Tarakan
Tarakan is a town on an island of the same name in East Kalimantan. 100km south of Nunukan, it also serves as a visa-free border-crossing between Indonesia and the Malaysia town of Tawau in Sabah.
Get in
By ferry
To/from Tawau: One departure daily except on Sunday from Tawau. M.V. Indomaya sails every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 11.30am, while M.V. TawindoM.V Labuan Express departs every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at 10.30am. Tickets cost RM75 one-way and travelling time is 4 hours (and thats not counting the usual 1 hour delay in departure time)
Alternative travel : A less mind numbing way of travel to Tarakan is to take the ferry service which plies a few times a day between Nunukan and Tawau, and a twice daily flight that goes between Nunukan and Tarakan. To get into Tawau this way, take the 11AM ferry (which usually waits to depart until it's full, which can mean it leaves at noon) from Tawau to Nunukan. The Labuan Express is the best option because it is just plain cleaner than the other ferries. The journey will take 45 minutes to an hour and it costs 40 Ringgit. After getting through Indonesian immigration, catch a minibus (20,000 RP to charter the whole thing, and be prepared to bargain) to the airport which is a mere 15 minutes drive. There's a Kalstar plane (French ATR propellor plane which can seat 50 people) that arrives at 1:30pm to 2:00pm and you can catch that to Tarakan. Its 250,000 RP for that ticket which you can purchase at the airport. Oh, and there's some other tax of 8,000 RP too. The journey takes less than 15 minutes.
Of course you can travel to Tarakan from the Indonesian side (mainly going through the oil city of Balikpapan). From Balikpapan there are three to four flights daily except Sundays. By the way, if you do choose to go through Balikpapan airport, try the "Nasi Sop Buntut" at the Blue Sky restaurant on the second floor of the airport. Right beside the viewing gallery. Excellent stuff. Probably the best in Kalimantan ...
Get around
See
Do
Buy
Eat
Drink
Sleep
Garden City Hotel - the hotel of choice for most business travellers. Expect to pay from between 330,000 Rp to 450,000 Rp nett per night. Clean and centrally located.
Tarakan Plaza Hotel - newly renovated and just re-opened for business. This is one of the oldest hotels in Tarakan and it used to be the best. But that was 10 years ago. Today its been redone from the outside in. Unfortunately it still cant shake the "old & dark" feeling that old and dark hotels have. Room rates are from 280,000 RP per night.
Bahtera Hotel - another oldie but this hotel has a little bit more character. Another member of the old and dark hotel club, but its saving grace is its gardens and low density lay out. It also has an infamous massage parlour, an ear-drum wrecking dance hall, and dingy karaoke rooms complete with hostess viewing "aquariums".
