Things to do in Makassar
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Makassar
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Best, driest and sunniest, calmest seas, clearest sunsets and F8 season.
Very good dry conditions, July adds school holiday crowds, October is hot with first storms possible late.
Mixed season turns, April rain easing, November heat and humidity building with first heavy rains.
Worst, peak rain, flooded streets, choppy island crossings and clouded sunsets.
Wet tail, improving but still wet.
What's on
- F8 Makassar International Festival usually September
Flagship waterfront festival of film, fashion, food, art, music and writers at Losari, book rooms ahead.
- Makassar International Writers Festival usually May/June
Respected literary festival using Fort Rotterdam and other venues.
- Beautiful Malino Festival usually July
Highland flower and cultural festival in Malino, its best and busiest week.
- Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr moves yearly, roughly Feb-Mar in 2026-27 cycles
Ramadan quiets food by day and Lebaran week fills transport while many warungs close for days.
- Independence Day 17 August
Ceremonies and games around Karebosi and Losari, a festive and crowded city day.
Best things to do in Makassar
Fort Rotterdam and La Galigo Museum
An intact Dutch fort over a Gowa stronghold, with a museum that explains South Sulawesi and Makassar maritime history.
Losari Beach Promenade
Makassar living room at sunset, a long waterfront promenade with food carts, island views and the whole city out walking.
Paotere Harbour
A working pinisi port and fish market at its best early, dusty and authentic rather than arranged for tourists.
Masjid Kubah 99
The 99 Domes Mosque glows at sunset on the CPI waterfront, the modern counterpoint to the fort and a top photo subject.
Balla Lompoa Museum
The reconstructed Gowa palace holds crowns, weapons and gold regalia, the best display of Makassarese royal culture.
Benteng Somba Opu
The ruined Gowa stronghold is now a park of traditional South Sulawesi houses, a fast lesson in regional architecture.
A Makassar food day
A full day planned around coto, pallubasa, sop saudara, mie titi and seafood, a cuisine found almost nowhere else in Indonesia.
Trans Studio Makassar
Eastern Indonesia largest indoor theme park, the rainy day and family pick inside a big mall, best on weekdays.
Where to stay in Makassar
Losari Beach / Ujung Pandang waterfront
first trip, all-round base
Walk to the fort, promenade, seafood street and island jetty, the only district where a visitor day works on foot.
Sudirman / City Centre
business comfort, newest hotels
Newer buildings and easier car access, still five to ten minutes by Grab to waterfront sights and food.
Panakkukang
shopping, business
Modern mid hotels and the biggest mall cluster, but it adds heavy traffic time to every waterfront trip.
Tanjung Bunga / CPI
resort feel, families using Trans Studio
Sea views, pools, malls and the CPI promenade, quieter and more spacious, but a car ride to the fort and soup streets.
Airport corridor
one night only for early flights
Correct for a dawn flight or Toraja bus from Daya Terminal, with nothing for visitors at night.
Think twice about
- Paotere / Ujung Tanah port fringe
Working port district with truck traffic, fish market smell, dusty streets and nothing at night. Visit in the morning, sleep elsewhere.
- Daya / terminal and toll-road fringe
Transient, noisy terminal district with highway scale roads and long unwalkable distances to every sight.
- Deep inland residential sprawl
Far Rappocini, Tamalate and outer Panakkukang rooms cost an hour a day in traffic with no evening food or walking life for visitors.
Best restaurants in Makassar
Pallubasa Serigala
Makassar most reviewed restaurant, beef and offal in spiced broth with coconut and a raw egg yolk in the hot soup.
Aroma Coto Gagak
A roomy, generous coto house with thick peanut spice broth, one of two addresses locals argue is the city best.
Coto Nusantara
The rival coto pick, named for thick gravy and large meat pieces, do both famous bowls and take a side.
Konro Karebosi
The legendary rib house, black kluwek rib soup and grilled ribs lacquered with peanut spice sauce.
RM Apong Seafood
The group seafood institution, choose fish and crab by weight, then angsio crab, boxfish and salted egg prawns shared.
Warung Sop Saudara Pangkep
A lighter milk tinged beef soup with potato fritters and grilled milkfish, the third soup visitors most often miss.
Mie Titi
Fine noodles fried into a crisp nest under thick chicken and seafood gravy, a texture contrast that must be eaten in.
RM Lae Lae
Grilled fish, squid, prawns and sour palumara soup a street back from Losari, the waterfront seafood sequence after sunset.
Best bars in Makassar
31 Altitude Rooftop
Drinks with a city view above Papillon, the closest thing in Makassar to a rooftop occasion.
