Belitung Island Travel Guide & Things To Do (Indonesia)

5.1K Belitung is a very underrated tropical island in Indonesia with some incredible scenery and nature.

This island is about the same size as Bali, but much less famous, and just like Bali it has a lot of amazing things to see and do. It’s even been recognized as a UNESCO Geopark for its unique landscapes.

We spent two weeks in Belitung and were blown away by some of the picture perfect islands and white sand beaches with granite boulders. It’s a paradise for island hopping.

This travel guide for Belitung will explain how to get there, where to stay, and everything else you need to know before you go!

Where Is Belitung Island?

The Bangka Belitung islands are two islands (‘Bangka’ and ‘Belitung’) located just off the southeast coast of Sumatra, Indonesia.

Belitung (also known as ‘Belitong’ by the locals) is the smaller island of the two, and it’s surrounded by lots of tiny islands and granite rock formations, making it the perfect place to get in a boat and go island hopping!

How To Get To Belitung Island

Belitung island can be reached by flying or taking the ferry.

Generally the best way to get there is to fly into the airport at Tanjung Pandan (TJQ).

Non-stop flights are available from Jakarta (CGK) and Pangkalpinang (PGK), with one way prices as low as 750k Rupiah ($45 USD) and a flight time of only 1 hour. If you’re coming from Bali, you’ll need to transit in one of these places on the way to Belitung.

There used to be non-stop international flights from Kuala Lumpur as well, although those were discontinued during Covid and haven’t started up again yet.

You can shop for flights to Tanjung Pandan at Skyscanner.

How To Get Around Belitung Island

The best way to get around Belitung island is to rent a scooter or hire a private car with driver. You can book either of these with your hotel, or with Billitone Capture (+62 853-1555-5288).

The roads on Belitung island are in great shape, and traffic is surprisingly light. We normally don’t travel by scooter, but when we saw how open the roads were on Belitung we couldn’t help ourselves!

If you need a private airport transfer by car, those can be booked with Klook for as low as 75k Rupiah (~$5 USD). In the city, short trips can be done with the Grab or GoJek apps.

Where To Stay In Belitung

Beachfront Hotels In Belitung

For beachfront hotels in Belitung, there are a bunch of options in all different budgets:

• Hotel Santika Premiere Beach Resort
• Leebong Island Resort
• Rock and Wreck Dive Resort
• Sheriton Belitung Resort
• Swiss-Belresort Belitung
• Watuduya Resort

Sadly, some of the hotels in Belitung have struggled a bit since Covid because the tourist numbers haven’t fully recovered, although the situation seems to be improving lately.

My top choice for a beachfront hotel would be the Sheriton Belitung Resort. It’s a 5-star hotel in a perfect location with a private beach, swimming pool, and buffet breakfast.

They can also help arrange island hopping tours by boat, and other activities like kayaking, fishing, snorkeling, and stand up paddleboarding. Sheraton is located on the northeast side of Belitung, so it’s perfect for island hopping.

What To Do In Belitung

• Island Hopping Tour

There are lots of great things to do in Belitung, but by far the best is the island hopping tour in northwest Belitung.

You’ll go by boat and see perfect white sand beaches, turquoise water, rocky granite islands, underwater coral reefs, and even a Dutch lighthouse from the 1800s. The snorkeling is top quality.

You can’t visit Belitung without doing this boat tour! We enjoyed it so much we actually did it several days in a row.

Read More: Belitung Island Hopping

• Leebong Island

Aside from the popular island hopping tours in northwest Belitung, there’s also a nice little island in southwest Belitung that’s owned by the 3-star Leebong Island Resort, which has sea view villas and overwater bungalows.

There are day trips to Pulau Leebong departing from Pegantungan harbor, or you can stay overnight at the resort. Their official website has more info about the day tours. Leebong has a beautiful white sandbar and other things to see.

Book Now: Leebong Island Resort

• Tanjung Tinggi Beach

Possibly the most photogenic beach in Bangka Belitung, with perfect blue-green water and giant boulders. It’s a good sunset spot too.

Tanjung Tinggi can be reached with a 30 minute drive from town.

Read More: Tanjung Tinggi Beach

• Tanjung Pendam Beach

This is the main beach near the town in Belitung, and it’s very popular with young people since it sits right on the edge of Tanjung Pandan city.

Since it’s west facing, Tanjung Pendam Beach is also a great spot to watch the sunset. The floating trees give it a surreal look, and if you’re lucky you’ll even get boats passing by in the distance.

• Batu Baginda

This was one of my favorite experiences in Bangka Belitung.

Batu Baginda is a short (but moderate) hike that takes you to the top of an absolutely massive boulder, where you have views of the whole southern half of Belitung island on one side, and the Java Sea on the other.

Better yet, if you have a drone, you can take some aerial selfies to see how tiny you look on top of the boulders!

Read More: Batu Baginda Hike

• Kaolin Lake

This is a bright turquoise mineral lake that’s still being mined today. It’s a unique landscape that makes for some great photos.

The lake is easy to reach since it’s only a short distance from Tanjung Pandan city.

