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Belitung (or Belitong, as locals call it), is an island on the east coast of Sumatera, just a short 1 hour flight from Jakarta. The island has white sandy beaches, turquoise blue sea water and offshore islands decorated with giant granite boulders, which giving Belitung a signature look for its beauty.
UNESCO has declared 17 tourist attractions in the Belitung Geopark as world geoparks, which mainly are its unique geological formation, tourism village and granite forest.
You can stay at its capital, Tanjung Pandan. But if you want to stay by the beach, take another hour of drive from Tanjung Pandan to Sijuk area, where several new chained hotels reside.
In the short weekend getaway, we spent most time islands hopping along the small islands of Lengkuas Island, Leebong Island, Batu Berlayar, and Burung Island. A day trip with local fisherman boat costs around IDR 600,000, where you can explore the islands around Belitung.
A short stop at Lengkuas Island, where a lighthouse built by the Dutch colonial back in 1882 still actively working for marine navigation. Access to top of the lighthouse is closed, makes visitors can only climb until a few stairs, then enjoying the sight of the giant boulders around the island. Need to arrive early in the morning before the crowds get in for photo op. The unique sight of the boulders and lighthouse makes it ideal for pre wedding photo sessions.
From Lengkuas Island, stop and enjoy time for snorkeling. Just a short 5 minutes trip away from Lengkuas Island, there’s a popular stopping place for boats to stop and let the tourists to hop off the boat and snorkel. Don’t forget to bring bread to attract more fish, it’s a fun, short snorkeling time for those who don’t want to dive.
Be careful where you snorkel, and don’t knock your head to busy traffic of boats around you!
For those of you who like more privacy, just ask your boatman to stop at one of the deserted island. Enjoy the mini experience of having a private island all for you to explore. Lying on the sand, have your romantic lunch picnic or snorkeling around the island.
Just a word of advice, before you have fun below the sun, don’t forget to put on your sunscreen. We had so much fun and by 2pm we started to realize that we had the worse sunburn we’ve ever had!
