Batam refers to a group of islands located just across the Strait of Singapore that belonged to the Riau Islands province of Indonesia. It is a municipality comprised of Batam City & Island, as well as Bulan, Rempang, and Galang islands. Since the past, Batam has been known as one of the most important transport hubs in Indonesia due to its location that is near to Singapore. As the closest part of Indonesia to Singapore, right now Batam is a part of the Indonesia-Malaysia-Singapore Growth Triangle of trade free zone.
Due to the ever growing industries of Batam, lots of expatriates have come visit this place for business purpose regularly. As such, a lot of entertainment spots like golf courses, shopping centers, pubs, and the likes have appeared to meet their recreational demands. High-end resorts are also been built since there’s quite a lot tourists coming here from Singapore to enjoy the weekends. Many people said that this influx of Singaporeans is because they are seeking an escape from their daily lives. Singapore has many strict rules while Indonesia, on the other hand, has more lenient rules.
Transportation around Batam are plentiful and visitors should get no trouble going around the island. For foreign visitors, you could opt to go to Singapore first and then take a ferry to cross to Batam. The main currency is Indonesian rupiah, but Singaporean dollars is the unofficial second currency here as many places put their prices in dollars. There are many places of interests in Batam, and since the island is not too big, you can visit them all in one go in one week when visiting Batam. Meanwhile, here is all the best things to do in Batam.
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Visit Natural Spots and Attractions
Among Batam’s popular places of interest, the natural attractions are one of the major tourist spots. Beautiful beaches, many aquatic recreational activities, and parks are the main appeal of Batam natural spots.
1. Funtasy Island
Things to do in Batam Indonesia, dubbed as the world’s largest eco-park, Funtasy Island comprised of 7 small islands that contained a lot of buildings such as beach clubs, promenades, and theme park rides including 700 villas. These villas consisted of 150 floating villas and the rest are normal villas built on the land. This eco-park promotes the idea of eco-tourism to protecting the ecology and environment while sightseeing and learning about nature first hand. The whole area is spread over an 810 hectares area, and there is a plan for building a dolphin captivity around the area since there’s quite a number of them around the islands.
2. Abang Island
This island is located south of Batam main island, and it features many beautiful underwater beauties such as colorful fishes, fascinating coral reefs, and other marine life forms of many shapes and sizes. Snorkelers and divers would surely love this popular diving spot. Many of them even compared the beauty of this place with the Bunaken and Raja Ampat diving spots. There is a very rare type of coral known as the Blue Coral which can only be found around here.
Among other activities, tourists could opt for a fishing tour around this island as well. The fish that commonly found here are red snappers, blowfish, selar, lencing, and much more things to do in Batam Indonesia.
The Abang island itself is covered with mangroves and rocky hills. The beauty of this island is preserved through the efforts of the locals and the government who realized that the coral reefs and the natural beauty are the island assets in tourism and as such, must be maintained at all costs.
3. Nagoya Hill Mall
This is the largest shopping mall in Batam and it is considered as the most visited mall by tourists and locals alike. You can find almost anything in here since they have two big names in Indonesian retail stores such as Matahari and Hypermart. The shopping mall itself bears a concept of a One Stop Shopping Center, so everything is in one area and all are accessible by foot.
The mall also has a lot of places to hang out such as cafes, restaurants, and shops which provide many kinds of stuff such as electronic goods, clothes, bags, and a lot more. Since Batam is very close to Singapore city, the products they sold is pretty similar to each other, but with Batam has a slight advantage of cheaper price over the Singaporean products. The foods that sold here is very diverse as well, from local cuisine to worldwide franchise fast foods, etc and places to visit in Batam Indonesia.
4. Tering Bay International Golf Course
One of the top golf courses in Indonesia, this challenging course was designed by Greg Norman, the world’s leading golf professional player. Set amidst the beautiful sceneries of green hills, lakes and other greeneries, this 72 par golf course presents a considerable challenge even to the golf professionals. There are many bunkers and water hazards along the way which forces golfers to take the risk sometimes in order to achieve a good score. Truly a golf course for those who aimed to be at the top or those who are already at the top of the golfing world.
5. Melayu beach
There are two Melayu Beach in Batam, one in Nongsa and the other one near Rempang Island. The one near Rempang island is packed with many tourist destinations like beautiful gardens, coffee shops, and watersport activities like banana boats, jet ski, etc.
