From Wikitravel

Batam is a small but busy island in Indonesia of 45km x 25km and nearly a million people, hundreds of multinational owned factories, towns, shopping centres and gateway to the Riau Islands.

Located only 20km from Singapore and 25km from Johor in Malaysia, Batam is Indonesia's equivalent to China's SEZ's (Special Economic Zones) - a place where the nation's economic planners test new economic policies and ideas.

Contents 1 Regions 2 Cities 3 Map 4 Other destinations 5 Understand 6 Talk 7 Get in 7.1 Visa 7.2 By plane 7.2.1 From other parts of Indonesia 7.2.2 From Malaysia 7.3 By boat 7.3.1 From Singapore 7.3.2 From Malaysia 7.3.3 From Bintan 7.3.4 From the Sumatra mainland and other Riau Islands 8 Get around 9 See 10 Do 11 Eat 12 Drink 13 Stay safe 14 Get out

Regions

Cities

• Nagoya (Lubuk Baja)
• Nongsapura
• Batam Centre
• Sekupang

Map

You can find a map at http://www.batam-center.web.id/images/map_batamisland.jpg

Other destinations

Understand

Batam, an Indonesian island near Singapore, is the fastest growing and most prosperous city in Indonesia.

Statements, such as the one below, can often be found made in the Singaproe govenment controlled media. They are quite wrong: "Batam is synonymous with electronics sweatshops, underaged prostitutes and illegal casinos, and unless you have a particular interest in these you're better off going elsewhere (such as Batam's more resort-y neighbor Bintan)."

Sadly, these same statements are often picked up and repeated without checking, by lazy journalists from the Western media.

In fact, Indonesia's strong family centered culture makes underaged prostitution almost an impossibility. (Singapore has a vastly larger sex industry than any city in Indoensia).

The term "electronic sweatshop" is an emotive one. If you use the products of Sanyo, Panasonic, Nokia, Phillips, Seagate, Ciba Geigy, Hitachi, then you are supporting Batam's "sweatshops". In fact Batam's large electronics factires are well designed, modern, well illumunited and ventilated (often air conditioned). The staff work there entirely voluntarily and there is a long waiting list to join.

There are no illegal casinos, though the media often talk of them.

Strong promotional efforts to promote money losing Singappore government controlled beach resorts in Bintan, sometimes get mixed up with reports that denigrate Batam.

Batam has a small but lively nightlife scene, popular among Singapore's large expat community. Batam's main town of Nagoya has a nightlife district which is safe and friendly.

Batam has a large and growing ship repair industry.

Even larger is the oil service industry. Batam is HQ for world's offshore oil construction industry. Most large construction contractors have a major base from where they mobilise or demobilise equipment for large projects.

Batam is a major manufacturer of oilfield pipes and tubing, offshore platforms snd process facilities.

The island's business is built upon a young and willing workforce, low operating costs, a good infrastructre and it's proximity to major sea lanes.

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.

Get in

Visa

For detailed information on visas, please refer to the Indonesia page. All Batam ports, namely Batam Centre, Nongsapura, Sekupang and Waterfront City (Teluk Senimba) are visa-free and visa-on-arrival ports of entry.

By plane

Batam's international airport is Hang Nadim International Airport (BTH). Though nearly all flights are domestic. From Batam , you can fly direct to Jakarta, Surabaya, Medan, Pekanbaru, Jambi, Palembang and Bandung. To take an international flight from Changi Airport, you must be on a ferry to Singapore at least three hours before departure time.

From other parts of Indonesia

Most Indonesian carriers serve Batam with connections with the other Riau Islands, cities in Sumatra, Jakarta, Bali and further afield.

From Malaysia

• Riau Airlines (Johor Bahru airport office Tel: +60-7-599 4500 Ext 1113) flies to/from Johor Bahru every Sunday, RM76 one-way. Flights depart Johor Bahru at 1530. They depart Batam for Johor Bahru at 1315. But better to take ferry.

By boat

From Singapore

There are ferries running from Harbourfront and Tanah Merah Ferry Terminals to several destinations on Batam. Ferries departing from Harbourfront go to Batam Centre, Sekupang and Waterfront City (Teluk Senimba) while ferries from Tanah Merah serve Nongsapura.

• From Harbourfront: Ferry operators operating routes from Harbourfront include:
  • Penguin (Tel: +62-778-467574 in Batam Centre; +62-778-321636 in Sekupang; +62-778-381280 in Waterfront City; +65-62714866 in Harbourfront). S$16/20 one-way/return. Virtually hourly ferries to Batam Centre and Sekupang, fewer ferries to Waterfront City.
  • Dino/Batam Fast (Tel: +62-778-467793/470344 in Batam Centre; +62-778-325085/6 in Sekupang; +62-778-381150 in Waterfront City; +65-62700311 in Harbourfront). Also hourly ferries to Batam Centre, fewer ferries to Sekupang and Waterfront City.
  • Indofalcon (Tel: +65-62783167 in Harbourfront). This company does not operate to/from Sekupang
  • Berlian/Wave Master (Tel: +65-65468830 in Singapore)
• From Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal: Ferries operated by:
  • Dino/Batam Fast (Tel: +62-778-761071 in Nongsapura, +65-65426310 in Tanah Merah FT). Several ferries daily to/from Nongsapura.

