Surabaya

Ujung Port, Surabaya


Surabaya is the regional capital of East Java, Indonesia. It is located on the northern shore of Java, at the mouth of the Mas River. Among Indonesians, Surabaya is the significant site of the battle that propelled the nation towards independence. Today Surabaya is a city of 3 million people within a metropolitan area with a population of close to 7 million people. It is the second biggest city in Java as well as in Indonesia.

Surabaya Chinatown Gate


The first recorded mention of Surabaya was in the 13th century. It was also mentioned in the chronicles of Ma Huan, who travelled with the fleet of Admiral Zheng He in the 15th century. Surabaya was an independent sultanate until 1625, when it was conquered by the Sultan of Mataram. It then fell into Dutch hands in 1743. Under the Dutch, Surabaya became a major trading port and naval base.

Today Surabaya is a major seaport and trading hub for eastern Java. It is a metropolis with big shopping malls, numerous mosques - there is even one dedicated to Zheng He, and the only synagogue in Indonesia.

Pasar Keputran, Surabaya

Travel to Surabaya

The main international gateway to Surabaya is the Juanda International Airport (SUB), located in Sidoarjo. It is the second biggest and second busiest airport in Indonesia after the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport of Jakarta. Among the airlines flying there include Garuda, Cathay Pacific, China Airlines, EVA Air, Malaysia Airlines, Mandala Airlines, Merpati Nusantara, SilkAir and Sriwijaya Air. Budget travellers can take AirAsia from Kuala Lumpur and Valuair from Singapore.

From the airport, you can take a taxi to downtown. The fare is between US$5-US$10 depending on your destination. There is a taxi counter where you buy the taxi coupon. Alternatively if you are able to hop into a taxi dropping passengers, you may get a cheaper ride to town.

Suramadu Bridge, Surabaya

Travel within Surabaya

The main form of transportation for tourists would be the taxi. The flag-fall is Rp. 4,000, though drivers will expect a minimum fare of Rp. 10,000 for short trips.

Plaza Tunjungan, Surabaya

Places of Interest in Surabaya

Sights near Surabaya

Shopping in Surabaya

Surabaya has a number of shopping malls, with more in the process of completion in the next few years.

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About this website

Dear visitor, thank you so much for reading this page. My name is Timothy Tye and my hobby is to find out about places, write about them and share the information with you on this website. I have been writing this site since 5 January 2003. Originally (from 2003 until 2009, the site was called AsiaExplorers. I changed the name to Penang Travel Tips in 2009, even though I describe more than just Penang but everywhere I go (I often need to tell people that "Penang Travel Tips" is not just information about Penang, but information written in Penang), especially places in Malaysia and Singapore, and in all the years since 2003, I have described over 20,000 places.

While I try my best to provide you information as accurate as I can get it to be, I do apologize for any errors and for outdated information which I am unaware. Nevertheless, I hope that what I have described here will be useful to you.