Things to do in Batam Indonesia

July 27, 2011 | 27 Comments

A&W

Bring A&W back to Singapore!

Batam is an island in Riau Islands Province of Indonesia. It is located approximately 20km off Singapore, with the ferry journey from Singapore to Batam taking around 45 minutes – the perfect weekend getaway near Singapore.

It is a shame that Batam has been known as the place where dirty old men go in search of sex. To me, Batam is a nice place where you can enjoy fun water sports, fresh seafood, cheap shopping and affordable spa & massages.

Here’s a list of things to do in Batam for a short weekend getaway:

Eat + Shopping + Massage

A&W Fast Food Restaurant

Ever since A&W pulled out from Singapore many years ago, the one in Batam is the nearest option for Singaporeans to satisfy their craving for A&W root beer float, curly fries and ice cream waffle. I love A&W!

Nagoya Hill Shopping Mall

Shopping in Nagoya Hill Mall

From what I understand, Nagoya Hill is the biggest shopping mall on the island. You can buy the popular kueh lapis (layer cakes); eat ayam penyet (crispy fried chicken) at Nagoya Hill’s food street; buy Indomie Mi goreng from the hypermarket; and shop around for bargains in the mall.

Batam Massage

Cheap Massage in Batam

I highly recommend Isabella Massage House at Nagoya Hills. From the traditional Balinese massage (170,000 rupiah/SGD$25 for 2 hours) to the popular Thai Massage, there are different massage therapies to choose from.

The massage parlour provides free transportation to-and-fro (for the whole day), and I love the fact that they reply email enquiries (info@isabellamassagehouse.com) very promptly.

Batam Seafood

Cheap and good seafood in Batam

Golden Prawn Seafood Restaurant and Harbour Bay Seafood Restaurant are the names that most people mention when you ask them to recommend the best seafood restaurant in Batam.

After massage, we had a seafood feast at Harbour Bay, a stretch of seafood restaurants by the waterfront promenade.

I got a little greedy and over-ordered. Between the three of us, we had mantis prawns, salted egg yolk crabs, black pepper crabs, hotplate tofu, deep-fried spring chicken, chilli stir-fried mussels, and sambal kangkong. Cheap and good seafood. What more can we ask for?

Batam

Batam Beach Resort & Water Sports

And of course, you can choose a nice beach resort if you are staying overnight. Water sports facilities can mainly be found on resorts throughout Batam.

What’s there not to like about Batam? It is the ideal place for a short weekend getaway from Singapore.

Category: # Restaurant Review, Dining Guide Singapore, Food Photography, Singapore Food Blog, Travel
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Comments

27 Responses to “Things to do in Batam Indonesia”

  1. pam
    July 27th, 2011 @ 10:33 pm

    OMG the massage is so cheap!!

  2. Ashley
    July 28th, 2011 @ 9:28 pm

    F&E or tour? if tour which agency? =)

  3. ladyironchef
    July 28th, 2011 @ 11:14 pm

    ashley: Free and easy. Batam is very easy to travel around, you don’t need agency

  4. Dividends Warrior
    July 30th, 2011 @ 2:31 pm

    Wow. Looks like Batam is not as sleazy as I thought.

    Definitely a convenient and cheap weekend getaway.

  5. kary
    August 1st, 2011 @ 12:13 pm

    hi,

    can i check if they accept sin dollars in the mall itself ?

    Does the isabelle shop help to book ferry tickets too?

    Thanks

  6. ladyironchef
    August 1st, 2011 @ 1:37 pm

    kary: most of the shops accept sin dollars. But you can always change to Rupiah at the money changer there. No, isabella does not help to book ferry tickets, you can call Batam Fast at Harbourfront Ferry Terminal to reserve tickets.

  7. misterang
    August 1st, 2011 @ 11:28 pm

    i think ur photos makes the Nagoya Hill Mall better than it should be like. haha

  8. Cordelia
    August 5th, 2011 @ 9:58 am

    How did you get to Harbour Bay Seafood Restaurant?

  9. ladyironchef
    August 5th, 2011 @ 10:04 am

    cordelia: the massage house provided transport there, and they sent us from the seafood place back to the harbour. I guess you can always get a cab too?