From Malaysia

Ferries link Johor Bahru with Batam Centre on Batam. There are virtually hourly departures betweem 0750 and 1840 from JB to Batam, and between 0750 and 1720 from Batam to JB. Tickets cost RM60/95 one-way/return before taxes to/from JB. For more information, call Tenggara Senandung (Tel: +60-7-2211677) in Johor Bahru.

Ferries also operate between Batam Centre and Tanjung Belungkor in Johor.

From Bintan

Telaga Punggur is the main port for ferries between Bintan and Batam, with very frequent ferries to/from Tanjung Pinang and Tanjung Uban on Bintan. However, you can also board boats to Tanjung Pinang at Sekupang which originate from the Sumatra mainland as well as Karimun Island. Boats travelling the other direction also stop at Sekupang.

• Via Telaga Punggur

Baruna (Tel: +62-778-479162 in Telaga Punggur; +62-771-28578 in Tanjung Pinang) and Sentosa operate speedboats between the domestic ferry terminal in Telaga Punggur at the southeastern end of Batam, and Bintan's main town Tanjung Pinang virtually every 15 minutes during daylight hours. Tickets cost between Rp35,000 and Rp38,000 excluding port taxes.

Frequent speedboats also run between Telaga Punggur and Tanjung Uban on the western part of Bintan.

Getting to/from Telaga Punggur: Official taxis from Batam Centre to Telaga Punggur cost Rp65,000. You can try and bargain for a lower rate with taxis outside the port area. Passenger vans run between Telaga Punggur and Jodoh/Nagoya.

• Via Sekupang

Many ferries which originate from Tanjung Pinang, the main town on Bintan and heading to the Sumatra mainland as well as Karimun and Kundur Islands make a stop at the domestic ferry terminal in Sekupang. Likewise, ferries travelling the other direction also make a short stop in Sekupang. These are however not as frequent as those leaving from Telaga Punggur.

For details on how to get to Sekupang, please see following section.

From the Sumatra mainland and other Riau Islands

Sekupang is Batam's main domestic port where you can ferries to/from the Sumatra mainland and other Riau Islands west of Batam. The bulk of ferries to Bintan operate from Telaga Punggur at the southeastern corner of Batam, although you can catch a few boats from Sekupang too (see above section for Bintan ferries).

• To/From Karimun Island: Regular ferries operate between Tanjung Balai on Karimun and Sekupang. Some of the ferries originate from the Sumatra mainland or Kundur Island. Boats also stop at Tanjung Balai when going from Sekupang to Sumatra or Kundur.
• To/From Dumai: Several companies, including Dumai Express operates several ferries daily to/from Sekupang. Most of these ferries originate from Tanjung Pinang, the main town on Bintan, and also make a stop at Tanjung Balai on Karimun Island after making a stop at Sekupang.
• To/From Kundur Island: Several ferry companies run daily between Sekupang and Tanjung Batu on Kundur. These ferries also make a stop at Tanjung Balai on Karimun enroute.
• Other ferry destinations include Pekanbaru, Selat Panjang, Bengkalis and Tanjung Buton in Riau, and Kuala Tungkal in Jambi province.

Getting to/from Sekupang: Numerous taxis make the run between Sekupang and Nagoya. There is also a public minibus service between Sekupang and Batam Center as well as Nagoya.

Get around

Taxi's are plentiful at ferry terminals and at the airport. There have, however, been a few incidences of robbery of boleh (foreigners) by unlicensed taxi drivers. Single female travellers especially should use caution. Where possible, use the cars provided by your hotel or ask around for the name of a reputable driver.

See

There are some places in Batam that are quite beutiful and not-to-be missed. The Maha Vihara Duta Maitreya Buddhist Temple is one of the tourist attraction there.

Do

Eat

Drink

Batam's tap water has conformed to WHO standards for nearly a decade and is therefore drinkable out of the tap.

One interesting note about Batam - since it is a duty free zone, one can generally get Heineken for nerly the same price as Bintang. This is becuase Heinekin is made under license iat the Tiger Bewery Singapore and one of the Bintang breweries in Java. In fact, Tiger, Bintang, Anker, Carlsberg, and San Miguel are considered local beers, as all are brewed in the region.

Stay safe

Get out

A PELNI Ship leaves every Wednesday at 1pm from Sekupang to Jakarta, taking 26 hours (195.000 Rp/Ekonomi)

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