Batam Island — Local services in Batam City

My thoughts on my first visit to Batam

What to eat Nagoya Batam city centre is a Singapore tourist area with local coffee shops charging exorbitant Singaporean dollar prices and terrible tasting foods! I found out that most restaurants in the malls around Nagoya are priced fairly comparing to those local coffee shop eateries and tastes better! It was proven when I patrol the malls, local are having their fills which clicks me to the preferred food the locals savour.

City touring Motorbike rental services are plentiful and is by far the best way to see the city but beware, not all of them are honest. I have a review regarding my terrible experience with one of them.

Travelling Car rentals are recommended to tour the southern islands which are connected via land bridge to enjoy pristine blue water beaches, ex Vietnam refugee camp, and the southern tip of Batam

Seafoods! After trying 2 seafood restaurant as recommended by google, I won't even bother to try the third as most of them are NOT cheap and presents the same cooking style which I guess caters more to Singaporean taste buds. I even experienced local seafood operators quoted Singaporean dollars on my first seafood restaurant. WTF! Malaysia still have to best seafoods for me.

Overall I saw Batam's thriving tourism and progressive economic boom is highly influenced by vast numbers of tourist from Singapore. This is good news as high spenders are flocking the island with their 'ohh so near and cheap comparing to local Singapore' mindset but bad news for other tourist besides Singapore as prices are higher.

As a comparison we Malaysians love to go Thailand especially Hatyai for its food and shopping. Same can be said for Batam as singaporeans favorite destination.

What I liked 1 Blue southern beached 2 Kuih lapis

What I didn't 1 Its not cheap for Malaysians 2 Most eateries WANTS your money 3 There is nothing to do besides the bars, pubs and notorious Nagoya entertainment district.

Will consider hard for a...

Batam is just across the water from Singapore, so if you are looking for a weekend break to Indonesia then this is a great place to come. From Singapore it is a 40 minute ride to Batam on a speed boat and once you are there you can enjoy a huge range of activities far more cheaply than in many other parts of Southeast Asia.

The island is famous as a place where people come to relax and get away from it all and as such it is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Indonesia. You won’t find a huge array of ‘attractions’ like historical sites as such, but you will find a number of resorts, spas, restaurants and cafes, and the nightlife here is lively with a good range of choices if you are looking for some entertainment in the evenings.

Another reason why people flock to Batam is for the diving or snorkeling opportunities as the waters here are incredibly clear and visibility is excellent if you want to explore the underwater kingdoms in this part...

It was an office tour. We 34 members went together to Batam Island from Harbour point, Singapore on 20th December, 2019. We took Sindo Ferry at 2:00pm and reach Batam island at 3:00pm. The ferry service is very good. We booked Harris Resort which is a four star resort. The facilities are excellent. Staffs are also helpful. We have guide named Selly who is a Chinese woman. She is the perfect guide. We stayed in Batam island 3 days 2 nights. 1st day we took our dinner in Golden Prawn 555 which is the remarkable for see foods. We traveled whole Batam by our guide bus. We visited almost all tourist spots. Next morning we took buffet breakfast in resort. The taste of breakfast is really delicious. We visited the Maha Vihara Duta Maitreya which is largest trample in this region. We also visited KEK NANAS which is famous for Pineapple cakes. Rest I will write...