Outdoor things to do in Makassar
Rammang-Rammang Karst
Limestone towers, rice paddies and a slow boat ride to stilt housed Kampung Berua, the single best day trip from Makassar.
Bantimurung-Bulusaraung National Park
A wide waterfall, swimmable river pools, caves and a butterfly sanctuary, the easiest nature day from the city.
Leang-Leang Prehistoric Park
Hand stencils and babirusa paintings among the world oldest figurative art, unforgettable with a local guide.
Samalona Island
The closest good island day, white sand, clear water and reef snorkelling about 30 minutes by boat from the city.
Kodingareng Keke Island
An uninhabited white sand spit with turquoise water and good snorkelling, quieter and prettier than Samalona.
Other Spermonde Islands
Lae-Lae, Barrang Lompo, Barrang Caddi and Gusung reward a second island day with a hotel arranged boatman.
Malino Highlands
Cool highland tea gardens, pine forest and Takapala Waterfall, a complete climate change two to three hours south.
Padivalley Golf Club
The region international standard 18 hole course, lush foothill and paddy country with mountain backdrops.
Best hotels in Makassar
Hyatt Place Makassar
The newest international standard stay, contemporary high rise with a rooftop, currently the best reviewed luxury pick.
The Rinra Makassar
Five star waterfront hotel with strait view rooms, a sunset infinity pool and spa, best for a resort feel in the city.
Melia Makassar
Polished business luxury inland with strong staff consistency, a short ride to Losari and the waterfront sights.
Aryaduta Makassar
The grande dame on the Losari strip with two pools, unbeatable position for the fort, promenade and seafood on foot.
Aston Makassar
A large, reliable convention tier hotel with strong breakfast, often the best value luxury rate when conferences are away.
Four Points by Sheraton Makassar
A large, reliable Sheraton brand hotel with strong breakfast and good value luxury rates outside conference periods.
Swiss-Belhotel Waterfront Makassar
Strait views, pool and spa with breakfast included, highly rated, but verify the exact Swiss-Bel property when booking.
ibis Makassar City Center
The mid range benchmark on the waterfront side, predictable rooms well below five star prices in the right district.
Is Makassar expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | IDR 350,000 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | IDR 750,000 a person |
| Splurge | IDR 1,800,000 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Rammang-Rammang Karst: a few days ahead
- Samalona Island: a few days ahead
- Kodingareng Keke Island: a few days ahead
- Other Spermonde Islands: a few days ahead
- Malino Highlands: a few days ahead
- Rammang-Rammang active day: weeks ahead
- Diving the Spermonde Archipelago: a few days ahead
- Tana Toraja: weeks ahead
- Toraja buses and guided tours days ahead, weeks in July, August and funeral periods.
- Rammang guided and cycling days in high season, and sea view high floor rooms on conference weekends.
- Apong and Dinar weekend group tables, and Padivalley weekend tee times.
- Cash in small notes for warungs, boats, parks and piers, cards and QRIS are patchy at the best cheap food places.
Is Makassar safe?
- Petty theft is the city caveat, keep bags close harbour side and phones off street edge warung tables.
- Traffic is the largest real danger, do not self ride unless an experienced Southeast Asia rider with a recognised licence.
- Wet season sea chop, reef urchins, slippery boardwalks and midday heat injure more visitors than crime.
- Dress modestly at mosques and in Gowa villages, beachwear only on islands and at pools.
- Solo women should use Grab over walking after dark outside the Losari core and hotel drivers for excursions.
Makassar travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Island boat add ons repriced en route, state one all in price covering return, gear, life jackets and fees before boarding.
- Losari is a promenade, not a swim beach, swim at Samalona, Keke, Akkarena or a hotel pool.
- Bantimurung at the foreign price is poor value alone, it earns its cost as the swim stop in a combined Maros day.
- Seafood without asking the price per weight and total before cooking is how rip off stories start.
- Refuse framed butterflies sold outside Bantimurung.
Getting around Makassar: public transport and more
- Grab and Gojek are the city system, cheap car and bike rides with air conditioning.
- Walking works only in the Losari zone and CPI or malls, walk early or at sunset and ride between sights.
- Airport is about 25km away, 30 to 45 minutes light traffic and 60 plus at peak, use the official taxi desk or app pickup.
- Excursions need a car and driver or a tour, agree the full price including fuel, tolls and parking before departure.
- Island boats leave from Kayu Bangkoa jetty, arrive 8 to 9am and obey a boatman return time of 3 to 4pm.
Who Makassar suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | Not ideal |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | Not ideal |
Make Makassar your trip
Swearby drafts the days from places people swear by. Swap any stop, then invite the crew by text, even friends without the app. Vote on dates, track costs as you go, and everyone gets one number at the end.
Get Swearby on the App Store