6. Viovio Beach
This beautiful beach offers multiple gazebos to rest and relax along the beach coastline. Visitors can play with some water sports activities or take a swim in the waters.
7. Ocarina Beach Park
Built in an area that spanned over 40 hectares, this theme park is one of the major tourist attraction in Batam. Inaugurated in 2008, this ocean-themed park offers many rides that are suitable for both children and adults, such as the Giant wheel, 12 Chinese Zodiac statues, Kiddy Land, etc. This park is often used to hosts large events such as music concerts.
8. Sekupang Deer Park
This deer captivity area is one of the major tourist attraction in Batam. There are many deer that are observed and maintained in this area. A really great place for kids.
9. Melur Beach
With white sandy beaches, panoramic scene, relaxing ocean breeze and relaxing atmosphere, this beach has surely won the heart of many of its visitors. The slope of this beach is pretty flat, which is pretty amazing since tourist can swim up to 500 meters off the coast without ever having to fear for the depth.
10. Nongsa Coast
Home to many luxurious and five-starred hotel in Batam, this coast is a definitely must visit place if you’re looking for a really good place to stay. There are numerous places to choose from in here, and each of them offers distinct architectural style, hotel services, and much more.
11. Turi Beach Resort
This hidden natural paradise resort is located near Nongsa resorts and is reachable from Singapore by ferry for about 35 minutes away. The resort itself offers 140 deluxe rooms and suites with magnificent sea-view and lush tropical greeneries. Visitors could opt to enjoy the multitude of water sport activities available on the beach.
Batam’s Best Restaurant
12. Golden Prawn Seafood Restaurant
Considered as the must-visit place by many tourists if you crave some seafood in Batam, this bustling seafood restaurant offers fresh sea delicacies and tasty sauces and spices. Located in Bengkong Laut road north of Batam city, visitors are recommended to use a taxi to get here, as there is no direct public transportation route. The specialty includes gonggong, which is some kind of shellfish that requires you to pry out the meat from the shells by using a toothpick and then dip it in the special Golden Prawn sauce. Talk about tasty! Other than gonggong, there’s also many other favorite seafood dishes to be ordered here such as grouper fish, calamari, etc.
13. Harbour Bay Seafood Restaurant
Another culinary delight in Batam city, this alfresco eatery provides one of the best seafood in town in a very strategic location. The ambiance is very relaxing with some soothing live music that makes the dining experience more memorable and entertaining.
Best visited during the sunset and with friends to enjoy the dinner together, with the recommended menu chili crab and grouper fish. As a result, dinner in Harbour Bay Seafood Restaurant with your lovers may be the best romantic date ever.
Get Piece in Batam Religious Tour
14. Jabal Arafah Mosque
Located near the Nagoya Hill shopping centre, this unique and modern mosque is one of the most popular tourist destination in Batam. Inaugurated in 2013, visitors could see the unrestricted view to the whole city of Batam from the 60-meter tall tower in the mosque complex.
The mosque itself comprised of a four-story building which holds a library, small garden, cafe, and mini market aside from the normal praying halls and rooms. This is definitely a place worth visiting if you ever plan to go to Batam one day.
15. Maha Vihara Duta Maitreya Temple
As the largest Buddhist temple in Southeast Asia, the Maha Vihara Duta Maitreya spanned around an area of 4.5 hectares and built in around the year 1991. There are 12 animal statues that represent the Chinese zodiac outside, and statues of Buddha Maitreya can be found all over the place. There’s also statues of other Buddha figures, such as Buddha Gautama, Avalokitesvara, Amitabha, Bhaisajya Guru, Satya Kalama, Manjusri, Samanthabadra, and others.
This large temple complex consisted of 5 section. First is the Maitreya section, which serves as the main function hall for praying to God and Buddha Maitreya. This large hall can hold up to 2000 people at once. Next is the Patriarch section, which serves as the education and training center. After that, the Shakyamuni section is a building to worship and place a devotion to the Buddha Gautama. Another praying section for the Avalokitesvara makes up for the fourth section. Lastly, the fifth section is a praying area to Satya Kalama. As a result, Maha Vihara Duta Maitreya receives a large number of visitors regularly every year from tourists to pilgrims alike.
16. Tua Pek Kong Temple
If Duta Maitreya is the largest Buddhist temple, then Tua Pek Kong is the oldest Buddhist temple in Batam. Also known as the Budhi Bhakti Temple, it is used by the Batam locals as a place to do their daily prayers and send their offerings.
