Things to do in Bintan - Looking for a perfect holiday destination that is not too far from Singapore? Try Bintan Island, the beautiful island located in Riau Archipelago, Indonesia, where you can find the best beaches with amazing scenery and spend the day doing your favorite water sports. Not only that, you can also get more in touch with nature in Bintan by hiking or even admiring the mangrove forest.

Care to learn more about Bintan? Here’s some information about all the fun things to do in Bintan that will make you more eager to get yourself out there!

Bintan is only 1 hour away from Singapore, and you can easily book yourself a ferry trip to get there. With so many things to do in Bintan, you’ll have a wonderful weekend getaway with your loved ones. Although Bintan is quite small, it is quite rich with the luxurious hotels and resorts, even glampings are available too.

You can get everything in Bintan: a good view of the beach and the sea; the cuisine that tastes perfect in your mouth; the wonderful stay at one of those luxurious accommodations; the historical landmarks to learn a new perspective; and the nature, which is SO GREAT.

Of course, everything comes with a price. You can say it’s quite expensive to enjoy days in Bintan, especially at luxury hotels and resorts. But, the comfort you’ll get pays off. But, talking about pricey accommodations, there are still more options to choose from, including those budget hotels to save your getaway budget.

Hence, knowing it’s so close and it has everything that will make your holiday super enjoyable, we say visiting Bintan is the most worthwhile thing to do for a quick getaway… or a long escape, whatever you want.

Bintan Island, which is surrounded by many luxury resorts, offers a variety of interesting places that you can visit. Bintan Island is more familiar to Singaporeans than Indonesians, which is only natural because the island is closer to Singapore. If you visit Bintan Island, you must visit some of the places below.

Address: Malang Rapat, Gunung Kijang, Bintan Regency, Riau Islands 29151
Opening Hours: 10 AM - 6 PM
Price: Varied according to the package you choose!

It’s time to blend in with nature and get yourself some treatments you deserve in Aroma River Spa. The spa is surrounded by mangrove trees, and it actually floats on the mangrove river. The therapists come from nearby villages and they will provide you with great treatment.

While some people visit the spa during their stay in Bintan, some prefer to go straight from Singapore. They have the Detox Daytrip Tour Package, where you start your trip by ferry in the morning and go home by noon, fully relaxed.

Anyway, you should try De-Stress River Spa Package or Traditional Riau Body Massage. Don’t forget to taste delicious traditional food provided by Ibu Rodiah’s kitchen. A massage and a tasty meal? What more can you ask for a relaxing day?

Address: Bintan Buyu, Teluk Bintan, Bintan Regency, Riau Islands
Opening Hours: 24 Hours
Entrance Fee: Free entrance but there will be additional cost to see the waterfall

Gunung Bintan offers very marvelous scenery, so it will be worth it to hike up the mountain. It will be around 2-4 hours of trekking, so you better prepare for your fitness! You can join some hiking or trekking tours. You’ll meet other hikers and you’ll have the tour guide, so it will be more safe yet more fun.

Spot by yourself the tropical fruit plantations like durian, jackfruit, and papaya. Enjoy the view and the freshness of the waterfall and the lake. Well, it sure will make you quite tired among other things to do in Bintan, but you will also go home feeling fresh after being engaged with nature.

Anyway, don’t forget to suit your costume before you go. Remember that you need to use sunblock to protect your skin, choose the right shoes (it could be sneakers or trekking shoes, your choice), comfortable clothes (preferably long pants and long sleeve t-shirts), and prepare for a hat or a raincoat, bring things that necessary to you briefly, including mosquito repellent.

Address: Lagoi, Sebong Lagoi, Tlk. Sebong, Kabupaten Bintan, Kepulauan Riau, Indonesia
Opening Hours: 24 Hours
Price: SGD 21.80

On Bintan Island there are 12 types of mangroves, some forests such as those in the Sebong River are almost damaged, but have been saved. In 2003 Bintan Mangrove Discovery Tour won an award in the ecotourism category from the PATA Gold Award. This further confirms that Bintan has a lot of natural wealth that must be cared for and visited.

There are various choices of tour times that you can adjust according to the time, for this mangrove forest tour starts at 09:00 in the morning, 10:30 in the afternoon, and in the afternoon at 13:00 and 15:00. During this tour you can see king prawns, monkeys, and if you are lucky you can see otters. You can also join the night tour which starts at 19.30 for approximately one hour.

The management of this mangrove forest deliberately makes the tour duration short for the safety of the visitors, especially at night. Because being in the middle of a mangrove forest at night can be very dangerous for safety, times when crocodiles, monitor lizards, and snakes are out looking for prey. However, if you choose the tour at night you will see thousands of fireflies that produce beautiful light in the midst of darkness. This tour costs IDR 380,000 per person which includes guide and shuttle fees.

Address: Trikora, Kawal, Kec. Gn. Kijang, Kabupaten Bintan, Kepulauan Riau 29151
Opening Hours: 24 Hours
Entrance Fee: Free

Trikora Beach is located in Malang Meeting Village, which is one of the many beautiful beaches on Bintan Island. This beach has a characteristic with its edges filled with large stones. This coastline reaches 25 kilometers. From the city of Tanjung Pinang to this beach it takes approximately 45 minutes.

