Mahakam River is the largest river in East Kalimantan Province. This 920 kilometer long river flows from the upper reaches of the West Kutai toward lower flow in the Labour and Samarinda. This river is very important to most residents in the province of East Kalimantan because some areas are only accessible by river. Seeing this, you will certainly see a lot of community activities associated with rivers.
When traveling along the river, you will find a variety of social activities undertaken by local communities such as transport of goods and natural resources for the purpose of inter-island and exports, fishing and selling fish. Meanwhile, when traveling to Samarinda, you will see local people who take advantage of the Mahakam river flow as a place of rest, especially from afternoon till night. In the afternoon, you’ll find vendors selling various foods and drinks along the river stream. Residents usually watch the sunset while enjoying roasted corn, bread and other foods, and more people will come on at night.
When the day is not cloudy, on the outskirts of the river, the scenery looks very beautiful sunset. With golden color, the bias will bring sunshine glistening on the surface of the water. In the middle of the Mahakam River which entered the region Regency there is also a tourist attraction that is the Jade Island. In this island, you can enjoy the view from the tower, driving tours, and others. Mahakam River flows through the three regions namely Labour, West Kutai District, and the city of Samarinda. Most of the top area only accessible by boat and ketinting or water taxi.
Some of the lower river are also accessible via land transport. You can use the vehicle to travel along the river that passes through the city of Samarinda. Or walk along the river to enjoy the view of the city. To achieve Samarinda, the journey starts from Sepinggan airport in Balikpapan, which is the entrance to the East. From Balikpapan, you can also use ground or air transportation for up to Samarinda.
Some aircraft provide Balikpapan-Samarinda local routes. If you want to use the landline, you can take a taxi to Samarinda that will take 2.5 to 3 hours drive.