This temple was built and inaugurated in 1986 and ever since it has opened, has attracted many foreign visitors, such as from South Korea, India, Singapore, Malaysia, and Japan. Decorated in striking red colors, this temple is heavily influenced by the Chinese architectural style.
17. Batam Grand Mosque
Specifically designed to meet the demand of religious facilities that serve as the main place of worship for the Muslims in Batam, this impressive building is definitely one of the main tourist attractions in Batam. This mosque was built in 1999 and designed by the engineer Ir. Achmad Noeman with a lot of distinct looking squares in their wall and pyramid-like roof. The architectural style was heavily influenced by the Middle Eastern style and it looks really magnificent during the night. It has the capacity for 3.500 worshippers inside the building, and another 15.000 in the exterior of the building. The Grand Mosque of Batam is also known to hosts any boarding pilgrims that was visiting Batam.
Enjoy These Places of Interests
As an industrial city, Batam has a lot of places of interests which surely provides a lot of amusement and pleasure for every visitors. From landmarks to religious sites, each and every one of this place is a must visit if you want to feel the true beauty of Batam. Not only that, you can also try the delicious seafood which is the specialty of Batam Island.
18. Balerang Bridge
Barelang Bridge is actually a name for a collective of bridges of various types that connect the islands in Batam municipality. The main islands that connected by this series of bridges are Batam, Rempang, and Galang, hence the name Ba-Re-Lang which is an amalgamation from parts of each island’s name. Other islands that is connected is Tonton, Nipah, and Setotok islands which are belonged to the Batam island. Also known as the Habibie Bridge, derived from the name of the 3rd Indonesian president who oversaw the construction himself.
Due to its striking designs that are distinct from each other, these six bridges are more popular as a tourist attraction rather than a transportation infrastructure. The six bridges and their types are:
19. Tengku Fisabililah Bridge
This cable-stayed bridge is the largest, longest, and most popular among the Balerang Bridge. Connecting Batam and Tonton island this 642-meter long bridge has a majestic appearance almost similar to the famous Golden Gate Bridge of San Fransisco.
20. Narasinga Bridge
This cantilever bridge connects Tonton and Nipah island and stretches for 320-meter long.
21. Sultan Zainal Abidin Bridge
Another cantilever bridge in the series, this third longest bridge of the bunch connects Setotok and Rempang island. Its length is about 365-meter long.
22. Tuanku Tambusai Bridge
With the length of 385 meters, this arch bridge is the second longest of the Balerang Bridge and connects Rempang and Galang island.
23. Alii Haji Bridge
Connecting Setotok and Nipah island, this girder bridge span the length of 270 meters.
24. Raja Kecil Bridge
With a length of 180 meters, this small bridge connects Galang and the New Galang island. Although this is the smallest and shortest among the six bridges, this is the most important one historically.
25. Waterfront City
Although it was named Waterfront City, it’s actually a tourist development homes located in the western part of Batam island. Originally planned to be some kind of satellite city, the project never live up to its full potential. Still, you can find several high-end hotels and other attractions as well. This place also serves as a visa-on-arrival entry point from Singapore.
26. Step 1 Go Kart Circuit
Things to do in Batam Indonesia, one of the major attractions in Waterfront City, this circuit is suitable for those who like to drive around the track in a go-kart and race your friends or families!
27. Taman Pancing Fish Pond
Another popular thing to do while visiting the Waterfront City is to pass the time and fishing in the Taman Pancing fish pond. It is a freshwater lake that is stuffed with a variety of fish to be caught by the visitors.
28. Batam Cable Water Ski Park
The ski park is available for those who want to test their skills wakeboarding or water skiing while being pulled by a cable in the Waterfront City.
29. 10 Pin Bowling Alley
This public bowling alley is located near Harris hotel in the Waterfront City. There are 6 lanes available to choose from and it is a great entertainment to pass some time in Waterfront City.
30. Queen Garden Waterboom
This new, water-based theme park is one of the best places to go in Batam if you’re looking for some entertainment while swimming or engaging in other aquatic activities.
Meanwhile, Batam is one of the most beautiful island in Indonesia. Indeed, Batam has all beauty nature that will surely please us. In any time, Batam is best to visit wheter for holiday with family, best friends, or with your lovers. Indeed, there are many best things to do in Batam.
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