Bintan
From MaxTravelz
Bintan is one of the Riau Islands of Indonesia.
Contents |
Understand
Bintan leads a double life: the northern portion of the island, Bintan Resorts (Lagoi), is a colony of Singapore in all but name, full of expensive resorts and manicured lawns. As it has very little in common with the rest of the island, the Resorts are is covered in in its own article.
Separated from the resorts by checkpoints and armed guards, the southern half of the island is "real" bordertown Indonesia, home to electronics factories, fishing villages, many prostitutes and some low-key beaches.
Cities
- Tanjung Pinang — the main town of the island
- Tanjung Uban
Other destinations
- Bintan Resorts — a chunk of Singapore in Indonesia
- Trikora — the eastern beach
Talk
Bahasa Indonesia, which is spoken throughout Indonesia, is modeled on the version of Malay which originates from Riau on the Sumatra mainland and the Riau Islands. In fact, Riau Malay is regarded as the purest form of the Malay language and visitors from Malaysia will find the Malay spoken here very similar to Bahasa Malaysia, which is the version of Malay spoken back home.
Tanjung Pinang, the largest town on Bintan, has a large Chinese population who speak the Fujian and Chaozhou dialect as well as Mandarin.
Get in
For detailed information on visas, please see Indonesia page. All Bintan ports, namely Tanjung Pinang, Lobam and Bandar Bentan Telani or Lagoi (Bintan Resorts) are visa-free and visa-on-arrival points of entry.
Bintan's airport only caters to a limited number of flights, none of which are international. As such, 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.
Please see Bintan Resorts for details to get to that part of Bintan.
From Singapore
Three companies - Penguin, Indo Falcon and Berlian/Wavemaster - operate ferries between Singapore's Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal and Tanjung Pinang. Together, they operate six ferries on weekdays, increasing to nine during weekends and public holidays. The trip takes about 45 minutes and costs around $40 return.
- Berlian/Wave master (Tel: +65-65468830 in Tanah Merah FT)
- Indo Falcon (Tel: +65-62706778/62757393 in Singapore)
- Penguin (Tel: +65-65427105 in Tanah Merah FT)
From 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 Sumatra mainland and other Riau Islands
Tickets for all ferries and Pelni boats can be bought through agents throughout Tanjung Pinang. Ferry companies also maintain ticket booths at Tanjung Pinang port.
From 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 Punggur on the southeastern end of Batam and Tanjung Pinang, the main town on Bintan.
- 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.
From Dumai
- Dumai Express runs several ferries daily to Tanjung Pinang via Sekupang, Batam. Some ferries also stop at Tanjung Balai on Karimun Island.
From Pekanbaru
- Daily ferries to Tanjung Pinang.
From Tanjung Balai, Karimun Island
- Arena ferries run daily to/from Tanjung Pinang.
From 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 Rp130,000 before port taxes.
From Singkep Island
- Batavia and Superjet ferries daily between Tanjung Pinang and Dabo on Singkep Island.
To/from Natuna Islands
- One ferry in two weeks 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.
To/from other islands Transport to the other smaller islands in the Riau archipelago can be chartered given enough money, time and bargaining skills.
From other parts of Indonesia
Pelni ships link various Indonesian islands with Kijang port on Bintan. These ships provide direct links with Jakarta, Pontianak and other more distant ports.
Get around
There is no public transportation to speak of Bintan.
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.
See
There is not much to see, it is just a typical previously laid-back, now commercialised place.
Do
Bintan has beaches and sea games, but it is also known to be a place for prostitution, unless this is what you are looking for.
Buy
Bring cash, but be aware of thefts. What to buy ? Souvenirs.
Eat
Drink
Stay safe
Tanjung Pinang has a partly deserved bad reputation. Do not carry large quantities of cash or flash it about, and do not take unfamiliar taxis (particularly the touts at the jetty).
Get out
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