Pulau Batam Getting there & around

Getting there & away

Boat

Batam has five ports and services between Singapore, the Sumatran mainland and other Riau Islands.

To pulau bintan

The ferry dock at Telaga Punggur, 30km southeast of Nagoya, is the main port for speedboats to Bintan. The departure tax is 3500Rp.

Boats to Bintan’s Tanjung Pinang (one way/return 35, 000/60, 000Rp, every 30 minutes from 7.30am to 5.50pm) take 45 minutes. There are also boats to Bintan’s Lagoi resort area (one way/return 100, 000/170, 000Rp, three times a day).

To elsewhere in indonesia

The main reason travellers come to Batam is its links to the Sumatran mainland. Dumai Express and Surya Gemilang Jaya are the best of the domestic carriers.

Boats leave from Batam’s Sekupang terminal to Pekanbaru (210, 000Rp, six hours, two morning departures). In order to make the connection without spending the night on Batam, you’ll need to catch the first ferry from Singapore at 7.30am and assume that the Indonesian boats are running late as usual.

There are also two morning boats from Sekupang to Dumai (220, 000Rp, six hours), one morning boat to Kuala Tungkal (231, 000Rp) on the Jambi coast and three boats weekly to Palembang (305, 000Rp, eight hours).

Other destinations from Sekupang port include Karimun (62, 000Rp, one hour, every hour from 8am to 4pm) and Pulau Kundur (81, 000Rp, two hours, every hour from 8am to 2.30pm).

Pelni ships pass through Batam to and from Belawan (the port for Medan) and Jakarta. The tickets can be bought at the domestic ferry terminal or at travel agencies in Nagoya.

Singapore

Frequent services shuttle between Singapore and Batam, taking between 25 minutes to 45 minutes depending on the pier. Tickets for all ferries to Singapore cost S$17/23 one way/return. There is a S$2 harbour departure tax leaving Batam and an hour time difference between Indonesia and Singa­pore. Penguin has the biggest and fastest ferries (25-minute crossing).

Sekupang is most widely used by tourists because the terminal that receives boats from Singapore’s Harbourfront Centre is next door to the domestic terminal for transfer to the Sumatran mainland. The boats to Singapore run approximately every hour from 6am to 6.45pm, and to Batam from 7.30am to 8pm. Batam Centre and Waterfront City have services only to/from Singapore’s Harbourfront Centre. The last boat to leave the island departs from Batam Centre at 9.30pm. Waterfront City’s schedule is fairly limited, with only four departures per day. Ferries to Nongsa shuttle back and forth to Singapore’s Tanah Merah, with eight departures per day between 8am and 8pm.

At Sekupang port don’t buy a ticket from the many touts and refuse any offers of ‘assistance’ to see you through immigration.

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Air

Hang Nadim airport is on the eastern side of the island. Garuda, Merpati, Mandala, Bouraq and Air Asia operate to/from Jakarta. Merpati destinations also include Medan, Padang, Palembang, Jambi and Pekanbaru, as well as Pontianak in Kalimantan (650, 000Rp). Jatayu also flies to Medan.

Most of the hotels in Nagoya have travel agencies.

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