BANDAR BINTAN TELANI (BBT) – AN ALTERNATIVE PORT TO NONGSA POINT MARINA AS A PORT OF ENTRY TO THE SOUTH RIAU ISLANDS

BBT is situated on the NW coast of Bintan Island, at the end of a shallow inlet with a well-marked deep water channel. It’s chart position is 1*09.648’N, 104*19.282’E. The BBT terminal serves as a Port of Entry clearance port, mainly for the fast ferries from Singapore, but they will also clear private vessels in and out.

As you approach the inlet, you will see a large ship, Doulos Phos, at the entrance of the inlet, now on land and remodeled as a hotel. The hotel is quite new and opened in August 2019.

Further down the inlet there is the international ferry terminal, and then a very small but working marina is immediately past the ferry terminal. There are about 8 ferry arrivals/departures per day and their wash doesn’t affect the marina to any great extent.

Marina Facilities:

The marina is well protected, open only to the NW weather. There are just 10 or so functioning berths, all in good condition.  Several berths were available when we arrived, and there was one other private cruising yacht there.

At low spring tides, there is very little water past the marina on the upstream side of the inlet. We took the berth closest to land on the seaward side, D1, and had about 2.6M under us at LWS.

There are no facilities at the marina, other than power, water, an attractive covered seating area, and toilets.

Checking in to Indonesia:

We initially contacted Bintan Island Resorts, who then gave us the name and contact details for the agent – Yolanda – to arrange our official entry into Indonesia. Yolanda asked for several documents to be emailed to her a few days ahead of our arrival, including the Vessel Declaration form we completed on line.

When we arrived at the marina we waited only an hour or so before an entourage of officials arrived to process our entry. They can do this only between the arrivals and departures of the Singapore ferries that clear here. They were all very pleasant and efficient, and our business was completed in 30 minutes. Yolanda arrived an hour or so later and sorted out the fees.

The charges to clear-in in October 2019 were as follows:

• Immigration, Customs, Harbour Master & Quarantine: 600,000rp
• Marine ports, lights, markers, etc.: 150,000rp
• Green Book (re. health status, drugs, etc. current for 6 months): 150,000rp
• Marina fees: 10,000rp per foot per day (e.g. 470,000rp for 47ft boat)
• Optional “gift” for agent: (we gave 150,000rp)
• Visa on arrival (30 days, nonrenewable, for Australians is free!): 0 rp

TOTAL: 1,520,000 rp

Contact details:

• CIQ Agent – Yolanda
  Phone or Whatsapp: +62 85385770035
  Email: [email protected]
  You need to contact her a week or so before your visit. She will ask you to email various documents to her several days before you arrive.
• Bintan Islands Resorts
  Phone: +62 770691935 or +62 08127068093 
  Website: www.bintan-resorts.com
• BBT Terminal: Channel 14 on VHF (though no one answered our calls).

Ashore:

There are 3-4 small tourist shops in the ferry terminal building, which sell snack-type food and drinks, Bintang beer at 450,000rp per carton, some clothes and souvenirs. One store has just started selling some simple food like mei goring, sandwiches, and French fries. They also sell SIM cards and reload vouchers. There is an ATM and a money changer.

What to do here:

This north-west corner of Bintan Island appears to be dedicated to tourists – mainly from Singapore. There are many upmarket resorts hidden away in various coves and bays, and the land between is natural bush, with well-tended and unlittered roads and some small manicured lakes. It is all very attractive. There is no sign of Indonesian kampongs or townships until Uban, about 12 kms along the road to Tanjung Pinang, where you pass through some sort of checkpoint. Then you encounter the real Indonesia.

In the BBT area:

• Ship Hotel, Doulos Phos – just a 10 minute walk away. It has 2 restaurants – quite expensive, but vacancies permitting, they will allow non-guests to use their dining rooms. You may also be able to negotiate use of their horizon pool. The reception staff at Doulos Phos were very friendly and provided a short guided tour of the “ship”, including the “museum” – the original engine room of the ship, now maintained in good condition and available for viewing.
Contact Gytha (pronounced Gitta) in the hotel’s Reception/Marketing.
Phone: +62 85668287614.

• Treasure Bay water theme park – located less than 1 km from the ferry terminal. Entrance is 120,000rp per adult for all day use of the pools, and there are many other adventure/water activities at add-on prices. There are also 2 restaurants there. You are able to use the Seafood Grill restaurant without paying the admittance fee.

• Eco Safari Lagoi – a nature-styled zoo with many Asian animals, including orangutans. Situated on the road to Tanjung Pinang, about 6kms from BBT. Entry is 120,000rp per foreigner adult. Open 9am to 5pm.

• Tours/Taxi/Car Hire – call Ari Arios on +62 81364520973 or Whatsapp +62 82387167853. He does a 6 hour tour to and around Tanjang Pinang, for up to 7 people, costs 1,000,000rp. You can negotiate other destinations/prices. Also talk to Imom, one of the security guards at the terminal – we struck a private deal with him – 3-4 hours self/drive use of a large car for 300,000rp. His phone numbers are 0813 7225 6085 and +62 81372256085.

Checking Out:

This was even easier than checking in. We phoned Yolanda the day before to arrange our checking out and the use of a marina berth for one night. When we arrived at the marina, the main official came down within an hour, took our passports and arranged to check us out the next morning. Three officials arrived on time, and all paperwork was again done quickly and efficiently.

Charges for check-out were:
• Marina fee for 1 night (as before, 10,000rp per foot per day): 470,000 rp
• Fee for use of electricity (it seemed high to us but we didn’t argue): 133,000 rp
• Local clearance: 200,000 rp
• Optional “gift” for Yolanda: we gave her 100,000 rp

TOTAL of 863,300 rp.

We were very happy using BBT as our entry and exit port for Indonesia, and would recommend it to other cruisers.

Sue Woods
MY Solita

For other reports by MY Solita see here.

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The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not reflect the view of Noonsite.com or World Cruising Club.