Travel To Batam

By Boat

The main ports on Batam are Batam Centre, Sekupang, Waterfront City, Nongsapura and Telaga Punggur. Harbor Bay is now the main international ferry port for those heading for Nagoya, replacing the old Batu Ampar ferry terminal. Batam Center Ferry Terminal has the most frequent ferry connections to/from Singapore and Johor Bahru. Sekupang, with ferries from Singapore is best used for those catching domestic connections to the Sumatra mainland and the Karimun Islands. Waterfront City and Nongsapura mostly serve adjacent resorts while Telaga Punggur is the main ferry terminal for boats to and from Bintan.

• To/From Singapore: Ferries departing from the Harbourfront Ferry Terminal go to Batam Centre, Sekupang and Waterfront City (Teluk Senimba) while ferries from the Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal serve Nongsapura.
  Getting there/away: 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.
• 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. o Other ferry destinations include Pekanbaru, Selat Panjang, Bengkalis and Tanjung Buton in Riau, and Kuala Tungkal in Jambi province.
• From other parts of Indonesia: Pelni ships which serve various ports throughout Indonesia call at Sekupang.

With Plane

Batam's busy regional airport is an international gateway to Indonesia by air as it already is by sea. The airport provides connections to many Indonesian cities, including to Jakarta, Pekanbaru, Bandung, Medan and other secondary cities.

Batam's airport is the Hang Nadim International Airport (BTH). Nearly all flights are domestic where you can get direct connections to Jakarta, Surabaya, Medan, Pekanbaru, Jambi, Palembang and Bandung. Indonesian carriers Merpati, Riau Airlines, Kartika Airlines and a host of others provide the links.

There are also two weekly flights to Johor Bahru in Malaysia by Riau Airlines (Batam airport office Tel: +62-778-761551; Johor Bahru airport office Tel: +60-7-599 4500 Ext 1113). Flights every Friday and Sunday. Flights depart Batam at 1100 while on return flights, they depart Johor Bahru at 1315.

If you want to catch flights from Singapore's Changi Airport, you must be on a ferry to Singapore at least three hours before departure time.

By Taxi

There are plenty of taxis in Batam but none of them charge using the meter. There is no standard price for the taxis in Batam. The taxi drivers are desperate for customers so you always have the bargaining option. You could simply made the price half and sometimes even less.

They may ask you about Rp. 100.000 but simply say Rp. 40.000 or Rp. 50.000. and then walk on if they don't agree. they will automatically come to you. In fact I went about 5 places in Batam for about Rp. 200.000. The taxi conditions are not that good so don't expect seat belts and a smooth ride.

Sample fares for reference: Telaga Punggur to Batam Center (Rp. 60.000, 25 min). Nagoya to HarbourBay ferry terminal at Batu Ampar (Rp. 20.000, 8 min). Sekupang to Batam Center (Rp. 50.000).

By Minibus (Metro Trans)

Fixed route plies between Jodoh and Telaga Punggur (Rp. 3.000 - Rp. 4.000). Sample fares for other destinations are as follows:

* Jodoh to Sembulang via Sukajadi Rp. 9.500
* Jodoh to Galang Baru via Sukajadi Rp. 12.000
* Dapur 12 to Mukakuning Rp. 3.000
* Dapur 12 to Jodoh via Sukajadi Rp. 4.000

By Bus & Car

Recently, Batam local government (known as pemerintah) started a bus service known as "Bus Pilot Project". The blue colour bus plies between Batam Center and Batu Aji for Rp. 3.000. Buy your ticket from the personnel before boarding.

Most hotels run shuttle buses during the day to the ferry ports and to the main shopping mall. It seems that none run a shuttle to airport.

You can hop into a free shuttle bus (yellow in colour) from Megamall Batam Center to the major hotels in Nagoya or Jodoh.

The Kijang, which is generally everywhere in Indonesia, is strangely absent in Batam. Your hotel may be able to arrange a car and driver for you, but be prepared to pay Rp 1000.000 or more, which is almost double the rate in Jakarta.