indonesian entry permits (visas)
Assuming you are not Indonesian and do not already hold a current Indonesian entry permit valid for the time needed for your stoke trips with us, then you would need a permit (or ‘visa’) to enter indonesia.
There are four Indonesian visa types, each valid for 30 days stay …
- visa-free entry permits ~ no cost
- visa-on-arrival entry permits ~ us$25
- visa before arrival entry permits ~ cost varies
- restricted visa entry permits ~ cost varies
All of these visas are dubbed ‘tourist’ visas, a term we don’t really like to use ~ tourist ~ it just seems so sub-human! We prefer to use traveler or explorer. Having said that, we advise you to say ‘tourist’ anyway in your visa applications (or landing cards) because that is what most immigration officers (and systems) understand.
go direct to the immigration checkpoints at your entry ports in indonesia, the immigration officers will be able to stamp you an entry permit without any cost – please make sure your passports are in order, click this for details
- Brunei Darussalam
- Chile
- Hong Kong
- Macau
- Malaysia
- Morocco
- Peru
- Philippines
- Singapore
- Thailand
- Vietnam
a list of visa on arrival countries
Passports of these following countries do not need to apply for visas anywhere, because visas are available on arrival in most Indonesian ports of entry, land/sea/air! … You still can apply for visas beforehand, especially if your plans would require more than 30 days and/or more than a single entry to Indonesia.
go first to the visa on arrival desk before the indonesian immigration checkpoints and pay the us$25 fee, these counters accept major currencies and credit cards as forms of payment so you don’t need to have u.s. dollars ; after you get the visa go direct to the immigration checkpoints, are your passports in order?
- Algeria
- Argentina
- Australia
- Austria
- Bahrain
- Belgium
- Brazil
- Bulgaria
- Cambodia
- Canada
- China
- Cyprus
- Czech
- Denmark
- Egypt
- Estonia
- Fiji
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Holland
- Hungary
- Iceland
- India
- Iran
- Ireland
- Italy
- Japan
- Kuwait
- Laos
- Latvia
- Libya
- Lichtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Maldives
- Malta
- Mexico
- Monaco
- New Zealand
- Norway
- Oman
- Panama
- Poland
- Portugal
- Qatar
- Romania
- Russia
- Saudi Arabia
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- South Africa
- South Korea
- Spain
- Suriname
- Switzerland
- Sweden
- Taiwan
- Tunisia
- United Arab Emirates
- United Kingdom
- United States of America
a list of visa before arrival countries
Passport holders of these countries would be required to apply for visas at an Indonesian embassy or consulate closest to where you are resident. Please note that this list is not final, your country might still be in this list, just check if it is not in the other lists, then surely it will be in this list!
visa on hand, on arrival go direct to the Indonesian immigration checkpoints at any entry ports, land/sea/air! …
- Albania
- Belarus
- Bhutan
- Bolivia
- Bosnia
- Cambodia
- Colombia
- Costa Rica
- Croatia
- Dominica
- Ecuador
- El Salvador
- Georgia
- Guatemala
- Honduras
- Jamaica
- Jordan
- Kenya
- Lebanon
- Moldova
- Mongolia
- Myanmar
- Nepal
- Nicaragua
- Paraguay
- Poland
- Serbia
- Syria
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Turkey
- Ukraine
- Uruguay
- Venezuela
- Yemen
Passports of these countries (click) need to have their visa applications sent to indonesia first before a visa can be issued! Apply for your visas at an Indonesian embassy or consulate in your country, they will then send your visa application to indonesia to seek approval. Allow three to four weeks (!) where then they will notify you about your visa.
visa on hand, on arrival go direct to the indonesian immigration checkpoints at any entry ports, land/sea/air!
about your travel documents (passports)
It is required that your travel documents is valid for more than 6 months from your arrival date ~ be sure they are in order
about your airline tickets
E-tickets on computer-printed plain paper, in black and white or color, is recognized by Indonesian immigrations, be it in embassies/consulates or at immigration entry ports, they will readily accept e-tickets as proof of your onward travel. What is most important in your tickets is that it clearly states your confirmed return dates. No waiting list or open tickets please (though exceptions may apply). Besides clear dates, it must have the return flight leg departing from Indonesian airports or from these regional cities …
- Bangkok, Thailand ~ airport code BKK
- Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam ~ airport code BWN
- Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia ~ airport code KUL
- Singapore, Singapore ~ airport code SIN
As surfer-traveler-explorers, you shouldn’t worry about Indonesian customs because you probably won’t be bringing any weird stuff with you. You should be more concerned about your surfboards! You know, have board will travel?
