Belitung travel guide: granite beaches, island hopping and where to stay

Choose between the north coast and Tanjung Pandan

Belitung is small enough that the Ministry of Tourism describes most points of interest as within two hours of Tanjung Pandan, the main town on the west coast, but the island's two halves suit different trips. The famous beaches and the boats to the outer islands are on the north coast, in Sijuk district: Tanjung Kelayang is about 27 kilometres from Tanjung Pandan, according to the Ministry, and Tanjung Tinggi is around ten minutes beyond it. A handful of hotels sit right on the sand here, so you can swim before breakfast and be at the boats without a drive.

Tanjung Pandan has most of the hotels, according to Wikivoyage, and more places to eat. It is the better base for a first or last night around the flights, for travellers on a tighter budget and for anyone more interested in the island's tin-mining past than in a beach. Wherever you sleep, arrange transport before you arrive: the Ministry notes that public transport is hard to find and that renting a car or motorbike is the practical way around. Wikipedia's Belitung page adds that ride-hailing apps and taxis operate, but a car with a local driver for the whole stay is the usual arrangement.

Tanjung Tinggi and Tanjung Kelayang: the granite coast

Tanjung Tinggi is the beach on most Belitung postcards: huge rounded granite boulders, some the size of houses, stacked along a short curve of white sand with calm, clear water between them. The Ministry of Tourism notes that it was a filming location for the 2008 Indonesian film *Laskar Pelangi* (The Rainbow Troops), the story by Belitung-born novelist Andrea Hirata that put the island on the domestic travel map. Come early in the morning or stay for sunset; around midday the light is flat and the rocks are hot.

Tanjung Kelayang, a few minutes along the coast, is a longer beach with smaller rock formations, some standing offshore as islets. Wikivoyage describes a sandier eastern side, where the fishing boats wait for island-hopping passengers, and a rockier western side. The Ministry lists the wider Tanjung Kelayang area as a 324.8-hectare special economic zone planned for resort development, so expect building work along parts of this coast.

Swimming is easy in the shallows, but the Ministry's guides warn that wind and current can pick up quickly at Tanjung Tinggi, and one first-hand account on the Ministry's site mentions coral starting about ten metres off the sand. Keep children close, and do not climb the boulders when they are wet.

Island hopping to Lengkuas and the outer islands

A morning on a wooden fishing boat among the granite islets off the north-west coast is the reason most people come. Boats leave from Tanjung Kelayang, Tanjung Binga and Tanjung Tinggi; the Ministry of Tourism gives about 20 minutes by boat from Tanjung Kelayang to Lengkuas Island, or 30 to 45 minutes from Tanjung Binga or Tanjung Tinggi. Hire a boat on the beach or through your hotel, agree the route and the return time before you leave, and make sure there are life jackets on board.

Lengkuas is the highlight: a small island of white sand and boulders crowned by a white iron lighthouse built by the Dutch, which the Ministry dates to 1882. The Ministry describes 313 steps to the top, where a narrow viewing deck looks over reef flats and the surrounding islets; the iron stairs can be slippery, and at busy times there is a queue for the deck. Snorkelling around the island's rocks is the other reason to linger.

Most boats combine Lengkuas with a few shorter stops. Pulau Batu Berlayar is named for a granite formation that looks like a ship under sail; the Ministry notes that the shallow, rocky approach needs an experienced boatman. Pulau Burung (Bird Island) has a rock shaped like a bird's head. On Pulau Kepayang, a conservation group, Kelompok Peduli Lingkungan Belitung (KPLB), runs a turtle hatchery where you can see nests and young turtles, according to the Ministry. At low tide, boatmen often stop at a sandbar, Pulau Pasir, that disappears as the water rises.

The sea is the deciding factor. Wikivoyage advises that the dry season gives clearer water and calmer crossings, and the rainy months from about October to March bring rougher seas. Go in the morning, and if the wind is up, move the trip to your spare day rather than going anyway.

The eastern loop: kaolin lake, Museum Kata and Manggar coffee

Give a second day to the island's interior and east, a route the Ministry of Tourism's own travel writers follow. Start at Danau Kaolin, a flooded former kaolin (white clay) mine where milky turquoise water sits in a basin of white spoil. It is a photo stop, not a swim: the Ministry notes that entering the water is not allowed for safety reasons.

Continue east to Gantung in East Belitung for the Museum Kata Andrea Hirata, which the Ministry describes as Indonesia's first literary museum, opened by the novelist in 2013 in his hometown. Instead of artefacts it has brightly painted rooms, murals, quotations and reading spaces built around his books; the Ministry's account also mentions a coffee shop at the back. A replica of the village school from *Laskar Pelangi* stands nearby.

End the loop in Manggar, East Belitung's main town, known across Indonesia for its coffee culture and marked by a monument to its "1001 coffee shops". Sit on the long benches of a roadside *warung kopi* with a strong black coffee and fried cassava, then drive back west to your base before dark: the Ministry's accounts put the island's sights one to two hours' drive apart, and Wikivoyage warns that minor roads are poorly lit.

Tanjung Pandan: tin, satam and the harbour

Belitung's history is a mining one — Wikipedia notes that the Dutch tin company Billiton Maatschappij took its name from the island and later became part of BHP Billiton — and Tanjung Pandan still shows it. The Museum Tanjungpandan (officially the Belitung Regency government museum) began as a tin-mining company museum, inaugurated in 1962, and holds mining relics, tools, pottery and fishing and maritime equipment, according to the Ministry of Tourism. Wikivoyage points to Dutch colonial government buildings and shophouses in the centre and to the wharf and fish market for a look at the working harbour.

In the middle of a roundabout in the town centre stands the Satam Monument, built around satam, the black tektite stone that is sold across the island as jewellery. Tanjung Pandan is also the easiest place to buy pepper, fish crackers and other local produce to take home. If you have a few hours before a flight, the town is a better use of them than another beach.

A workable three-night plan

This is an editorial suggestion, not a timetable. Check flight times, boat conditions and opening days for the places you choose.

• Day 1 — Arrive: fly from Jakarta, have lunch in Tanjung Pandan and visit the museum or the Satam Monument, then drive to the north coast for sunset at Tanjung Tinggi.
• Day 2 — Island hopping: leave Tanjung Kelayang in the morning for Lengkuas (climb the lighthouse and snorkel), Batu Berlayar, Pulau Burung and Kepayang; seafood dinner at Tanjung Binga.
• Day 3 — Eastern loop: Danau Kaolin, Museum Kata and the school replica in Gantung, coffee in Manggar, back to your base by dark. Swap this with Day 2 if the sea is rough.
• Day 4 — Leave: an early swim on the north coast, then the airport. Add a night if you want a slower beach day or a second chance at the boat trip.