Highlights of Western Indonesia

After beloved Banyuwangi, from the east coast of Java we continued our travels through Western Indonesia. Of course Kalimantan is one of our highlights of Western Indonesia, and there are others! We stopped in cool anchorages and met some amazing people.

Go was in Indonesia for over 5 months, and between our fun visa runs we spent almost 4 months travelling the country. Despite the heat and heavy rains, lack of wind, and pollution, we liked Indonesia. Every person we encountered was friendly and kind, from east to west. In fact, one of our favorite places was also the friendliest.

Highlights of Western Indonesia: Bawean

An isolated island between Java and Kalimantan, Bawean was an oasis of calm and fun. Bawean is 150km north of Surabaya, Java. There is a ferry that sometimes goes between the two and takes about 4 hours. Bawean is a natural stopping off point for sailors heading from Java to Kalimantan, so we followed our nature and anchored there for a couple of nights.

Our timing in Western Indonesia did not align with other cruisers, so we were the only boat, and the only visitors, in Bawean. We attracted so much attention ashore. The children of Bawean waved to us, led us, followed us, and posed for photos with us all across the island of Bawean. They were fun and nice, making our visit one of our highlights of Western Indonesia.

We met DJ, a local businessman, who organized our day on Bawean. He loaned us a moped and led us on a tour with a stop for lunch and visits to some natural beauty spots.

Bawean was lush and beautiful. We posed for many photos with locals. It was a fun day and good break from the boat.

And that wasn’t even all! After taking us on a tour of the island and helping us find fresh produce at the market, DJ invited us back to his home for tea and snacks and his wife gave us rice grown on Bawean. We left Bawean with full hearts and our faces sore from smiling. It’s a gem of an island and one of our highlights of Western Indonesia.

Bellitung

From Bawean we went north to Kalimantan, known for the park and orangutans. From Kalimantan, it took us a couple of days to travel west to Belitung, where we felt like we were in paradise. With clear flat waters and sandy beaches, we were ready to relax. But first, we had to get fuel.

We left Kalimantan without fuel because our contact there couldn’t source any, resulting in some last minute strategizing as we approached Belitung. We barely made it to a small island off the coast before running out of diesel. Fortunately, we had a savior! Through NFL we contacted Eddie and Ervan and Ervan met our dinghy on the “big island” with a canister of fuel to get us to civilization.

And it was civilization! Beach bars with cold(ish) beer, a restaurant, and clear water for snorkeling. Plus, the constant help from Eddie and Ervan, who are an excellent cruiser resource. Not only did they get us emergency fuel and deliver it, they filled up enough jugs of diesel to get us to the next destination. It had been a while, probably since Lombok, that we felt so pampered on our boat.

You may notice that I keep spelling the island differently, and so do the maps! We saw Belitung with one and two Ls, an E or an I, Biliton with one and two Ls and a lot of other variations. However you spell it, this island was one of our highlights of Western Indonesia.

An oasis. We swam and snorkeled and ate and drank at leisure. Another boat anchored in the bay, the first time we’d seen other cruisers since Banyuwangi, and we met vacationers on shore. In Belitung we had company. It was like a vacation.

Kiki Resort

In between these stops which became the highlights of Western Indonesia, we spent long days motor sailing. Our stops at night were often anchorages offering no reason to go ashore. So when we did come upon an anchorage with a nice beach or resort, we took advantage of the opportunity.

We did some day hops after Belitung, but after 6 days on the boat, we finally stopped at Kiki Resort on Galang Island. This was the first time we put our dinghy in the water since Belitung. The place appeared deserted when we pulled ashore. It was the off season, with few guests, but the staff were friendly and welcoming. The heat was oppressive, so we didn’t spend much time in the massive outdoor pool, instead dining indoors. But we had to get in the pool, which was huge and empty except for us.

Last Indonesian Stop: Nongsa Point Marina in Batam

We were on a mission to get to our last stop in Indonesia, and Nongsa Point Marina in Batam was it. Directly across the strait from Singapore, Batam island is a popular day trip for cheaper shopping than Singapore.

We spent our time in Batam preparing for our next move. With both Singapore and Malaysia only a half day trip away, we decided to make Malaysia our next check-in country. Singapore is lovely, but very difficult to bring a cat, whereas Malaysia is easy. As we have Domino, and Malaysia is another place that’s good for cats, Malaysia won.

Aside from checking out, we enjoyed the pool at the marina and did a little bit of shopping downtown. This was our last stop in Indonesia: we arrived in early November and departed in early May and “sailed” over 2200 miles.

Sailing in Western Indonesia

We struggled with sailing in Indonesia. Islands are very far apart, but the water is full of coral reefs and rarely gets deep even when it takes days to travel between islands. Also, fishing is a big business here. Everywhere we go, at any time of day or night, we encounter fishing vessels and anchored or moored platforms.

It’s almost worse in the daytime because of the small fishing boats with large nets who aren’t visible until you’re almost on top of them. At least at night the platforms are lit up like a city! However, at night we have to constantly watch for freighters and tugs. The freighters are labeled on our AIS marine traffic, so we know when they’re coming. So are the tugs, but we don’t often see or know how long the rope is or what they’re towing, so night watches are fraught. You have to be on high alert sailing in Indonesia any time of day.

In addition to those obstacles are the lack of wind and the big currents. Indonesia is a beautiful country with lovely people, but I miss sailing in northern Australia. We haven’t had wind at our back since last October.

Still, Indonesia gave us incredible experiences we haven’t had anywhere else. We appreciate how lucky we are to be on this adventure, and are excited to continue sailing Go through Asia. Let me know your favorite places in Indonesia or Asia in the comments!