While at Trikora Beach you can take advantage of various rides on this beach. You can easily find various services for island hopping by boat, canoeing, banana boating, or snorkeling. On this beach there are also huts selling local specialties.

Bintan Island is indeed endless, saves a lot of tourist attractions that can be visited, such as the expanse of desert and the blue lake in the Bintan Desert which is very popular with tourists. This desert was once a bauxite mining site that had been neglected for a long time until it became a beautiful desert. This happens because the place is continuously filled with rain water while it is neglected until it turns into clear blue water.

You can enter this place for free without any fees, you only need to pay parking fees of IDR 2,000 for motorbikes and IDR 5,000 for cars. However, if you want to enjoy some of the facilities available in this area, a fee will be charged, such as swings and stuffed camels which are priced at IDR 5,000 and there is also a bebak boat that can be rented for IDR 15,000.

Address: Jalan Nusantara, KM 13 Kijang Kota Tanjungpinang, Kepulauan Riau
Opening Hours: 9 AM - 5 PM (Tuesday - Sunday, Closed every Monday)
Entrance Fee: SGD 2,62

The next place you can visit while on Bintan Island is the western hills of Tanjung Pinang, where in this place there is a 1,000-faced monastery. This location is one of the historical places on Bintan Island, inside this Vihara contains 500 statues with various expressions. This building is also known as Buddhist wisdom.

Historically, the statues that have a height of 1.8 meters were made by girls who are still virgins and came from China who were then imported to Bintan Island. This place is surrounded by a small garden with a miniature temple that forms a Buddha statue.

You can find Turtle Conservation Activities in several hotels and resorts in Bintan, such as Banyan Tree Bintan, Nirwana Gardens, Angsana Bintan, and Cassia Bintan.

Another fun activity on Bintan Island is releasing hatched turtles. One of the useful activities you can do in this place. This has also become a necessity, even more so that several hotels and resorts collaborate with local residents to create conservation programs. In this program, turtle eggs will be stored until they hatch, after hatching they are then released back to the sea. You can find turtle nesting season between March and June. This activity is called hatchling release.

Address: White Sands Island, Teluk Bakau, Gunung Kijang, Bintan Regency, Riau Islands 29151, Indonesia
Opening Hours: 9 AM - 9 PM
Entrance Fee: Around SGD 13,08

Another island that you can visit while in Bintan is White Sands Island, which is better known as the sand-bed island. The island is quite close to Trikora Beach which only takes 15 minutes by ferry. This private island offers very white sand and clear sea water.

You can enjoy various facilities available on White Sands Island, such as playing beach volleyball, relaxing or sunbathing by the pool, snorkeling, diving, camping, and many other activities that can add to your excitement on this island.

Address: Jl. Potong Lembu No.98, Kemboja, Kec. Tanjungpinang Bar., Kota Tanjung Pinang, Kepulauan Riau 29112
Opening Hours: 4 PM - 12 AM
Price: Approximately starts from SGD 1,31 to SGD 8,72

As another thing to do in Bintan, don't forget to explore the culinary arts, one of which you must visit a culinary center in Tanjung Pinang. This culinary center is one of the largest in Bintan and is open daily.

You will be presented with various carts selling various types of food ranging from typical Indonesian, and Malay, to Chinese. The foods most people look for when they come here are poor noodles or fried egg noodles and meatless vegetables, there is also fish soup, barking, and otak-otak.

Address: Nirwana Gardens Resorts, Jalan Panglima Pantar, Sebong Lagoi, Teluk Sebong, Kabupaten Bintan, Kepulauan Riau 29152
Opening Hours: 4.30 PM - 10.30 PM (Tuesday - Thursday), 11.30 AM - 10.30 PM (Friday - Sunday), Close every Monday
Price: Starts from SGD 4,36 for A La Carte menu

Another taste to explore is Kelong Seafood Restaurant. This floating restaurant serves Chinese and Indonesian concepts which are then processed into delicious dishes. In this restaurant, you will enjoy fresh seafood caught directly from the local waters.

If you visit here you must try one of the mainstay menus, namely the famous Bintan barking (sea snail). While eating delicious food you will also be served an amazing sea view.

Address: Jl. Gurindam Duabelas, Teluk Sebong Lagoi Bintan Utara, 29155, Kepulauan Riau - Indonesia
Opening Hours: 11 AM - 9 PM
Price: Starts from SGD 0,87 for drinks and SGD 1,75 for food

Source: Instagram - @bintanresortsofficial

Don't forget to taste the delicious food available at Warung Yeah!, a warung located near Plaza Lagoi and Lagoi Beach. This stall offers a variety of Indonesian specialties, you can enjoy instant noodles, fried rice, and satay in this place. All the food served is very appetizing so many people visit the restaurant.

You can also try other menus such as grilled chicken and tofu egg which is typical of this restaurant, Warung Yeah! Also provides a variety of drink menus such as Bintan Coco which is also very typical of this restaurant and is made using coconut water, basil seeds, sliced coconut meat, and also added with brown sugar syrup which adds to the freshness of the drink.

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There are still many other things to do in Bintan. So, what are you waiting for? Invite your friends and family for a vacation to the island! Access to get to Bintan is also very easy by using a ferry, you just need to find out the port or pier that provides a route to Bintan. Also, there are plenty of great hotels and resorts in Bintan that you can book through Traveloka, with a promotion too! Have other destinations in mind? Worry not, you can book your flight with us too!