Bintan: the island behind the resorts

Bintan is the biggest island in the Riau archipelago and the one most people reach by accident, on a ferry from Singapore. The north coast is a strip of resorts and golf courses around Lagoi, built for weekenders from the city. The rest of the island, which is most of it, is Malay villages, mangrove rivers, seafood kelongs and a long east coast that sees almost no foreign visitors.

That split is what makes Bintan interesting. You can spend a morning in a resort and an afternoon on a fishing boat in the Sebung river, watching monitor lizards and fireflies. Or you can skip the resorts entirely, base yourself in Tanjung Pinang or Tanjung Uban, and treat the island as the quiet, affordable, slightly scruffy place it is.

Lagoi and the resort north

Lagoi is a planned resort zone on the north-west coast, with a ferry terminal of its own at Bandar Bentan Telani. The crossing from Singapore's Tanah Merah takes about an hour, and you clear immigration on arrival. Resorts here are polished and expensive by Indonesian standards, with private beaches, spas and golf, and they are designed so that you never need to leave.

If that is what you want, it works well: the water is calm, the sand is raked, and the trees are mature. If it is not, use Lagoi as a base for a day or two and then move. The island beyond the gate is cheaper, friendlier and considerably more interesting, and a scooter or a driver will get you there in half an hour.

Trikora and the east coast

The east coast road runs north from Tanjung Pinang through a string of beaches known collectively as Trikora. The sand is white, the water is clear, and the line of casuarinas gives shade where the resorts do not. There are warungs, a few simple guesthouses and long stretches where you can walk for an hour without meeting anyone.

This is the Bintan that people who live there recommend. Swimming is good at Trikora 1 and 2, where the shelf is gentle; further north the coast gets rockier. The seafood is excellent and cheap, especially at the kelongs, floating restaurants built over the water where you pick your fish and they cook it.

Mangroves and the Sebung river

The Sebung river, near Trikora, is the island's best-known mangrove trip. Small boats run upstream through a tunnel of roots and branches, past monitor lizards, kingfishers, macaques and, if you go after dark, fireflies. The trips take an hour or two and are best at dusk, when the animals come out and the heat drops.

It is a gentle experience rather than a wild one: the river is close to the road and the boats are frequent. But the mangroves are genuine, the guides know their birds, and it is a good counterweight to a day on the beach. Bring insect repellent and a light long-sleeved shirt for the evening.

Getting there and getting around

There are two ways in. From Singapore, ferries run to Bandar Bentan Telani in Lagoi and to Tanjung Pinang; from Batam, ferries cross to Tanjung Pinang in under an hour. The airport at Tanjung Pinang, Raja Haji Fisabilillah, has flights from Jakarta and Batam. Whatever route you take, allow time for the immigration queue at the weekend.

Public transport is thin. A scooter is the best way to see the island if you are comfortable riding one; otherwise hire a car with a driver for the day, which is cheap when split between two or three people. Roads are good on the main routes and patchy on the minor ones, and distances are longer than the map suggests.

• Ferries from Singapore land at Lagoi and Tanjung Pinang.
• Trikora is the east-coast beach strip, quiet on weekdays.
• Take a dusk boat up the Sebung river for fireflies.
• Eat at a kelong: floating seafood restaurants over the water.
• Hire a driver rather than relying on public transport.

When to come and what it costs

The calm season runs roughly from March to October, when the strait is flat, the water is clear and the ferries run on time. The north-east monsoon, from November to February, brings wind and rain; the resort beaches are still swimmable, but boat trips get cancelled and the crossing from Singapore can be rough. Weekends are the busiest time, when Singaporeans arrive for two nights and the resorts fill.

Costs split sharply between the two Bintans. A resort room in Lagoi can run from 150 to 400 US dollars a night, with food and drinks priced accordingly. A guesthouse in Tanjung Pinang or on the Trikora coast costs a fraction of that, a seafood meal is a few dollars, and a scooter for the day is cheaper than a taxi from the ferry terminal.

Book ferries and resort rooms two or three weeks ahead for weekends and Indonesian school holidays, and longer over Christmas and New Year. Weekdays are quieter and cheaper, and the east coast is empty on a Tuesday in June. If you are combining Bintan with Singapore, remember that the ferry is a border crossing: allow an hour for immigration at each end.

Questions people actually ask

Do you need to stay in a resort to enjoy Bintan?

No. The east coast around Trikora has guesthouses and warungs, and Tanjung Pinang and Tanjung Uban are ordinary Indonesian towns with hotels, markets and cheap seafood. The resorts are convenient and polished, but they are not the whole island.

How do you get from Singapore to Bintan?

Ferries leave from Tanah Merah ferry terminal to Bandar Bentan Telani in Lagoi, taking about an hour, and to Tanjung Pinang on a longer crossing. Book ahead at weekends and public holidays, when the ferries fill with resort guests.