Indonesia Islands of Batam, Bintan and Gili Trawangan Travel and Vacation Guides.

The Indonesian Tropical Holiday Island of Batam.

About Batam. Batam is located around 20kms from Singapore - although around 160 square miles in size the island has a population of nearly one million - many of the islanders work in factories which are owned by Singapore companies. The island is easily reached from Singapore by ferry with the trip taking around one hour - these ferries go from Harbour Front Ferry Terminal across the Straits of Singapore to Batam Centre and they run several times a day. The cost for a return ticket as of January 2009 is around 34 Singapore Dollars. From Batam you can also take ferries to neighbouring locations such as Bintan, Johor (in Malaysia) and Karimun.

Flying In. There is just one airport on Batam called Hang Nadim Airport and this handles flights mostly to Jakarta although their other destinations available on a sporadic basis.

Visas: You need a visa to enter Indonesia and this can be purchased at Batam's airport or ferry terminal on arrival. A maximum 7 day visa costs USD $10 and a maximum 30 day visa is USD $25 - note these are single entry visas.
(note: quoted prices are as of January 2009 and merely for guidance since they are of course subject to change. (USD= United States Dollar and SGD= Singapore Dollar).

Duty Free and Singapore. You can buy duty free cigarettes at Singapore Ferry Terminal before heading off to Batam but this is probably rather pointless as cigarettes are really cheap in Indonesia (around half the Singapore duty free price). However when you leave Indonesia do not take Indonesian duty free cigarettes with you since they will almost certainly be seized at the Singapore Ferry Terminal and you may well be fined on top of that.

Taxis. There are plenty of taxis available at the ferry terminal and airport so transfers within the island are not a problem. Expect a 20 minute taxi road to cost only 2 to 3 USD.
Car Rental: You can rent your own car but probably the best bet is to hire a car and driver for the day or just use the taxis - both options are quite inexpensive.

Batam's Beaches: The island has both public and private beaches - these private beaches are owned by the various hotels - what you can do is get a taxi to one of the hotels and get through security by saying you are there for lunch - then once into the grounds just head off down to the beach for a few hours.

Batam accommodation, Food and Drinks: There are many hotels on the island varying as perhaps is usual from quite inexpensive to full blown and very expensive luxurious efforts. Batam Centre is located around 20 minutes from the ferry terminal and here you will find numerous business style hotels where you get a reasonable room for around 30 to 40 USD per night. On the coast there are the much more expensive resort hotels - where of course you will also find the best beaches.
There are many restaurants of all types - from fish restaurants to fast food to spice food - located all over the island. A nice place to try is around the docks area at Batam Centre where you will find 30 or 40 fish restaurants - the fish is straight off the fishing boats and excellent. A dinner for two people at one of these restaurants might typically cost just 10 USD.
Prices for beer depend a little on where you are but at a bar expect to pay around 1 USD for a bottle Bintang Beer (Indonesian national lager). Local spirits are quite inexpensive - any imported spirits are very expensive, equally wine has to be imported and is also rather expensive.

Things to Do. It's worth taking a trip out to see and go across Batam's Seven Bridges - then probably end up with a nice long meal somewhere on the coast. There are quite a lot of shopping opportunities on the island, from numerous markets to more shop like shopping areas - if that is what you want to do on holiday of course. Lazing around on the beaches is probably really what a holiday on Bintan is about - eating and driking and just relaxing. It is worth trying out a few less relaxing things to do whilst on holiday - you can go water or jet skiing, or hire a canoe or kayak - also snorkelling is very enjoyable with plenty of colourful fish and equally colourful rocks to be found close to the shoreline. It is also possible to either enjoy a spot of rod sea-fishing for a while or hire a small boat and go out a little way for some sea-fishing.
Late Night Exploits. Batam is quite notorious for it's sex trade - be wary of what type of bar you go into late at night unless of course that is what you are looking for.

 

Travel and Holiday Guide for the Indonesian Tropical Island of Bintan.

Briefly about Bintan. The Indonesian holiday island of Bintan is located around 40 kilometres from Singapore and is easily reached from that island by ferry - these fast ferries typically take around an hour to make the trip from Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal across the Straits of Singapore to Bandar Bentan Telani in Bintan and they run several times a day. A return ticket is just under SGD $50 and it is worth booking in advance during busy periods. The island was once help by the Portuguese in the 1500s and then by the Dutch and English as it's value as a trading port was recognised by the then European Powers - it is now part of the Riau Islands Province of Indonesia.

There are the 400 metre high remains of an extinct volcano on the island and Bintan has an area of 1866 square kilometres. Bintan has something of a split nature - Bintan Resort located on the northern part of Bintan is a complex of often fairly expensive hotels and championship grade golf courses and is widely used by the better-off people of Singapore for weekend relaxation as well as a popular destination by holidaymakers from Europe etc. who want some luxury on holiday. This exclusive area is in fact guarded by fences and guards to keep anyone else out, although you don't notice this from within the resorts. The rest of the island is much more low-key with quite a few factories as well as small fishing villages and several quiet beaches.

Transfers: The holiday resorts all provide free coach transfers from and return to the ferry terminal. When you leave the terminal you will find representatives from all of the resorts who will direct you to the correct coaches.

Visas: Visas can be obtained on arrival at the ferry terminal. A maximum 7 day visa is USD $10 and a maximum 30 day visa is USD $25. These are single entry visas.

