Selayar Island travel cost: which items to budget for and where figures come from

By Selayar Island Editorial Desk

Sourced figures: prices in the table carry their source and check month. Fares and rates change, and nothing here is medical or legal advice.

Selayar Island travel cost comes down to five lines: getting there, moving around, rooms, diving with its fees, and a visa if you need one. All published figures sit in the price table on this page, each with its source and the month checked. Several are old or undated, so treat them as guides and confirm before paying.

What goes into your Selayar Island travel cost?

Five lines make up most of a budget for Pulau Selayar: getting to the island, moving around it, rooms, diving with its fees, and paperwork. Every published figure is in the price table on this page. This section says how far to trust each line.

The table mixes rupiah, euros and US dollars because the sources do. Convert before you add anything up, and use the rate on the day you pay.

What do you pay for getting there?

The route decides the first part of the bill, and the two main options fail in different ways.

Flying is quick but uncertain. Rome2Rio lists Air Connect twice a week on Mondays and Fridays, in about 50 minutes. Trip.com lists FlyJaya and Wings Air, a 50-minute duration and about one flight a week. Wikipedia says only FlyJaya operates scheduled flights as of 2026. These cannot all be right, and Selayarnews reported that FlyJaya suspended the route from 23 January to 13 February 2026 for aircraft maintenance. A headline fare therefore tells you little until you have confirmed the flight exists on your date. The page on the Makassar to Selayar flight goes through the conflict, and the overall choice of route is on how to get to Selayar Island.

The ferry is slower and easier to budget. ASDP's Bira office told Tribun-Timur in July 2026 that two ferries normally serve the line and that the crossing takes about two hours. The table separates adult, infant, motorcycle and car or minibus fares, which is what you need if you are bringing a vehicle across on the car ferry. Rubrik reports non-cash ticketing from June 2022, so ask ASDP which methods it accepts before you reach the port; the page on Pamatata ferry port has more on the terminal.

The ferry fare leaves out the road to Bira, which Wikipedia puts at four to five hours from Makassar. We found no published price for a private car on that road, so get a quote. The bus is the simple alternative; ask when you buy whether the ferry crossing is included.

How are stays priced?

Published room prices use three different units, so they do not compare directly.

• Per room, per night. Sulawesi.travel's bands for wisma, small guesthouses, mid-range hotels and dive lodges are quoted per night.
• Per bungalow, per night, with breakfast. Selayar Eco Resort quotes each bungalow for one to four people, so ask it to confirm the unit before you divide anything.
• Per person, per night, with meals. Selayar Dive Resort quotes per person on a double-occupancy basis.

The dive resort's terms change the sum further. It sets a minimum stay and says its rates include meals but not transfers or the marine park fee. So the line to budget is the whole minimum stay per person, plus those two extras, and not a single night's rate. The rate sheet was valid to 3 January 2025, so write for a current one.

Moving around from a town room is a separate cost line. The scooter figure in the table is one traveller's report from Benteng. The page on where to stay on Selayar Island compares the areas, and the page on the Selayar Island resort options covers the two named resorts.

What does diving add?

We found only one published diving rate: Selayar Dive Resort's daily figure for two boat dives plus house reef, on the same 2024 sheet. Treat it as one resort's price and not as a market rate. The local dive operators that Sulawesi.com says run trips from Benteng publish no rate we found, so ask them directly.

Three things to settle when you ask for a quote: whether equipment is included, whether the park fee is separate, and whether your insurance covers evacuation. That last one matters for the reasons on our page on whether Selayar Island is safe. Season matters too. The resort says it closes outside October to the end of April, so its prices apply only in those months. More on sites and seasons is on the Selayar Island diving page.

A trip to the atoll is its own line. The table carries one charter figure from Sulawesi.com for two to three days from Pattumbukan, and that guide puts the run at 4 to 6 hours each way. Find out how many people the boat takes before dividing the cost in your head.

Is there a marine park fee?

Selayar Dive Resort lists a Selayar Marine Park fee, per person, payable on site in cash, and that is the figure in the table. It is an operator's rate sheet line from 2024, not a government tariff. We found no official tariff page for a park entrance fee, for this park or for Taka Bonerate National Park.

