Belitung

Belitung is among the most beautiful islands in Southeast Asia. Pristine white sand beaches look out on a turquoise sea filled with great snorkelling and a fantastic display of off shore islands. Check out Tanjung Kelayang and Tanjung Tinggi for world class beaches without the hustle and bustle now found at beaches of this calibre elsewhere. Small uninhabited off shore islands range from white sand fringed coconut plantations to elaborate granite rock formations to long temporary sand bars of sand the quality of powdered sugar. Some are too far to swim to from the shore, but colourful local fishing boats will take you on an island tour.

As yet uncharted by the Lonely Planet guide of 2012, no big resorts have been built here yet but it will not remain a sleepy paradise for long. The widely-translated novels Laskar Pelangi (“Rainbow Troops”) published in 2005 and its sequel “The Dreamer” have done a lot to put Belitung on the map of international tourism.

The best time to visit: Dry season (April – October) is obviously sunnier but can be very windy, resulting in choppy waters. During the rainy season (November – March) there is less wind though it does rain most afternoons. The school holidays (June-July) are best avoided as a lot of local tourists come from elsewhere in Indonesia. Similarly weekends can be quite busy with large Indonesian tour groups visiting from Jakarta. Interesting annual cultural festivals include:

Tour d’Belitung: 300km bike race around the island held every December.Outrigger sail boat race held every October/November at Burung Mandi Beach. Includes a sand statute competition.

1. Get in

• By plane

Daily flights connect Tanjung Pandan to Jakarta (1h flight), Palembang and Pangkal Pinang. These routes are served by Sriwijaya Air, Batavia Air and Sky Aviation. Since March 2013, Batavia Air officially declared for bankruptcy and all their routes in were stopped include Jakarta (CGK) to Tanjung Pandan, Belitung (TJQ).
Garuda indonesia newly opened a route from Jakarta (CGK) to Belitung (TJQ) since 23 May 2013 Citilink also provides a route from jakarta (CGK) to belitung (TJQ).

• By boat

Ferries leave and go to Jakarta, Cirebon, Pontianak (Kalimantan), and Bangka. Smaller fishing craft can be chartered for some harder to reach places and small islands.

      2. Get around
Belitung is small enough that more or less any point on the island can be reached in less than two hours from the main town Tanjung Pandan. However, taxis are non-existent and public transportation on the island is hard to find, so the only practical way of moving around is to rent a car or a motorcycle. If you rent a car, expect to pay Rp 400,000 – 600,000 per day for a good car with driver (all inclusive). A common and fair deal for both parties is Rp 600,000 – 800,000 for the whole weekend including airport drop-off on the last morning. Keep in mind that with that they have enough for the whole month.

Alternatively when you arrive at the airport, you can haggle with locals to get you to your hotel and arrange the rest of the transportation from there. Or ask your hotel to pick you up from the airport (which the upscale ones will do anyway). Once you arrive at your hotel you can then rent a motorcycle from Rp 50,000 per day (excluding petrol) from most resorts and explore the beaches yourself; they are well signposted. However, expect to get wet during rainy season! Here is a decent road map with some nice photos.

There are no ojek (motor cycle taxis) on the island but locals may be willing to give you a lift on their motorcycle for short distances (Rp 15,000 – 20,000).

by : http://wikitravel.org/en/Belitung