(note: all prices quoted on our Bintan topic are as of November 2008 and just offer guidance - they are of course subject to change. (USD= United States Dollar and SGD= Singapore Dollar)

Getting Around.
Taxis. If you do decide to leave the resort you will find the taxis are quite expensive, probably more in line with Singapore type prices than Indonesian. The nearest town of any size is about 90 minutes by taxi from the resort area and will cost about SGD $50 each way. The Elephant Park is SGD $25 each way.  Car Rental: Car hire on the island is very competitive - the cars usually come with drivers and will cost around SGD $140 per day for a 7 seat Toyota or Suzuki if arranged through the hotel.

Golf: Bintan has some fantastic golf courses, some of which have been designed by the likes of Greg Norman, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player, and are championship standard. Playing alongside the South China Sea, on a perfectly designed and managed course, in the Indonesian sunshine, is something any golfer must try if they get the chance. An example of green fees would be: SGD $140 for 18 holes at the weekend on the Jack Nicklaus course at the Bintan Lagoon Resort plus SGD $40 - $50 for club rental.

Bintan's Beaches: The gorgeous beaches which can be found in the resort area are of white sand and look out onto the South China Sea. The beaches are cleaned every morning and there are lifeguards on jet skis provided by the hotels. There are plenty of water sports available, from wind surfing at around SGD $35 per hour and sea Kayak hire at approx SGD $10 per hour, to jet ski hire at approximately SGD $75 for 30 minutes. You can also arrange boat charters for SGD $150 - $200 per hour for a large group of people or go out on a sea fishing trip for approx SGD $60 for 3 hours.

Bintan accommodation, Food and Drinks: Bintan's Hotels are quite expensive by Indonesian normal standards, expect to pay around USD $100 per night for a 4 start hotel, but they are excellent and worth the money for a long weekend of golf and relaxation. The target demographic is 30 - 50 year old executives from Singapore and the prices in many of the restaurants and bars reflect this. The food is of a very good standard and the bars offer a wide range of international beverages, which you do have to pay a premium for of course.

 

Holiday and Travel Guide about Indonesia's Tropical Gili Island of Gili Trawangan.

The Gili Islands are located just off of the coast of Lombok and are made up of Gili Trawangan, Gili Meno and Gili Air (note Gili actually just means "small island"). If your idea of a holiday is a tropical island with beautiful white sandy beaches, coconut trees, fantastic snorkelling and diving, great food and amazing sunsets then look no further….

The largest of the 3 Gili Islands is Gili Trawangan (at 2km wide and 3km long) which is where most of the accommodation, bars, restaurants etc can be found - our holiday guide concentrates on this island. To give an idea of Gili Trawangan's size, a stroll around the entire island just by using the beach will take 90 minutes or less.
There are no cars or buses on any of the three Gili Islands as these are prohibited by local laws, however you can hire a horse and cart (these are called "Cidomos" on the island) or take out a bicycle for just a couple of dollars.

Getting to Gili Trawangan. There are a number of ferries to Gili Trawangan which go out from Lombok and Bali. The ferry from Lombok takes only 10 minutes to any of the islands. The standard public ferry time from Bali is approx 4.5 hours but you can take a fast boat which will cut that time down to around 2 hours. There are 3 fast boat services operating from Bali and they cost approximately 1.4 million RPs (£100) return per person. You need to book the fast boat tickets in advance, but they will collect you from your hotel (or from the airport) and return you there afterwards as part of the price.
Visas. Generally speaking the usual way to reach the Gili Islands is coming in via Bali or Lombok and you already have to have a visa for these Indonesian destinations of course - this visa is valid for the Gili Islands too.

Where to Stay. Accommodation on Gili Trawangan ranges from small huts, home stays and hostels to 4 star villas depending on the amount you wish to spend. Most "hotels" are actually made up of 3 or 4 small villas, there are no large hotels on the islands. Hostels will cost around USD $15 per night whilst villas will be USD $60 per night and on upwards. As with most things in Indonesia, these rates are always negotiable…

Things to do. Activities on the islands include cycling, horse riding and kayaking, all of which are very reasonably priced and can be arranged by your hotel/accommodation reception. The main activities however are snorkelling and diving. The Gili Islands are one of the top areas for snorkelling and diving in Indonesia and are known as the "turtle capitol of the world". The water temperature is around 28 degrees all year round and there are over 20 dive sites which cater for everyone from complete beginners to experts. There are a number of dive schools on the islands and many hotels offer accommodation and diving packages with PADI courses and instructors.

Food and Drink. Gili Trawangan has numerous restaurants and bars where you can find everything from the local Warungs serving traditional Nasi Campur to all types of international menus. There are also a number of beach BBQs serving fresh fish, prawns and lobster. There is also a Tapas bar, Indian restaurant and an Irish bar which stays open to watch the sunrise. Most of the restaurants and bars are found in "central" which is the busiest part of the island where the ferries and dive boats dock.

 A couple of notes: Electricity is provided by way of generators so there can be the occasional interruption to service. Hot water is also not always available so check with your chosen accommodation to ensure they do have hot water before you book. There are no police on the islands, the nearest police are stationed on Lombok and are not often seen on the Islands. Therefore should you have any problems report them to the owner of your hotel/accommodation.
There are no ATMs on the islands. Credit cards are accepted by the larger hotels and dive centres but the only place to get cash is to go to Lombok unless you take a cash advance on your credit card which can often be a very expensive alternative.

 

You may be interested to look at our Bali travel and holiday guides.

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