Bintan, The Beauty Of Coastal Riau Archipelago

Bintan Island

Bintan is the largest island in the Riau Archipelago, which comprises almost 3,000 large and small islands, immediately across Singapore and Johor Bahru, Malaysia. The islands stretch from the Straits of Malacca all the way to the South China Sea. The town of Tanjung Pinang is the capital of this province, located on the south western shore of Bintan.   

Bintan’s chief tourist attraction today is Bintan Resorts, a spectacular beach holiday destination in the north of the island, covering 23,000 hectares along the entire sandy white coast that faces the South China Sea.  The island itself also has interesting historic remains in Tanjung Pinang and Penyengat, and offers plenty opportunities for surfing, adventure and ecotours for schools and family, but is also ideal for relaxation and wellness.   

While, for dive enthusiasts the Anambas archipelago in the South China Sea offer pristine dive sites, reachable from Tanjung Pinang airport. Whereas,the Natuna islands are reachable from Batam.  

Strategically located south of the Malay peninsula at the mouth of the Straits of Malacca, the Riau islands were, ever since the first century AD, the favourite holding area for Indian and Chinese trading ships to find shelter and wait out typhoons that raged in the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean. Already in 1202 Marco Polo, the famous Venetian world traveller, told of his voyage to the island of Bintan.

Snorkeling At Anambas

ATTRACTIONS

Bintan Resorts  

Bintan Resorts refers generally to the area on the entire northern coast of the Indonesian Island of Bintan. It is commonly misunderstood as a colony of Singapore because of its higher standards in infrastructures, utilities and security. Very much a family-oriented destination, there are currently five independently owned and operated beach resorts, four designer golf courses as well as a range of recreational facilities and attractions located within it. Most tourists come for its serene characteristic, where they can laze by the beach, enjoy spa, play golf and dabble in watersports. The area is separated from the rest of Bintan by thick forests and checkpoints.

Bintan Resort

Trikora Beach  

Until around 2000, the only tourist activity along Bintan's east coast was at Trikora Beach, a popular hang-out for local visitors from Tanjung Pinang as well as foreign back-packers. Since then, the back-packer scene has largely given way to larger developments and other tourist destinations that have popped up along the east coast (see below). For local day-trippers, Trikora remains a popular day trip though. Trikora is actually quite a long stretch of separate beaches, with beaches numbered from south to north as one to four (satu, dua, tiga, empat in Indonesian). The best known is Trikora Beach Four (Trikora Empat), which is the northernmost bit, right next to the "border" with Bintan Resorts. The beach is huge and all along the beach are basic shelters which you can rent from the close-by food sellers. If it is windy the waves can be right strong, swimming is prohibited during monsoon.

Trikora Beach

CUISINE

Seafood is a special treat in the Riau Islands. Freshly caught and reasonably priced seafood is  served in quaint restaurants on stilts, called Kelong - overlooking the sea, in street stalls or in posh restaurants.Try the delicious chilli crab, steamed fish, or drunken prawn. The specialty of Bintan is the "Gong Gong" or Pearl conch (Strombus canarium) which can be found only around Bintan and Batam Islands.

The huge wet market that is usually teeming with people is definitely worth a visit. It is a true bargains galore for almost everything especially fresh seafood.

 

Gong gong

GET IN

By plane

Bintan's Raja Haji Fisabilillah Airport (IATA: TNJ) only caters to a limited number of flights, none of which are international. The main operator is Riau Air lines which provides connections to Jakarta, Pekanbaru, Palembang, Jambi and the remote Natuna Islands. Sriwijaya Air offers daily flights from Jakarta.

A viable alternative is to fly into neighbouring Batam, which has a larger airport, and taking a ferry across. However, for most foreigners, unless you are coming from Malaysia or elsewhere in Indonesia, the most convenient way to reach Bintan would be to fly into Singapore and take a ferry to Tanjung Pinang.

By boat

You are most likely to arrive by boat. Most international travelers arrive from Singapore and Johor Bahru. Bintan is also the major domestic seaport for the Riau Islands and is a port of call for Indonesia's major passenger shipping company Pelni. The ride across itself (return ticket around S$50) is worth the trip. Make sure you get on the open deck (most locals stay in the air-conditioned cabin). Close to Singapore, hundreds and hundreds of oil tankers, freighters and huge container ships from all over the world literally fill up the horizon in any direction. Later on the ride, there will be small islands dotted across South China Sea, most seem uninhabited, with mysterious jungle coastlines, and dark volcanoes in the background. Just use your imagination and think about the pirates that have been hiding on those islands for centuries (and are still now), or how participants of the "Survivor" TV series would cope on such an island, with huge pythons all over the jungle.

There are several passenger ports in Bintan. The most common one is at Tanjung Pinang where most short-distance inter-island ferries and those from Singapore and Johor Bahru dock. The other ferry terminals are at Tanjung Uban, Kijang (where Pelni boats dock), andTeluk Sebung which serves the Bintan Resorts area on the northern part of the island. Please see Bintan Resorts for details to get to that part of Bintan.

From/to Singapore - three companies - Penguin, Indo Falcon and Berlian/Wavemaster - operate ferries between Singapore's Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal andTanjung Pinang. Together, they operate six ferries on weekdays, increasing to nine during weekends and public holidays. Tickets cost around S$50–59 return / S$40 one way (excluding Indonesia port tax).

