Returning Homecomers Stuck in 22-Hour Queue at Gilimanuk Port

The Lebaran 2026 exodus at Gilimanuk Port in Jembrana Regency, Bali, reached an exhausting peak. By Tuesday afternoon (17 March 2026), severe congestion persisted on the national Denpasar-Gilimanuk route, with queues extending to Tuwed Village, approximately 21 kilometres from the port.

Monitoring at the location until 12:00 Wita showed vehicles snaking along the route. To ease congestion, police and port authorities were forced to divert large trucks into the cargo area of Gilimanuk Port so that private vehicles and motorcycles could access the port more quickly.

Ahmad Jailan (49), a homecoming traveller from Denpasar heading to Jember, complained about the conditions. He spent 22 hours on the road just to reach the port area.

“This is the worst year. I queued for 22 hours before I could even enter the port area. Usually it takes at most 5-7 hours to reach Banyuwangi,” Ahmad told local media on Tuesday.

Ahmad departed Denpasar on Monday (16 March) at 14:00 Wita and only arrived at the port entrance on Tuesday at 11:30 Wita. According to him, the congestion was caused by undisciplined bus driver behaviour and the continued operation of three-axle trucks.

“Many buses overtake on the wrong side of the road, blocking traffic flow. And there are still many large trucks passing through, some of which broke down, making it worse,” added Ahmad, who works in building logistics.

Similarly, Made Putra, who was heading home to Bandung, experienced the same ordeal. He was stuck in the queue for 17 hours.

“I left Denpasar at 5 p.m. yesterday and only arrived here at 11 a.m. today. It’s exhausting, especially since this is my first time returning home with my wife,” said Made, who works in the screen printing industry.

Bintang Felfian, public relations manager at ASDP’s Ketapang branch, confirmed an increase in vehicle volumes. Based on data from the Gilimanuk operation centre for the period H-10 to H-5 (11-16 March 2026), 309,135 passengers crossed to Ketapang Port in Banyuwangi.

“There was a slight increase of 0.7% compared to the same period last year, which had 306,839 people,” said Bintang.

For vehicle volumes, 97,787 units departed Bali, representing an increase of 2.8% from the previous year. On H-5 alone, 76,495 people crossed within 24 hours.

“Motorcycle crossings on H-5 reached 14,398 units, whilst private vehicles totalled 6,350 units. The number of crossings at Gilimanuk Port was recorded at 251 trips,” Bintang concluded.