How to Meet Indonesian Ladyboys in Bali or Jakarta?

In Indonesia, ladyboys, as well as all transsexual/transgender people, are called "waria", a word made from the combination of "wanita" = "woman" and "pria" = "man". The term "shemale" is also used but it has a negative connotation.

Most of them live in large urban centers, especially in Jakarta and in Bali, where they are more likely to live a "normal" life, away from the growing conservatism of a large part of the Indonesian population. This intolerance has risen in recent years, with Islamic groups targeting LGBT to galvanize their militants.

As a result, transgenders in Indonesia are generally not as visible and numerous as in more open-minded countries like Thailand or the Philippines. Many Indonesian ladyboys have no choice but to hide their feminity, and it is more difficult for them to have access to estrogen hormone therapy before their body changes. For some, unfortunately, the only possible escape is to run away from their family and to move to Bali or Jakarta.

I often receive emails from guys who are asking me where they can meet Indonesian ladyboys. I've done my best here to give you some tips, but please do not hesitate to leave a comment at the end of this article if you think I forgot to mention something.

It is quite rare to meet ladyboys in Jakarta or Bali during the daytime. I've never heard about a specific place where they have their habits.

Therefore, this leaves you with only two options to meet one:

- Using dating sites or social media

- Going to (gay) clubs and bars

Operated by a team of transgender people, this website is the most obvious choice for anyone who wants to meet an Indonesian ladyboy for a serious relationship or for dating. It has a limited number of available profiles, around 200, but the quality is high as the site admin quickly removes any fake or malicious users. It also gives you access to a larger database of several thousand of transsexual people from all over the world. If you are not based in Indonesia, this can be quite useful as it allows you to check for dating opportunities in other countries.

It is free and easy to set up an account by clicking here: Register to MyLadyBoyDate.com. You just need to enter a valid email and then add some information about yourself (age, photo, bio, likes and dislikes, etc). You don't have to pay unless you want to send a message to someone you like. If you choose to become a member, it will cost you US$29.90 for one month (or 10$ per month on an annual plan).

Good to know: To protect your privacy, if you choose to become a paying member, the name that will appear on your bank statement will be "Paypal *Buildingbridges", and not "MyLadyBoyDate".

I know, this is not a dating website. But still, this is one of the best ways to meet ladyboys in Indonesia for free.

You simply need to follow Instagram accounts of transgender girls you like and, once they follow you back, you can start a conversation.

For this strategy to work, you need two things:

- First, you must create a proper Instagram account with at least a few nice pictures of yourself.

- Second, obviously, you must find ladyboys. It's actually really easy as they form tight communities with similar interests. For instance, you can start by checking the followers of the page for the Miss Queen Indonesia Event, the beauty pageant dedicated to transgender people.

You can also enter some hashtags like "#wariajakarta" or "#wariaindonesia", but these will generally be profiles of prostitutes or scammers. The same can also be done on Twitter.

There are a few ladyboy profiles, maybe less than 1% of the total. They are usually from the upper-middle-class and educated.

It also has a small percentage of transgender people, but the quality is lower, with more prostitutes.

When I started partying in both Bali and Jakarta, in the early 2000s, there was much more freedom towards LGBT people than now.

This is especially true in Jakarta, where most gay bars in the city have been shut down recently. There is only one gay-friendly venue opened at the moment, it is Apollo Club inside the Bellagio Mall (in Mega Kuningan). It operates very discreetly, behind a door with no sign. There are mostly guys inside but you may see a few transgender people as well.

In Jakarta, you can also check popular places like Basque and Boca Rica.

Gay clubs and bars can still operate in Bali. They are located in Seminyak, on Jalan Camplung Tanduk (also called Jalan Dhyana Pura), and they are named Bali Joe, Bottoms Up, Mixwell, and Facebar. They are all next to each other so it's easy to try the 4 of them in a single evening. They are usually packed with guys, with some transvestites and some ladyboys.

Before finishing this article, I wanted to let you know about a few famous transgender persons in Indonesia. The most famous ones are probably Gebby Vesta and Lucinta Luna, both of whom can regularly be seen on TV. They also have a strong presence on social media (2,5M followers on Instagram for Lucinta Luna, 1M for Gebby Vesta). This shows that Indonesians are not all intolerant towards LGBT people.

Two other famous names are Millen Cyrus and Melly Bradley. Below are a few pictures of them: