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Batam
Largest city in Riau Islands, Indonesia

Batam

Batam, officially the City of Batam or Batam City, is the largest city in the Indonesian province of the Riau Islands.

Plan a trip to Batam→From Padang (Katapiang)
Get in

Getting to Batam

All Batam ports, namely Harbour Bay (Jodoh), Batam Centre, Nongsapura, Sekupang and Waterfront City (Teluk Senimba) are visa-free and visa-on-arrival ports of entry. In addition to the usual rules, Singapore permanent residents can visit Batam for up for four days without a visa. For detailed information on visas, please refer to the Indonesia page.

  1. 01
    Hang Nadim International Airport

    It is served mainly by domestic flights, and direct connections are available from Jakarta and a wide range of other large cities on the islands of Java, Sumatra, Kalimantan and Bali.

Eat

Where to eat

Batam has plenty of eating out choices, including great Chinese seafood in the outdoor food courts, such as the Windsor and Nagoya Food Courts and A1 Pujasera. Local best valued Indonesian food are Daun Pisang Resto, where travellers can taste mixed of archipelagos food. Another option is Nasi Padang Sederhana; both are widely loved by local and international travellers.

How locals move

Getting around Batam the local way

  • Get inFor most foreign visitors though, the most practical way of getting to Batam will be to fly into Singapore () and catch a ferry from there.
  • Get inThere is a shuttle service connecting Changi Airport with Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal, taking about 20 minutes.
  • Get inIf you want to catch flights from Singapore's Changi Airport, you must be on a ferry to Singapore's Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal at least three hours before departure time.
  • Get inThe main city of Nagoya is now served by Harbour Bay (Jodoh), replacing the old Batu Ampar ferry terminal.
  • Get inIt also serves domestic ferry service to Riau island and Stulang Laut and Puteri Harbour Malaysia Johor.
  • Get inBatam Centre Ferry Terminal has ferry connections from Singapore and Johor Bahru.
  • Get inSekupang, with ferries from Singapore is best used for those catching domestic connections to the Sumatra mainland and the Karimun Islands.
  • Get inWaterfront City and Nongsapura mostly serve adjacent resorts while Telaga Punggur is the main ferry terminal for boats to and from Bintan.

From Wikivoyage: Batam, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us. Last edited 2026-07.

Text adapted from Wikipedia and Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph: Wikimedia Commons (see file page), Wikimedia Commons.