Berlian/Wave master (Tel: +65-67869959 in Tanah Merah FT / +62-771316636 Indonesia)

Indo Falcon (Tel: +65-62706778/62757393 in Singapore, +65-65426786 for booking enquiries)

Penguin (Tel: +65-65427105 in Tanah Merah FT)

The various ferries from Singapore take around 2 hours to get to Tanjung Pinang. When you arrive you should confirm your return at the ferry company offices ASAP as the ferries can get full. It is impossible to get out of the terminal without a guide latching on to you, so take advantage and get them to show you where the office is, they may offer to do this anyway. It is roughly - left out of the terminal, then take the first left and the office is at the end of the street and should only take a couple of minutes to reach.

From/to Malaysia - around five ferries daily to/from the Johor Bahru International Ferry Terminal at Stulang Laut, Johor Bahru, to Tanjung Pinang. Tickets cost RM75/125 one-way/return excluding taxes. Journey takes 90 mins. Call Tenggara Senandung (Tel: +60-7-2211677) at the Johor Bahru ferry terminal for more information.

From/to Batam - Baruna (Tel: +62-771-28578 in Tanjung Pinang, +62-778-479162 in Telaga Punggur) and Sentosa speedboats run virtually every 15 minutes between Telaga Pungguron the southeastern end of Batam and Tanjung Pinang, the main town on Bintan. The fare is Rp. 40.000 before port taxes of Rp. 3.500 (1 hour). Slightly less frequent speedboats run between Telaga Punggur and Tanjung Uban on the western end of Bintan.

Several ferries which originate from cities in the Sumatra mainland also call at Sekupang, the main domestic ferry port on Batam, before continuing to Tanjung Pinang. One such operator is Dumai Express.

From/to Dumai, Sumatra - several ferries daily by Dumai Express run to Tanjung Pinang via Sekupang, Batam. Some ferries also stop at Tanjung Balai on Karimun Island.

From/to Pekanbaru - SB Kurnia Usaha Baru runs daily ferry to Pekanbaru, departing at 6:30AM. The fare is Rp 250.000 before port tax of Rp 5.000.

From/to Tanjung Balai, Karimun Island - daily ferries by Arena to/from Tanjung Pinang.

From/to Tanjung Batu, Kundur Island - one daily speedboat operated by SB Giam Mas (Tanjung Batu agent at port, Tel: +62-779-431589) departs daily from Tanjung Batu, the main town on Kundur Island, at 0745 for Tanjung Pinang. The boat returns to Tanjung Batu on the same day, departing Tanjung Pinang at 1200. The boat has scheduled stops at Galang Island and Moro on Sugibawah Island, while unscheduled stops may be made at various little settlements along the way. Journey time is about two and a half hours each way. The fare from Tanjung Batu to Tanjung Pinang and vice-versa is Rp150,000 before port taxes.

From/to Singkep Island - ferries Batavia and Superjet run daily between Tanjung Pinang and Dabo on Singkep Island, departing at 11AM. The fare is Rp 125.000 before port tax of Rp 5,000. You can catch boat connections to the Lingga Islands from Singkep.

From/to Natuna Islands -Fortnightly ferry from Tanjung Pinang to the isolated Anambas and Natuna Islands. Pelni's KM Bukit Raya sails from Kijang port in Bintan to Letung, Tarempa. Natuna and Midai on the way out to Pontianak, West Kalimantan. It however returns to Tanjung Pinang via a different route.

From/to other parts of Indonesia - Pelni ships link various Indonesian islands with Kijang port on Bintan. These ships provide direct links with Jakarta (KM Ciremiu), Pontianak and other more distant ports. Getting there/away: From outside Kijang harbour there are bemos (public minibuses) going the 26 km to Tanjung Pinang.

GET AROUND

Public transportation on Bintan is very limited, and is probably not worth the effort unless you have a passable command of Indonesian and a lot of time on your hands. Virtually all visitors use taxis or rent cars.

By taxi

Taxis compete furiously for your custom and cutthroat bargaining is a necessity. The safety of these is dubious though, and it is generally advisable to avoid the taxi touts at Tanjung Pinang's ferry terminal entirely and arrange transportation with your lodgings.

By car

Car rental could cost between S$50–100/day for a sedan, depending on how far you go: all the way around the island, visiting Tanjung Pinang, the east coast, and the resort belt in the north would be a 4 hour, 200 km venture, while a short day visit to Trikora coast might be had for $50.

By scooter

Prices about S$35/day (or 20/half a day), fun and convenient way to hop from beach to beach or even travel quite a long distances over the island. They will provide you with a helmet and price of the gasoline is cca Rp10000/2l bottle (every shop near the road sells that)

By minivan

Bintan's embryonic public transport system consists of white minivans known as mikrolet or angkutan kota (angkut). One set of vans runs around Tanjung Pinang, while another set covers the rest of the island. The only way to tell where they're going is to yell out your destination as they pass, and to get off, just yell kiri. You can transfer between the two near Bintan Centre, also known as Batu Sepuluh (Marker 10). Fares within the city are a fixed Rp. 5000, fares outside it are negotiable; going to Trikora might cost around Rp. 50000.