Surabaya
Surabaya is the capital of East Java, and the second largest city in Indonesia. It is mainly an industrial city, with many factories scattered around its outskirts. Although the city is historically important - it's been a trading port for hundreds of years, and it was here that Indonesia's battle for independence was begun - there is not a lot for the tourist to see in the city itself.
However, there is a lot to see in East Java, and Surabaya can make a good base to see most of them. One of East Java's major attractions, the active volcano Mount Bromo, is just a couple hours' drive from Surabaya. Although Surabaya itself doesn't have much in the way of beaches, the island of Madura is just a 30 minute ferry ride away. Madura boasts several white sandy beaches that are excellent for swimming. If the beach isn't your scene, head south to the hill town of Malang. Just 90 kilometers south of Surabaya, Malang is a cool and comfortable escape. There are many ancient Hindu temples in the area, dating back to the thirteenth century.
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Surabaya is the major transportation hub in East Java, with connections to the rest of the island by bus and train, as well as boat. By train from Jakarta takes a minimum of nine hours. There are direct bus connections from all of the major cities in Central and East Java. Surabaya is a major port, so you can use the Pelni ships to or from Makassar (Ujung Pandang), Banjarmasin and Pontianak.
Surabaya's status as an industrial city has given it a surprising number of international-standard hotels. Most of the major chains are represented, but for an authentic experience of colonial times, try the historic Hotel Majapahit.
Here's a short list of suggested hotels in Surabaya available from one or more of our on-line hotel partners. For more options, please use the search box on this page to find the best rates from dozens of booking sites using Hotels Combined.
Tugu Pahlawan Heroes Monument Across the street from the East Java governor's office is an open square that is now the site of Tugu Pahlawan, or heroes monument. The large open square has an obelisk in its center along with some small museum spaces dotted around it's edges. The monument is the site of grand celebrations every year on November 10th when the nation celebrates “Heroes Day.”
The monument was originally the site of the Kenpetai Building, housing courts of the colonial justice ministry.
Surabaya is believed to have been founded some time towards the end of the thirteenth century. The name is a combination of the words for “shark” and “crocodile”, and comes from a legendary battle between the two to establish which was the strongest animal. Statues and depictions of the battle litter the city.
The founding of the city roughly coincides with the expulsion of Mongul-Chinese invaders and the rise of the Hindu Majapahit empire, which ruled the area for around 200 years.
Next to the Surabaya Mall is the Monumen Kapal Selam, a monument to Indonesia's naval history. The museum consists primarily of one of Indonesia's first submarines, the Pasopati 410. The Russian Whiskey class submarine was built in Vladivostok in 1952 and purchased by Indonesia in 1962 and saw service in the campaign to force the Dutch out of Irian Jaya (New Guinea), but according to at least one resource, the sub had never fired any of its torpedoes.
The grand facade of the House of Sampoerna Museum in Surabaya I must admit, I was a bit taken aback to find that a “cigarette museum” was on the list of places my guide wanted to show me in Surabaya. I'm not a smoker and I don't like being around it, but the guide assured me I would like the museum so I went along for the ride.
Despite its common name, the House of Sampoerna Museum as it's properly called is actually devoted almost entirely to the history of Sampoerna, one of Indonesia's largest companies and of course primarily involved in the production of cigarettes.
At just around seven degrees south of the equator, Surabaya has a remarkably constant climate. Temperatures remain almost constant throughout the year, with only a couple of degrees variation in both high and low temperatures from month to month.
Historical Weather Patterns for Surabaya Average Monthly Highs & Lows (°C) The main difference through the year is the amount of rain. August and September are the driest months, while the rains are quite heavy from December to March.
6 August 2006
Mandarin Oriental Hotel Majapahit The Hotel Majapahit was the first of many surprises that Surabaya had for me on this trip. The historic property was built in 1910 by the Sarkies Brothers, the same people who built the Strand in Yangon, the Eastern & Oriental in Penang and Raffles in Singapore. It was here that the battle for Indonesian independence was sparked off after World War II when returning colonial powers raised the Dutch flag over the hotel.