For example, if your first airport of entry is in Bandung (BDO) or Yogyakarta (JOG) airports, bringing a 5-board quiver of all-similar boards, even newer ones, will usually present no problem at all, while doing so in any other Indonesian airport of entry might give you a headache! This may seem strange but that’s just how it is. On the other hand, most land and sea ports of entry will present easier customs clearance!
tips if you need to land NOT in yogyakarta or bandung …
- a good rule is to bring your already used boards, refrain from bringing spic-and-span looking ones! lol
- if you need to bring a new one, set it up and use it first if you can, or wax it up and dirt it up to make it look used
- bringing more than one board? … bring clearly different boards with you, for example, a shortboard and a longboard, (two boards) or, a 5-board quiver containing a shorty, a tanker, a fishy, a fun board and a gun!
- bringing shortboards of multiple sizes won’t generally impress the customs officers, they just have no idea that we need different sizes for different waves!
… so most probably they will consider it as a merchandise and charge customs accordingly (yuck!) - be somewhat on your guard on your boardbags!!!
… indonesia import duty/customs has very strict rules (and penalties) on imports of any kind of textile produce! ~ this happened to me and many others, the boards got through, but the bags were charged! … so your boardbags must look very very used! - a tip for longboarders – one longboard already looks large, try bringing two of different sizes (say 9′0 and 9′6) will look like two of the same (!) now imagine bringing two 9′0s, one for fast waves the other for mellow point waves … can the customs officers be convinced they are both your boards and that you need them both? I usually lug around two or three when traveling, i should know!
Many tend to know Bali or Jakarta as Indonesia’s only entry ports. This cannot be further from reality! For a place like Indonesia, almost the size of two-thirds north america, almost thrice of western and eastern europe combined, almost a quarter of the african continent … there are over 45 valid first-entry ports!!! ~ all having more blissful travel experience and cheaper port taxes … not to mention more fun and wonderful stories to tell!
Generally speaking, by using closer (nearer) entry ports to Wayang Ombak’s trip destinations, the more economical it will be for you! So a great idea is just to be mindful of our trip details, some trips suggests you to use Bandung as an entry port, some Yogyakarta, and some other ports …
“What if I can’t use the suggested entry ports?” …
- make your own way to the suggested pickup spots (read on for some helpful tips), or …
- ask us to organize a pickup at YOUR entry port, or from anywhere else within Indonesia!
JUST CRUISE ON!
If you are already in Indonesia, but nowhere near the suggested pickup spots, we can aid you to plan your way! We know exactly how to travel and bring any size board using any Indonesian public transports! From buses to trains to planes to boats to ferries to cruises to charters … just ask!
booking your airline tickets – a handy do it yourself guide
To look for your ideal flights you may need some specific airport codes. We have included these codes as well as some relevant airline websites.
If you want to land in the two airports Wayang Ombak trips likes to use, which is Bandung (airport code BDO) or Yogyakarta (airport code JOG), you will be very happy to know that almost all main airports in world can have great if not ultra-cool itenaries to get there!
If you can’t find your perfect flight itenary, try going through these regional airports … they all have either direct or connecting flights to BDO or JOG …
- Bangkok, Thailand – code BKK
- Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam – code BWN
- Batam, Indonesia – code BTH
- Denpasar, Indonesia (Bali island) – code DPS
- Hongkong, Hongkong – code HKG
- Jakarta, Indonesia – code CGK
- Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – code KUL
- Medan, Indonesia – code MES
- Padang, Indonesia – code PDG
- Singapore, Singapore – code SIN
- Surabaya, Indonesia – code SUB
here are the links to some regional airline websites …
- air asia AK
- royal brunei BI
- cathay pacific CX
- garuda indonesia GA
- lion air JT
- malaysia air system MH
- merpati QZ
- thai airways TG
- silk air MI
- singapore airlines SQ
Hey Adrian – sorry it took a coupla days to approve your comment, it’s ’slow’ time of indo surf season now and we’re all preparing for our surf hunting trip so you won’t get any rss alerts soon enough …
– maybe March it’ll be good!
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