Welcome to Jakarta!

Selamat datang!

After many years of traveling countless miles to attend coffee events in the US and Europe, we’re excited that World of Coffee is coming to us! Almost literally, as I – Drew Burnett, co-founder and CEO of Kopi Kedaya – have lived a 10 minute walk from the venue for over a decade!

Basics. Before you do anything else, download Gojek and/or Grab! Both/either will be very valuable for getting around. Gojek is Indonesia’s homegrown superapp, while Singapore-headquartered Grab is more widely useful around the region. Prices tend to be similar, although both frequently offer discounts that make one cheaper than the other. Foreign credit cards can usually be linked, which is much easier than dealing with cash. If you prefer traditional taxis, Bluebird (our most reliable taxi company) also has an app. 

Speaking of, Indonesia’s currency is the rupiah, which is currently about 16,600 per 1 USD, a frustratingly awkward conversion to do in your head. Cash is accepted most places, and some vendors accept payment by QR code – if you run out of cash, you may be able to pay QR via Gojek or Grab if you’ve linked your credit card.

Indonesia’s language is Indonesian, or Bahasa Indonesia, which just means “Indonesia language” in Indonesian. It’s written with the Latin alphabet, like English, and if you give it a shot phonetically you probably won’t be too far off – although the one notable exception is that you should pronounce “c” like “ch” here! Hotel staff will probably speak a good amount of English, and a lot of folks in Jakarta will be able to have basic conversations or at least conduct basic business transactions in English, but Google Translate also works pretty well in a pinch. 

Arriving in Jakarta. Most folks coming from outside of Indonesia will arrive at Terminal 3 of Jakarta’s Soekarno Hatta airport. While we’re not an authoritative source for visa advice, most folks coming into Indonesia can obtain a visa on arrival (VOA), which allows you to attend trade shows. The VOA desk will be on your right as you walk from your plane towards immigration and baggage claim. The cost now appears to be IDR 500,000 and payable by credit card, although there are also ATMs you can access before you need to pay. 

While it lacks the charm of Terminals 1 and 2, Terminal 3 recently became more efficient with the addition of autogates to speed immigration clearance. Baggage claim can be very slow, as they x-ray every bag before it goes on to the belt, but if your airline got your baggage to Jakarta it’ll show up eventually. Before you pass through customs make sure to fill out an electronic customs declaration – https://ecd.beacukai.go.id/ – which will generate a QR code you need to show the customs officer. You can do before or after you land. Once you are through immigration and pick up any checked bags, you’ll go through customs, which will scan your customs form QR code and may ask you to have your bags scanned again if there is anything suspicious. Usually saying that you’re bringing gifts worth less than $500 will be enough. 

Getting to the city from the airport is easiest by taxi or car, which are also very reasonably priced – a car to the area around JICC should be IDR 150,000-200,000 – although there are also buses and a light rail line if you have time and inclination. Grab and Gojek also operate at the airport. Their pick up areas are marked with big signs and they tend to be a little bit cheaper than a taxi, though just a dollar or two, so not enough to stress about, and can be a longer wait during busy periods or rush hour. When you exit the terminal there’ll be a crowd of people touting taxi and car rides, some of whom will offer you somewhat overpriced rides on unofficial and unregulated taxis— we do not recommend these. Best to just walk directly out to the second curb, where you’ll find the waiting areas for Grab, Gojek, and Bluebird taxis. Taxis queues are split between Bluebird and Non-Bluebird – Bluebird being the long-time most trusted taxi company in Indonesia, although we’ve probably made it to a point now that the shadiest of taxi companies have gone out of business, so you’ll be safe either way, but might pay more with other companies. Regardless of your preferred ride, proceed out to the second curb and (for taxis) get yourself a number from a machine or person that tells you your position in the queue. Wait times can vary significantly – from no wait at all to more than an hour, which generally are the same for all options. 

On your ride into Jakarta you will be treated to some great views of the city and skyline from the elevated roads. Then once you’re all settled in at your hotel you can relax a bit and figure out where to explore in Jakarta. We’ll have some recommendations in a subsequent post soon!