Tanjung Tinggi Beach, Sumatra, Indonesia

4huong l 5:00 PM Aug 16, 2016

Sleeping island only 45' flight from Jakarta
Only 45' flight from Jakarta. Belitung with so many beautiful beaches and islands is like a sleeping beauty. Not many people know about Belitung, even Indonesia people. The local people are very honest and not spoiled by tourists yet. Very few people can speak English but they can understand most common English words. The islands hopping tour is a must. You better start early to get to the tiny sand islands first to enjoy swimming there. There water is crystal clear and there're so many big star fishes that you can take pictures. Remember to put back the star fishes to the waters after pictures. You will stop by a few other islands. Remember to go up the lighthouse. The view from the lighthouse is splendid, breathtaking. On the islands hopping tour, there's some sport that you can just jump out of the boat for snorkling. The coral reef there is not as good as in 3 Gilis in Lombok but it's worth a try. If you need to travel around Belitung, remember to book Street Taxi which is operated by Mike and his Indonesian wife. Mike is very helpful. He can help you to book hotel, boat, meal for the islands hopping tour with reasonable price. Mike himself can drive you when there's short of staff. Another beautiful spot is Kaolin Lake. The lake used to be kaolin mine long time ago. The water is so Blue that you can think it's not real. You just need to spend around 15' taking pictures there on the way to/from airport as you cannot swim in the lake. We highly recommend Belitung island. Remember to book flight to Tanjung Pandan airport as there may be some misunderstanding with a few other islands with similar names. There're many flights from Jakarta to Belitung (Tanjung Pandan airport). But I found SRIWIJAYA airline more suitable with many flights a day.

4Taj81 5:00 PM Oct 24, 2019

Avoid the weekend if you are a Western Woman
We have visited this beach a few times. Through the week it is quiet but weekends are local family gathering times.Beaides being crowded and having loads of big blow up seams and boats on the beach , If you are western woman and used to wearing a swimming costume ( mine is one piece and not high cut) you will be stared at , especially by the men ( I am also in my 50s !). All the local women wear Islamic dress to swim in also. In addition there is rubbish. There is a beach around the corner where we had a picnic with our local friends and it is littered with rubbish. The locals don't seem to mind and drop rubbish everywhere. Western tourists will stop coming when the rubbish gets worse and starts to float in the beautiful clear waters of this beach. A sad inevitability as locals don't see the ramifications of fouling their own nest.