Where can you see pinisi boats? Harbours, boatyards and sailing grounds

By Pinisi Boat Editorial Desk

You can see pinisi boats in three settings: working vessels at traditional ports such as Paotere in Makassar and Sunda Kelapa in Jakarta, hulls being built at centres UNESCO names, such as Tana Beru and Bira in Bulukumba, and charter vessels around Labuan Bajo, the town served by Komodo Airport. No source can promise what will be there on a given day.

Where do working pinisi still call?

Wikipedia names two ports: Sunda Kelapa in Jakarta and Paotere in Makassar, both traditional harbours on an inter-island trade that has included timber from Kalimantan to Java. Go to either with the right picture in mind. Indonesia's trading fleet was motorised in the 1970s and 1980s, the motorised version has its own name, Perahu Layar Motor, and average cargo capacity climbed to about 300 tons. A working boat today may well show an engine and a heavy cargo hull first and its sailing heritage second.

Paotere is also worth keeping distinct from the boatbuilding beaches. It is a harbour, and people come to it to load and unload, not to build. For a Makassar start, Sultan Hasanuddin International Airport (UPG) lies on the Makassar-Maros border, about 20 km by toll road from the city centre. We hold no published visiting rules or berth schedule for either port. Our page on the cargo pinisi gives the trading background.

Where can I see hulls being built?

Start with the three places in UNESCO's 2017 decision: Tana Beru, Bira and Batu Licin. Indonesian Wikipedia, citing the 2021 statistics office figures, lists Bira and Tanah Beru in Bonto Bahari district of Bulukumba, along with the village of Ara, which history links to the first pinisi. That matters for planning because the regency covers 1,154.58 square kilometres, so "Bulukumba" alone is not a useful destination. Batu Licin does not appear in that list, and we have not confirmed its location, so check before you set out.

The setting can be strikingly plain. Lamima, a 65.2 m vessel, was built on the beach at Bira/Ara, so you need not picture an enclosed shed. Other things we cannot tell you: the road distance or driving time from Makassar, the visiting rules at any site, and which hulls are in progress this month. Treat it as a working site, so ask before stepping into a work area or photographing people. The Tana Beru page has more on that community.

Where do charter vessels gather?

Labuan Bajo is the place the published figures point to, and our Komodo page sets them out with their limits. They count boats of all kinds, not phinisi alone.

Komodo National Park covers 1,733 square kilometres, 603 of them land, and has been a World Heritage Site since 1991. That listing is for the park, not for the boats.

Komodo Airport is the way in. Unless you book a trip, expect to see the boats only from the shore. Park fees are on the official tariff page, and our guide to phinisi around Komodo sets out access and park facts.

Can I see them in Raja Ampat, the Banda Sea or Bali?

Perhaps, but this is where the record thins out. We hold no dated fleet list for Raja Ampat. What we can document in Raja Ampat is the visitor's side of the paperwork: Stay Raja Ampat reports new marine park permit rates from 3 August 2026, a 12-month permit for international visitors, a per-day charge for Indonesian citizens and an exemption for children under 12. Our Raja Ampat guide has the details.

Bali is similar. Treat any sighting as luck and ask an operator where a named vessel will be on your dates. Our Bali page looks at the island as a route toward Komodo.

Can I see a pinisi without travelling to Indonesia?

To a degree, yes. A pinisi featured on Indonesia's 100-rupiah banknote, so a banknote collector's album may hold the most portable example you will find. YachtWorld's Indonesia page shows vessels for sale, phinisi among them, with listing details from each seller. Boat International keeps a directory profile of Lamima, and UNESCO's element page describes the craft behind them all. None of those replaces a working harbour, but they are enough to train your eye before a trip.

How would one trip take in all three settings?

Order the stops by where the craft comes from and work outward. Treat this as a sequence, not an itinerary, and check each leg with a carrier or local driver.

1. Makassar. Fly into UPG and visit Paotere for the trading boats.
2. Bonto Bahari, Bulukumba. Go on by road to Tana Beru and Bira for the building tradition. Ask locally about access once you arrive.
3. Labuan Bajo. Go by air or sea to the town served by Komodo Airport, and join a boat if you want to be on the water.
4. Jakarta, if it suits your route home. Sunda Kelapa is the other named harbour, and it is easily left for the end or dropped.

Leave slack in the schedule, because access can be cut at short notice. Add spare days before anything non-refundable, particularly if a park permit or a charter departure depends on one flight.

How do I tell a pinisi from other wooden boats when I am there?

Since the name alone proves little, a short field check is useful, drawn from Wikipedia and its account of the rig and hull types.

• Two masts, with rigging laid out for seven to eight sails.
• Standing gaffs: main sails pulled out along the gaffs like curtains, not hoisted from the deck.
• Anjong: the balancing triangle on the foredeck.
• Curved stern and keel with twin quarter rudders: a sign of the older palari hull.
• Tall from the start: jonggolang hulls, a mid-20th-century type, were built high from the outset.

Sails may be furled or absent at anchor, so look at the masts and gaffs before you judge. Our rig and sails page names each sail in turn.

What are the short answers before you go?

Which place should I choose if I only have time for one?

It depends on what you want to see. Choose Makassar's Paotere or Jakarta's Sunda Kelapa for trading vessels, Bira or Tana Beru for hulls and building, and Labuan Bajo for charter boats. Only the third is a charter setting, where you could travel on board.

Are pinisi still built in Bulukumba?

Yes, on the published record. UNESCO's 2017 decision names Tana Beru, Bira and Batu Licin as contemporary boatbuilding centres, and Tana Beru and Bira sit in Bulukumba's Bonto Bahari district. Wikipedia also records a 50 m pinisi-rigged vessel completed in Bulukumba in 2011.

Are there visiting rules at Paotere or Sunda Kelapa?

None that we have found, so ask at the port on the day. Remember that both are named as places where cargo vessels call, not as visitor sites, and work takes priority.

Are the boats at Labuan Bajo true pinisi?

Not necessarily. Wikipedia warns that charter and diving vessels are often marketed as phinisi whatever their rig. Some may carry the full rig, others may only borrow the look, and a count by rig does not exist in any source we hold.

Can I see phinisi in Bali?

Possibly, but do not build a trip around it. Ask the operator in writing where a particular vessel will actually be on your dates.

Which sources support this page?

Checked in October 2026.

• Wikipedia: Pinisi
• UNESCO: 12.COM decisions document
• UNESCO: Pinisi, art of boatbuilding in South Sulawesi
• Indonesian Wikipedia: Kabupaten Bulukumba
• Wikipedia: Sultan Hasanuddin International Airport
• Wikipedia: Komodo Airport
• Wikipedia: Komodo National Park
• Balai TN Komodo: official tariff page
• Stay Raja Ampat: marine park entry permit
• CharterWorld: Lamima completed
• Boat International: Lamima
• YachtWorld: boats for sale in Indonesia

How do I reach the desk?

Planning a visit and stuck on a detail? Ask the Editorial Desk, and tell us which of these places you are headed for. WhatsApp: 6281139414563. Email: bd@juaraholding.com.