Fed Up with Queuing for Dozens of Hours at Gilimanuk, Returnees Head Back to Bali Earlier

A number of returnees have decided to head back to Bali earlier after Eid al-Fitr 1447 Hijriah. They chose to return to the Island of the Gods via Gilimanuk Port in Jembrana ahead of schedule due to being fed up with queuing for dozens of hours during their trip home to their hometowns.

A total of 128,725 people have entered Bali through Gilimanuk Port during the H+1 to H+3 Lebaran period. Based on data from PT ASDP Indonesia Ferry’s Ketapang-Gilimanuk Branch, hundreds of thousands of those passengers crossed from Ketapang Port in East Java.

In addition to individual passengers, vehicle volumes were also high, with 23,642 motorcycles and 13,328 private cars recorded.

One returnee from Jember, Ilham Hadi (37), deliberately returned to Bali earlier due to trauma from the long traffic jams during the outbound flow last time. He chose to depart before the school holiday ended for his family’s comfort.

“I’m completely fed up from the outbound trip last time, queuing for dozens of hours just to enter the port. It’s better to leave leisurely earlier. It’s a shame for the children if they have to queue again,” Ilham said when met by detikBali on Thursday (26/3/2026).

In agreement with Ilham, Samsul, a motorcyclist heading to Denpasar, also chose to get a head start to avoid vehicle build-ups at the port.

“I have to return to work in Denpasar. Actually, I should have gone back on the 24th, but due to some matters, I could only depart this morning. The important thing is to avoid the peak queues,” Samsul stated.

The Public Relations Manager of ASDP’s Ketapang Branch, Bintang Felfian, explained that data from the post recorded a trend of increasing passenger numbers compared to last year. On Wednesday (25/3) or H+2, there was a surge of 6.6%.

“The total passengers crossing from Java to Bali on H+3 reached 44,898 people, up from the realisation in the same period last year of 42,108 people,” Bintang revealed in a written statement.

To serve the return flow on H+3 alone, ASDP operated 223 ship trips. On that day, 8,691 motorcycles and 4,644 private cars were recorded entering Bali.

ASDP predicts that the return wave to Bali will occur in several stages. After the surge on 24 March, the next return peak is estimated to fall at the end of this weekend.

“In general, density will start to be felt again from 27 to 29 March onwards,” Bintang explained.