• Balancing Rock

This is a giant balancing granite boulder that’s not too far from Tanjung Tinggi beach, so it’s easy to combine with other sights on the island.

From the road, it’s just a short 10 minute hike to reach the rock (map location here), and at the top you get nice views of the surrounding countryside too.

This boulder is massive and impressive. It’s great for pictures from pretty much any angle!

• Peramun Hill

Bukit Peramun is a dense jungle where you can go trekking and see Indonesian wildlife.

It has hills and giant boulders, banyan trees, caves, and tarsier sightings. Tarsiers are the little bug-eyed primates that hop around in the trees at night eating insects.

One of the highlights of this forest is a giant banyan tree called the ‘thousand root tree.’ It’s very photogenic, but it’s hard to find without a local guide. We searched for hours and didn’t find it, so a guide would be very helpful to have.

• Penyabong Beach

This is a secluded beach in southwest Belitung, about 1.5 hours from Tanjung Pandan.

There is a nearby resort with private villas, or you can combine it with a visit to the Batu Baginda rocks. You can find a Google Map to the beach here.

Penyabong beach has nice white sand and no crowds, but sadly trash has built up here over the years. We picked up some rubbish on our way out. Please keep this place clean.

• Serdang Beach

This is a nice white sand beach with colorful boats, on the east coast of Belitung island.

It’s a bit harder to reach than some of the others, but you’re rewarded with a wide open beach that has snow white sand and no crowds.

Sadly, there’s a lot of trash at this beach, and it’s also a bit isolated. It requires about 1.5 hours of driving from Tanjung Pandan city.

• Bukit Berahu Beach

This is a small beach with cottages and an old resort at the top of the hill.

It’s near the main road, so you can easily stop here on the way to other sights like Tanjung Tinggi beach.

Best Restaurants In Belitung

The Belitung restaurant scene is still a work in progress, but here are some good options we found:

• What’s Up Cafe: Great food and good atmosphere. We ate here almost every day. Portions are a little small, but the prices are fair enough. They have indoor and outdoor seating, A/C, good WiFi, and they accept cash or credit cards for payment.
• Tarsius Coffee: Nice little cafe across the street from Tanjung Pendam beach. Good place to work, with fast WiFi and lots of power outlets.
• Happy Resto: A popular bakery and restaurant in Belitung.
• Koffie Boon: Coffee shop and bakery with lots of nice creations in Tanjung Pandan city.
• Ayam Goreng Karawaci: Fried chicken takeaway restaurant near Tanjung Pendam beach.
• KFC: If you’re itching for familiar food, Belitung does have it. Just throwing that out there. We ordered KFC on the GoJek app one evening when we were too tired to eat out.

Other Tips For Belitung

• Credit Cards: Hit and miss. Some hotels and restaurants in Belitung accept credit cards, but keep cash handy just in case.
• ATM: There are plenty of ATMs in Tanjung Pandan with good withdrawal limits. Foreign cards work fine in my experience.
• WiFi: Hotels in Tanjung Pandan generally have decent WiFi. This is quickly improving.
• Cell Service: Local SIM cards like Telkomsel have good reception in Tanjung Pandan and elsewhere on the island.
• Apps: Grab and GoJek are both available in Tanjung Pandan. You can use these for short rides or even food delivery to your hotel.
• Malaria: According to this Lancet study from 2018, malaria has been eliminated in Belitung. That’s great news, but it’s still a good idea to wear mosquito spray to protect from dengue fever.

Is Belitung Safe?

Yes, Belitung is safe! We spent weeks here traveling all over the island, and I’d say it’s a very safe place.

Indonesia is a low crime country in general, but be sure to wear mosquito spray when out and about, because there’s a risk of dengue fever anywhere in the country.

With that said, we got more than two dozen bites each on our trip and never got sick with anything, so dengue is not exactly rampant here.

Belitung Private Driver & Motorbike Rental

If you want to explore Belitung in the comfort and safety of a private car with a driver, my recommendation would be Billitone Capture (+62 853-1555-5288).

Their price is 400k Rupiah ($26 USD) for a day tour of driving and sightseeing in Belitung for 1-5 passengers. That’s the total price for the whole car + driver + petrol. For longer distance trips, there may be a surcharge.

If you’d rather travel by motorbike, they have that too. Their scooter rentals start at 75k Rupiah (~$5) in Tanjung Pandan city.

Best Time To Visit Belitung

The best time to visit Belitung is generally from April to October. This is Indonesia’s dry season, so it’s less rainy, with more sun, smoother seas, and better snorkeling visibility.

We were there in July for two weeks and the weather was mostly great, although there was some rain in the evenings and at night.

Months to avoid are November to January, when there’s a lot more rain. If you have to go in the rainy season, give yourself some extra days as a buffer in case of bad weather.

Map Of Things To Do In Belitung

Here’s a map of some of the best things to do in Belitung island.

The blue icons on the map are things you can see by driving, and the purple icons are islands to see by boat.

Keep in mind this is far from a complete list, and I’m sure you could find some more interesting sights if you look around.