Located on the eastern coast of Borneo Island beside an inlet of the Makassar Strait, the seaport city of Balikpapan is growing in popularity as an international tourist destination. Balikpapan is regarded as the gateway to East Kalimantan Province – one of the country’s richest provinces that stands out for its plentiful natural resources, such as timber and min-ing, as well as petroleum products. Being a major exporter of mining and oil products, Balik-papan is sometimes known as the ‘Oil City.’ The region is also lauded for its stunning natural scenery that includes picturesque beaches, majestic mountains and untouched forest.
Balikpapan has an international airport and is the gateway to East Kalimantan; the provincial capital, Samarinda, is farther north. Balikpapan also has a seaport called Semayang, which serves commercial ferries to many destinations in Indonesia, including Surabaya, Makassar, Jakarta, Pare Pare and Manado. Prior to the oil boom of the early 1900s, Balikpapan was an isolated Bugis fishing village. Balikpapan's name (balik meaning 'behind' and papan meaning 'plank') comes from a folk story wherein a local king threw his newborn daughter into the sea to protect her from his enemies. The baby was tied beneath some planks and was discovered by a fisherman.
With the only oil refinery site in the region, Balikpapan emerged as a revitalised centre of petroleum production. The town is home to several oil companies and caters to oil workers with several bars and shopping facilities. Plaza Balikpapan is the main hangout in town with plenty of shops and dining options. There is also the Kebun sayur Traditional Market Centre for those into handicrafts and cheap food.
As the main gateway to East Kalimantan, Balikpapan enables you to explore its unspoiled forest, which is home to rare and varied flora and fauna, from rattan vines and black or-chids, to orang utans and dolphins. Balikpapan features a tropical rainforest climate. The city does not have significantly wetter or drier periods of the year and average tempera-tures are nearly identical throughout the course of the year, averaging roughly 27 degrees Celsius.
Above all, Balikpapan enables visitors to easily access some of East Kalimantan’s top attrac-tions, such as Berau, famed for its Batiwakkal Museum and Mesjid Agung Baitul Hikmah, Muara Muntai with Mahakam Lake at its centre, and Samarinda – the capital of the prov-ince.
