Pelabuhan Sunda Kelapa
Pelabuhan Sunda Kelapa
3.5
Points of Interest & LandmarksHistoric Walking AreasPiers & Boardwalks
About
Once known as Pasar Ikan (Fish Market), Sunda Kelapa was the early 16th-century trading post from which the Dutch domination of Indonesia began and flourished.
Duration: 2-3 hours
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3.5
3.5 of 5 bubbles445 reviews
Excellent
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163
Average
115
Poor
36
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Jonas & Marleen
Eelderwolde, The Netherlands118 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
July 2022 • Family
Our taxi dropped us off in the old harbour, which nowadays does not look very appealing at first sight. We were approached -partly in Dutch!- by a local guide named Bram (Dutch ancestors) and agreed to his offer to guide us. And that was a great choice! Without Bram we would never have visited a traditional freight vessel that was being loaded whilst we were on deck! Bram guided us through the oldest neighbourhood of Jakarta and we visited the maritime museum and the harbour lookout. We can really recommend a tour with this guide. One can find him in the old harbour or via whatsapp 00 62 818 08880160
Written 28 July 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

StotheN
Stockholm, Sweden538 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2023
I visited on an offday and missed its hustle and bustle. It was Eid al Fitr and people were off. There were no trucks but so many wooden boats moored as in a line up. It would have been better for me to come on another busy day to finger the pulse of this place.
Written 24 April 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

The_Pale_Ridah
Gladesville, Australia1,956 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2013 • Couples
Sunda Kelapa is pretty much the type of place upper-middle class tourists are afraid of. It is a gritty dirty place without any refined café’s, bright lights or cute young shop assistants around, where the work is tough & the people rough.

Sunda Kelapa isn’t a tourist attraction but a rewarding destination. It’s a working port for its transport fleet of pinissei ships from Sulawesi. These double-masted ships still use canvass sails to catch wind as their main source of power. Today they are used to transport goods cheaply between the islands of the republic as they have been doing for almost 500 years. The Indonesians here work cheaply, transporting 10 tons of cheap toilet paper from Sumatran jungles can actually earn you a nice profit. Much activity surrounds these ships as their cargo is loaded & unloaded mostly by labour & off the backs of workers who are paid peanuts. Guys walking impossibly narrow gangplanks in between ships & across the filthy water to dry land is cool to watch, there’s always hope that you’ll see some skinny guy carrying 50kgs of rice on his head slip off the edge with a shriek & a splash. Most modern people lack such skill & balance, eating & drinking too much does that to you. The life of a pirate is pretty cool.

Guides & skiff owners will try & sell you a ride on the water. The beauty of this leisurely skiff ride is getting down onto the water below the pinissei ships which tower above the waterline. Here you can see more of the life of a sea mariner. Some ships are undergoing repairs, hulls are being replaced, engines are reconditioned & decks are hosed down. This is the sort of common sight fast disappearing in our modern world, the skills to navigate the seas via the heavens is also fast disappearing as a skill & being replaced by GPS & satellite phones.

There is an option to go back to the dock or get off at the shanty fishing village nearby. The stilt-house village is your typical slum type area full of narrow passageways stacked with goods, hole-in-the-wall snack stores, drying fish & children running around a concoction of chaos. Many many great photo opportunities here, it’s a gritty place, a humble place that was probably very much like what the clan houses in Penang used to look like. The passages all lead out to dry land near the maritime museum & old watch tower. You wont encounter any guys with hook arms drinking rum here, its fairly safe so take your time & explore someone else’s world.

Sunda Kelapa was also once the port of the Hindu Kingdom of Sunda in the 4th century when London was still a fishing village. The Kingdom of Sunda’s eventually became a part of the Majapahit Empire whose decline coincided with the rise of Islam in Java after the famous Chinese Muslim Admiral Zheng He established Chinese & Arab Muslim communities on the north coast of Java planting the seeds of decline to the great Majapahit Empire which at its height was larger than modern Indonesia & included parts of southern Thailand, Malaysia, Borneo, Papua New Guinea & the Southern Philippines.
Written 12 April 2013
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Ratih Mirantih
Jakarta, Indonesia200 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2020 • Business
This is one of the best spot in Jakarta for tourism. Sunda Kelapa is the main gate of Jakarta, even now this harbour only use for domestic cargo. But the Phinisi wooden boat still wonderful and very unique. Boating at this harbour along the canal to the sea was the best experience ever in Jakarta to see another side of Jakarta as busy City.
Written 21 February 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Noor J
Sanur, Indonesia17 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Oct 2022 • Solo
I had a great afternoon together with guide Bram, who showed me old Jakarta. Bram has a lot of knowledge and it is a pleasure to listen to his stories. There was variety in the tour and Bram had all the time to explain. We used all different kind of transports, taxi boat, tuk-tuk, mini bus and scooter and finished the tour with a drink in Cafe Batavia.
If you are in Jakarta, don’t stay in the hotel or mall, call Bram and find out all about the old days and real life in Jakarta.
Written 1 October 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Russell A
Gold Coast, Australia684 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Oct 2022
I first visited this harbour around 25 yeas ago and to be honest not too much has changed at all. I find this place quite fasinating and love watching the old style trade vessels being loaded up to be shipped off to the many smaller island in the Indonesia. It is a glimpse into the past although now cranes do most of the heavy lifting. Worth a visit for sure and it is easy to wander around
Written 13 November 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Russeldorf
San Juan Capistrano, CA13 contributions
2.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2023 • Family
This is a working port; it is not set up as a tourist destination. There are interesting boats but not worth the trip. Our driver wondered why we wanted to go at all. Didn't even bother taking pictures. Feeling like we were interrupting the work very busy people, we left immediately.
Written 22 March 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Anggita Deska
Jakarta, Indonesia623 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
June 2024 • Friends
Take a walking tour and this is my first to Sunda Coconut. Coming weekend in the afternoon, not crowded, there are many ships, there are foreign tourists also who are around. It's good to take pictures, there's no salespeople, and the area's dusty, make the hats and masks ready so they don't blink.
Automatically translated
Written 6 September 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Andrew H
Cairns, Australia7 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2023 • Couples
We were lost among the industrial area of the harbor when we saw Bram and he motioned us over to talk about where to go. We were hesitant to take him up on the tour but very glad we did. He took us out to see the open sea and harbor and onto the cargo boats. He then took us through the fishing village, the maritime museum and over to old town. Everything was included in the tour and Bram was very knowledgeable about the region. I highly recommend this tour!
Written 5 March 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Renee S
2 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
June 2024 • Family
We had a very nice tour guide Bram who showed us the original spots in Jakarta. He speaks a bit Dutch and very good English. We saw things, you regularly wouldn't see. So if you want a nice tour call Bram. +62 81908088033
Written 7 June 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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Pelabuhan Sunda Kelapa - All You MUST Know Before You Go (2024)

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