Beautiful Belitung

Belitung island is a quick 50 minute flight from Jakarta. It is a perfect spot to go for a short weekend. We were able to leave very early on Saturday morning and return on Sunday night, giving us two full days for the beach! We got the the airport bright and early at 5:00 am. The security line in Jakarta is always quick and easy, but on domestic flights they have separate lines for men and women! There are only women security officers at the women’s line. Of course, the men have five lanes and the women have one, so Michael was stuck waiting for me!

After a quick flight we arrived at 7:00 am and headed right to our hotel to put on our bathing suits and drop off our suitcases. We hopped back in the taxi and went straight to the harbor. It’s kind of strange, but through the taxi service I was able to order a boat for the day. We got a private boat for the whole day and a captain named Jack to take us on an island hopping tour to five different islands….all for about $35 US.

We headed to the furthest island first. Lengkuas island is dominated by an old Dutch lighthouse built in 1882. It is still a working lighthouse and we had planned to walk up the 12 flights to the top, but unfortunately, it is currently being painted and we weren’t able to make the climb.

We settled for a walk amongst the boulders with a few chickens and had a refreshing drink of young coconut water. The beautiful boulders of the Belitung area reminded us of our favorite place on earth – The Baths in Virgin Gorda, BVI!

Next stop was to anchor out by the little island you see in the last picture above and do some snorkeling. It was a great spot and we were happy to see some beautiful coral and colorful fish. After about an hour of snorkeling we were ready to eat so we headed to the next island, Kepayang. There we had a seafood (of course!) lunch, went to a small turtle conservation area and did a little more island exploring!

Kelayang Island was our next stop. The island has a little rainforest in the middle of it and the trees and boulders are quite amazing. We had fun swimming in cave areas made by the immense boulders, walking through the small forest and swinging on a little swing by the beach!

At Batu Berlayar Island we found beautiful shells and sand dollars and saw some starfish in the shallow water. I love finding pretty shells!

We wrapped up our day a little early as the clouds were starting to roll in, but we couldn’t believe how much we had seen since we Jakarta just that morning! Such a fun day! We bid Captain Jack, “Selamat Sore” (a good afternoon!) and headed back to the hotel. Oh, and I almost forgot, bathrooms on the small islands are SO nice! 😂

Back at the hotel we cleaned up and went to an early dinner. The hotel was just starting to decorate for Christmas. Do you think we should have told them about candy canes???

Eating at a buffet in Indonesia, you definitely have to tame your American expectations! The sandwich bar did not have any cheese or meat, the ice cream sandwich bar is ice cream and a dinner roll, and salad dressing here consists of multiple types of mayonnaise! However, you can get just about anything pickled!!

I would like to tell you that we partied all night long on this little island, but our 4am wake up call caught up to us and we crashed after dinner! We were, of course, up bright and early for our next adventure! A short taxi ride to the northern tip of the island brought us to a place called Tanjung Tinggi Beach. A movie titled “The Rainbow Troop” was partially filmed on this beach. The movie was based on a famous book about children growing up on Belitung Island and I was glad I had a chance to see it before our trip there. We spent the entire day exploring, snorkeling and Michael even relaxed among the boulders and did a little work. It was a very cool beach!

After another fun day at the beach, we stopped for a beer on the way back to the hotel. Frosty’s was the coolest place! It is an outdoor bar with a freezer full of frozen glasses and coolers full of beer. You just help yourself and when you are ready to leave you just let the hotel staff inside know and they come out and count your beers and give you a bill! The best surprise was that they were all 2 for 1!

Unfortunately, this was our last stop before heading to the hotel to grab a quick bite before heading to the airport. Another fun weekend on a beautiful island! Next trip will be to Bali with Aidan and Sedona! Yeah! ❤️