Recreation

Indonesia rewards anyone with time on their hands. The countryside offers more than most residents can work through in a lifetime, and the cities, for all their concrete and traffic, hide plenty of ways to spend a free day.

Green space is the weak point. Parks and open fields are scarce in the big cities, and the survivors are often neglected. Most recreation is indoors, gated, or a drive away.

Sports

Gyms are everywhere in the major cities, many inside the larger hotels and often paired with saunas, steam rooms and massage. Housing estates and apartment blocks usually include a pool, and most four- and five-star hotels open theirs to non-guests for a modest day rate. Pools fill up in the late afternoon and at weekends, so anyone wanting to swim lengths should go earlier. Tennis courts are common, squash courts less so, and the larger sports clubs cover the lot.

Organised sport is easy to join, and the scene is now mixed Indonesian and foreign rather than foreigner-only. Cricket runs through the Jakarta Cricket Association's multi-club league; rugby centres on the long-established Jakarta Komodos. The International Sports Club of Indonesia (ISCI) in South Tangerang still runs the widest range of facilities in greater Jakarta. Golfers are well served, with world-class courses around Jakarta and Bali. Billiards (bilyar) is a bar staple, and spas and reflexology are cheap and plentiful.

Shopping and malls

Mall-going is close to a national pastime, and Indonesia's cities have dozens, packed with international boutiques, food courts and cinemas. The dominant cinema chain is Cinema XXI (long branded "21"), by far the largest network in the country, alongside CGV Cinemas and Cinépolis. For arthouse, independent and documentary films the multiplexes are the wrong place to look; Jakarta's microcinemas, Kineforum at Taman Ismail Marzuki and Kinosaurus, screen what the chains will not. The festival calendar has turned over completely since this article was first written: the Java Jazz Festival is Jakarta's flagship music event (now staged at PIK 2), JakJazz returned in late 2025 after years dormant, and film is served by Jakarta Film Week and Bali's Oscar-qualifying Balinale rather than the long-defunct JiFFest.

Beaches, gardens, mountains

Jakarta's Ancol complex still draws families to the Dunia Fantasi rides and Sea World. Taman Mini and Ragunan Zoo round out the in-city options. Beyond the city, nearly every island offers hiking and camping; the harder mountain and national-park routes need a guide and some planning. The Thousand Islands off Jakarta Bay (nearer 340 islets than the fabled hundred) make a quick weekend escape, and the hill retreats above the cities, Puncak, Lembang, Bedugul and the rest, offer relief from the heat.

World-class water adventures

For the adventurous, Indonesia is hard to beat. White-water rafting runs in West Java, Bali and Sulawesi; the diving stretches from Bunaken to Raja Ampat; and the surf breaks, from Sumatra through Java, Bali, Lombok and Sumbawa down to Rote, are among the finest anywhere.

Contributor: nicklemeister

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