beaten path than we expected. It was convenient for our trip through Java, and it has an important archeology museum, but if it’s not on the way for your trip through Java it’s definitely not a must-see. At each site we were either the only non-Indonesian tourists or there were 1 or 2 others. We stayed at an extremely affordable business hotel, complete with a breakfast buffet with noodle and rice stations and a pool. Solo was a big contrast to Yogyakarta, which has and caters to so many more foreign tourists.
We were there for a few highlights:
- The museum with “Java Man”– the excellent and enormous archeological museum designed to house and explain the Homo erectus skeletons that have been found throughout Java with dioramas of what life would have been like then and explanations in Bahasa Indonesian and English. It’s 45 minutes from Solo in the middle of tiny villages and rice fields with no signage and zero foreign tourists….thank you Google maps and Lonely Planet! We couldn’t get a taxi back but a nice Indonesian couple drove us 30 minutes back to taxi service! It is excellent…but make sure that your taxi waits for you, because there was simply no way to get a taxi from the museum after we were done!
- The Museum Batik, which is gorgeous and we’ve really enjoyed learning about. We couldn’t take photos there because it’s a private company and copyrighted designs and process. This is a very intensive and precise process with beautiful results.
Mount Bromo and Mount Ijen: Volcanoes!
Our last stop in Java and what we’d most recommend for nature lovers was our 4 day/ 3 night trip to Mount Bromo, Mount Ijen, and transport on to Bali. We did it with Smartine, which was the best ratio of price: positive reviews when we went, and the places we stayed and all of the logistics worked smoothly. Our driver drove way too aggressively, but that could have happened with any tour operator, and we did let them know so hopefully that won’t happen to you.
This trip did involve two very early mornings in a row, which was very difficult, but it was worth it for the sunrise over Mount Bromo and the “blue fire” of Mount Ijen. I would highly recommend booking at least two nights at the snorkeling location in West Bali to relax after the multiple early mornings.
First, we took the clean, safe, efficient, on time train from Surakarta (Solo) to Surabaya, and then started a 4 day/3 night tour with Smartine Tours, which we would recommend- they were responsive, helpful, and on time.
Mount Bromo
Smartine drove us to our hotel near Mount Bromo. Our driver picked us up at our hotel at 3am in a jeep, where we soon joined thousands of other jeeps on the short drive to the sunrise viewpoint overlooking Mount Bromo and several other volcanoes, which are all inside an ancient extinct caldera 10km wide! Mount Bromo is a Hindu shrine, and an accessible and gorgeous site, and it’s a weekend, so there really were thousands of mostly Indonesian tourists and pilgrims!
The sunrise was spectacular. Bromo was steaming, and an even bigger volcano (Semeru) in the background erupts smoke every 20 minutes- look for the pink ash lit up by the sunrise!
Then the jeep drove us down to the ancient caldera, where we walked to Mount Bromo itself (though we could have taken a horse or dirt bike). Walking past a Hindu temple and up the pilgrim steps, we made it to the rim itself, where we could walk around and look down into the steaming active volcano!
We made it back just in time for breakfast, and drove off to a beautiful waterfall. We needed the underwater camera for this adventure, as we got to walk below waterfalls to get to more waterfalls, all in the rainforest! Our local guides have been very helpful keeping us on the trails and taking photos- they are really into taking photos here!
It was an incredible day of powerful nature- steaming volcanoes and dramatic waterfalls! After another long drive, we made it to our hotel to rest….until we leave at midnight for our next adventure, Mount Ijen!
Photo note: I have to admit, the iPhone 13 mini is incredible at nighttime photos. We can see better on these photos at 3am than we could in real life!
Mount Ijen
What an unforgettable trip! Our driver picked us up at midnight to drive to Mount Ijen, where we started hiking up at 1:30am. This was a steep, slippery and challenging hike for us in the surprisingly bright light of the almost full moon (we had headlamps when necessary). We hiked up to the top of the active volcano…and then, walked carefully down into the crater!
At 4am, we made it….we saw the blue fire! It’s a phenomenon that happens when sulfur gas ignites when it meets the air, creating something that looks like blue lava, this otherworldly electric blue flow. It is unlike anything we’d ever seen before, and happens because of the enormous sulfur deposits there.
We also saw the sulfur miners working, breaking pieces of sulfur off, and then carrying 80kg/175lbs up back to the road that was a difficult hike for us without carrying anything besides water and warmth- 252 flights up, and all that way down as well…
For the sunrise, we walked back up to the crater’s rim, and as the sun rose, we discovered that we’d been right next to the crater lake when we’d been watching the blue flames! We had no idea in the dark. The lake water is unbelievably acidic- 0.3pH on the scale from 0-14! It’s green from the sulfur. Lovely sunrise in a bizarre setting!
At 8am, we were back for a much appreciated breakfast. After a drive, a ferry ride, and another drive, we arrived in Bali, excited not to wake up for the sunrise the next day- plan a day of rest after this adventure!
Bali
If you can plan your trip to Indonesia to be at least a month long, then I’d recommend including Java, Borneo, and Raja Ampat, depending on your interests. But if you have two weeks or less, then I’d spend the whole time in Bali. Bali has excellent snorkeling, volcanoes to climb, cultural performances, delicious food, and affordable prices…all the reasons to go to Indonesia but in one small fascinating island.
Since I know most people only have two weeks or less, I wrote a whole separate post just about what to do with two weeks in Bali- click here for all of the details!
Let’s plan your trip to Indonesia!
So to recap:
- Have just two weeks? Go to Bali to get a good overview of all the best Indonesia has to offer! Buy my 2 week Bali itinerary if you want it all planned for you!
- Is snorkeling or diving your biggest priority? Go to Raja Ampat, stay at the Raja Ampat Biodiversity Eco Resort, and stay as long as you can! I’d suggest booking as soon as possible directly with them.
- Do you want to see the orangutans and support the rainforest and orangutan conservation? Go to Borneo with Local Guides, and consider donating to Orangutan International. I’d suggest booking directly with Local Guides as soon as you know your dates.
- Have a month and want to see modern Indonesia, incredible landscapes, UNESCO World Heritage archeological sites, cultural performances, and snorkeling? Spend two weeks in Java and continue on for two weeks in Bali, flying into Jakarta and out of Bali. I’d suggest booking Mount Bromo and Mount Ijen (and transport on to Bali) with Smartine Tours as soon as you know your dates.
- Have 6 weeks or more? Spend two weeks in Java, two weeks in Bali, a week in Raja Ampat, and a week in Borneo! If you have more time, you could add on other tours with Local Guides, like to see the Komodo dragons or the funeral rituals of Tana Toraja.
- Want a 4-8 week Indonesia trip with all of this information planned out for you? Check out my PDF of a 6 week Indonesia itinerary, which is easy for you to cut or extend for the time you have!
- Enjoy your trip!