Be careful with the names. The resort uses Selayar Marine Park, and says it was pivotal in creating the park in 2002, while the Ministry of Tourism's material concerns Taka Bonerate. A source using one name is not evidence about the other, so if a fee is requested, ask who collects it, which area it covers, and for a receipt. If you are not staying at that resort, ask your dive operator whether the fee applies to you at all.

Do you need to budget for a visa?

Possibly, depending on your passport. Indonesia's immigration service says the Visitor Visa is single entry, valid for a 30-day stay, and that passports need six months' validity from arrival. The fee is in the table. Check your own eligibility with the service.

Should you carry cash?

Yes. Bring what you expect to need from Makassar. Do not plan on a machine working when you arrive: we found no directory of ATMs or branches in Benteng, and Journey Beyond the Horizon, a travel blog dated October 2025, reports one working ATM there and cash-only payment almost everywhere else. The marine park fee is cash on site by the resort's account, and a bemo or a boat hired on the spot is unlikely to take anything else. For the ferry counter, ask ASDP which methods it accepts.

How should you build the budget?

1. Pick the route first, then price the flight on your actual date or the road, ferry and onward transport together.
2. Choose how you will sleep, and convert every room rate to the same unit: per person, per night, with or without meals.
3. Add diving and fees as separate lines, using a fresh quote in place of the 2024 figures.
4. Add slack for a stopped flight or ferry, as our guide on how to get to Selayar Island explains. An extra night and a rebooked ticket are real costs.
5. Leave a margin for food and for the things no one lists, such as a boat hired on the spot.

For the length of trip to multiply all this by, see the Selayar Island itinerary. Our pages on things to do in Selayar Island and Selayar Island beaches show which days need a boat and which only a scooter.

What else do people ask about money on Selayar?

Are there ATMs on Selayar Island?

We give no count, because we found no official or bank directory. A 2025 travel blog reports one ATM in Benteng that worked, so plan as if you may not find another, and bring cash from Makassar.

Should you bring cash to Selayar Island?

Yes, bring it from Makassar. The resort rate sheet lists one fee as payable on site in cash. For the ferry counter, Rubrik reports non-cash ticketing from June 2022, so ask ASDP which methods it accepts.

Are prices on Selayar Island expensive?

It depends on how you travel. The price table on this page lists town guesthouse bands and a week-minimum dive resort in different units, so compare them only after asking each source for a current figure.

How much does food cost on Selayar Island?

The price table has no food line, because we found no published meal prices. Selayar Dive Resort and Selayar Eco Resort say which meals their rates include, and for anything else you should allow a margin and ask locally.

How reliable are Selayar Island travel prices?

Treat them as a starting point. Only the ferry report and agency listings are recent. The rest are undated or expired, including a dive resort rate sheet that ran out in January 2025. Confirm with the source before relying on any figure.

Which sources support this page?

• Tribun-Timur: ferry service and fares, July 2026
• Rubrik.co.id: Bira to Pamatata crossing, September 2026
• Rome2Rio: Makassar to Selayar Island (aggregator)
• Trip.com: Makassar to Selayar flights (agency listing)
• Traveloka: Makassar to Selayar flights (agency listing)
• Wikipedia: H. Aroeppala Airport
• Selayarnews: FlyJaya suspension, January 2026
• Selayar Dive Resort: rates, 2024
• Selayar Dive Resort: diving
• Selayar Dive Resort: dive sites
• Selayar Eco Resort (operator page)
• Sulawesi.travel: Selayar travel guide (tour operator)
• Sulawesi.com: Selayar travel guide (operator's guide)
• Sulawesi.com: Selayar Island (operator's guide)
• TurtlePhD: Selayar (traveller's blog)
• Indonesia immigration service: visa information
• Indonesia Ministry of Tourism: Taka Bonerate National Park
• Journey Beyond the Horizon (travel blog, October 2025): Selayar Island guide

How do I reach the desk?

The desk has a stake in this: a request can turn into a paid booking. Any fee, price and contracting company are stated in writing before you agree. To ask for an offer, send your dates and group size to WhatsApp +62 811-3941-4563 or bd@juaraholding.com.