  10. Al
    August 5th, 2011 @ 9:53 pm

    Yeah i agree with some of the guys above..your pic of the mall makes it look WAYY too good lol…Another place which had good A & W was in Malacca…damn i sure miss that place!..Casa Del Rio hotel was alil pricey but SOOOO worth it..

  11. Mine
    August 12th, 2011 @ 4:05 pm

    wonder why they named golden prawn as one of the more popular ones there, the food there isn’t even near good. :-S had a really really bad experience in Batam, obviously. haha

  12. Valerie
    August 15th, 2011 @ 11:19 pm

    Hi,

    I like to ask where is A&W located at Batam? How to get there?

    Thanks

  13. ladyironchef
    August 16th, 2011 @ 8:44 am

    valerie: the A&W that I went to is at Nagoya Hill Shopping Mall. You can get a cab there?

  14. Linting
    August 27th, 2011 @ 8:20 pm

    Hi, may i know if u have any recommendations for stay there? and roughly what is the minimum budget should i have for a visit? Roughly how much did u spend there?
    Sorry for asking so much coz i am planning a trip there with my gfs :D

  15. ladyironchef
    August 30th, 2011 @ 4:53 pm

    Linting: I went for a one day trip, we didn’t stay overnight. The hotels there are quite affordable. For ferry ride, it’s SGD$40 for two way.

  16. S
    December 30th, 2011 @ 1:27 am

    Hi there! Could like to ask what time did you went to Habour Bay for seafood? Do you know if they open in the afternoon? Thank u! :D

  17. ladyironchef
    December 30th, 2011 @ 9:56 am

    @S From what I heard, they only open in the evening 6pm? But I was there around 5pm and they were ready for business.

  18. xueqi
    January 16th, 2012 @ 12:12 pm

    Hi hi.. i am planning a batam trip this march! Heard about the dirty uncle thing also but wanted a short get away with my friends! Just want to ask u.. are there nice sceneries we can look forward to? Nice resorts? Perhaps??

  19. ladyironchef
    January 16th, 2012 @ 12:53 pm

    @xueqi I think Batam is a nice place if you want a short getaway for 2D1N. Cheap seafood and massage. By the way, beach resorts are further away from the town area.

  20. Isabel
    February 11th, 2012 @ 6:22 pm

    Hi there! Just wanted to let you know that I love reading your recommendations! Anyways, I’m actually heading over to Batam with a couple of friends, and we’ve arranged to stay at the Nongsa Point resort? Don’t know if you’ve got any recommendations for food or recreation near the area?

  21. flo
    March 6th, 2012 @ 10:12 pm

    hihi, wanna know about safety do u think if it is safe to travel alone in Batam? Im planning to go

  22. ladyironchef
    March 6th, 2012 @ 10:48 pm

    @flo I think it’s relatively safe to travel in Batam. Of course, you have to make sure you take the necessary precautions whenever you travel alone like don’t carry too much visible valuables, and try to be a little low-profile. Should be fine, have fun!

  23. Quu
    March 7th, 2012 @ 12:43 pm

    Went to batam last week. Stayed at HarmoniOne hotel, a very nice hotel at affordable price. The hotel is quite new, less than a year I think. It’s located at Batam Centre

    For massage, I went to GO! Massage. The place is really cozy and clean. The whole experience is wonderful. I did aromatherapy + scrub (Rp250.000) for 2 hours. It’s really cheap and feel so fresh after that. It’s located in front of Panorama hotel. Must try!!!

  24. Annie
    March 18th, 2012 @ 1:00 pm

    Hi, how much was the seafood feast you had? Do they accept cards? or only purely cash?

  25. ladyironchef
    March 18th, 2012 @ 9:11 pm

    @Annie I can’t remember the exact amount, but it was very cheap. Like $20-30/pax for a lot of food? We paid by cash, didn’t check if they accept cards, though.

  26. Shu Ling
    April 30th, 2012 @ 5:08 pm

    Hello, which resort did you stay at?

  27. Mich
    May 17th, 2012 @ 1:46 pm

    Hi, if i intend to go on a 1 day trip, roughly what time shld I set off? What time ferry is better?

    Wanna go for massage, abit of shopping n seafood. Roughly how much cash is sufficient? Nv been there before.

    For the transportation by Isabella Massage, is it like free to anywhere? Cause u mention they sent u back to harbour after seafood? So can I arrange for them to pickup from pier to nagoya hill for shop+massage then to seafood at night n back to pier?

    Thanks!

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