Has anyone taken a ferry from Bali to Jawa Timor?

[bakso]

Hi i will be travelling to Indonesia with my Wife,2 children [1 baby] and elderly mother in october and we were thinking about travelling with a driver from Denpasar to Singaraja and then taking the ferry to Jawa.

Has anyone made this ferry trip before?

What are the ferries like?

Would they be suitable for the elderly and or young children?

Is there a better alternative?

Thanks
Bakso

[toucan]

Yes I do this trip a couple of times per year. The ferries have very steep steps up to the passenger area and are quite narrow so they might be a problem for an elderly person. There are seats upstairs and little kiosks for food and drinks. The lower level of the ferry where you board is also where the buses and vehicles enter and park so you could stand down there if the stairs were too hard to climb, but probably nowhere to sit. If you are taking a vehicle across with you then you could just stay in the car. The trip itself only takes about an hour maximum and that includes time waiting for a position to dock at the ferry terminal. The ferry toilets are horrendous so make sure you use the ones located in the terminals before you board the ferry (they will still be squat toilets but much cleaner than the ones on the ferry). Best thing for the one year old is to have one of those baby slings or learn how to tie the baby to you in a sarong - makes it much easier and leaves both hands free. There is quite a long walk onto the ferry and off again at the other side if you are not in a vehicle.

[ronb]

There are many ferries, and they vary in size from quite small (couldn't get a bus on it) with fairly minimal facilities, to very large (can fit many buses) with better refreshments etc. To take a car on (including the passengers) is about Rp100,000 - while for one person to walk on is about Rp6,000. Sometimes with the bigger boats before departure, there are kids diving from the upper decks and waiting for you to throw money. There can be strong tidal currents in the strait between Bali & Java, so this means that the boats start out in what seems like the wrong direction and then let the current bring them back as they approach the dock. When the seas are rough, docking becomes more time consuming, and their schedules go bad. At peak holiday times (like Ramadan) there may be queues of vehicles kilometres long - waiting.

To answer your original question - I think your family will enjoy the crossing, and your driver will make it all happen effortlessly.

[tintin]

In 2007, US-born, marathon swimmer and humanitarian Monte Monfore, 45, swam the rough Bali Strait, from Pasir Puti in West Bali National Park to Banyuwangi, East Java. In spite of the channel strong currents and choppy seas, he made it in one-hour and one-minute (world record)! The Strait is about 4 kms wide, but Monty ended up swimming almost 6 miles, as the strong current pulled him 4 kms south. I believe Monte has also swum the Strait round-trip.

One Ocean One World