Belitung Boat Tour: Island Hopping, Beaches, & Snorkeling

Pulau Belitung is a small island in Sumatra, Indonesia that’s becoming famous for its crystal clear water and rocky granite islands.

There are lots of interesting things to see in Belitung, but the very best scenery is in the smaller islands scattered around the north coast. No Belitung tour would be complete without seeing these on a boat trip!

This travel guide covers the Belitung island hopping tour and what you can expect to see on it. These islands are part of Belitung’s newly recognized UNESCO Geopark, and they’re easy to visit on a day trip!

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Where To Stay In Belitung

MaxOneHotels

Sheraton Belitung Resort

Hotel Fairfield By Marriott

Hotel Santika Beach Resort

Island Hopping Belitung Tour

First of all, if you’re looking for a tour guide for exploring the islands, Billitone Capture has a private Belitung island hopping day tour. You can contact them by WhatsApp at +62 853-1555-5288.

This tour visits the top sights like Lengkuas Island, Batu Berlayar, and more, and it includes free lunch, entrance tickets, snorkeling gear, life jackets, and hotel pickup/drop-off.

Alternatively, if you just show up at the main harbor in Tanjung Kelayang, then you may be able to find a boat driver with a better price by haggling. That’s what we did on one of our trips and everything went smoothly.

What To Expect

Generally the Belitung island hopping tours include 6-7 scenic stops, and you can expect to spend at least an hour at each major stop.

The boat driver will take you around to different granite rock formations, underwater coral reefs, walkable sandbars, and even a colonial lighthouse!

Lunch is usually done on Pulau Kepayang island, and it includes fresh seafood, veggies, and rice.

Best Belitung Islands To See

• Lengkuas Island

This island is one of the highlights of a Belitung tour.

It’s home to an iconic Dutch lighthouse from the 1800s, and you can still climb to the top today! From the 18th story balcony you get views of the granite rocks and blue water below.

Last, but not least, Lengkuas has some of the best beaches and snorkeling spots in Belitung.

Read More: Lengkuas Island

• Kepayang Island

Pulau Kepayang is one of the bigger islands in the area and it’s also inhabited, with a seafood restaurant that’s included on some of the boat tours.

• Baby Pig Island (Pulau Babi Kecil)

This is a tiny island next to Pulau Kepayang.

There’s not a lot to see at Babi Kecil, but I still think it’s one of the most photogenic islands in Belitung.

• Belitung Snorkeling

All Belitung island hopping tours include some snorkeling at one of the many good coral reefs in the area.

Belitung snorkeling is fantastic, with lots of healthy corals and friendly fish. Just watch out for spiky sea urchins, we saw a bunch of them sitting between the corals. You don’t want to step on one.

• Sailing Rock Island (Pulau Batu Berlayar)

This was one of our favorite islands in Belitung.

The Batu Berlayar island is a small circle of sand with rocks and boulders scattered across it. It’s kind of like a messy, natural Stonehenge on the ocean.

There’s even a little opening between the main boulders in the center of the island that you can walk through.

• Sand Island (Pulau Pasir)

This is a cool sandbar that only appears at certain times of the day.

We visited Pulau Pasir in July, and in that month the sandbar was biggest in the morning, but in the afternoon was still shallow enough you could wade on it!

Starfish show up here a lot in the shallow water because of the ocean currents that push toward the sandbar.

Pulau Pasir Sandbar Belitung

• Kelayang Island

There’s more to this island than meets the eye.

If you do a quick 3 minute hike to the back of Pulau Kelayang, there’s a rainbow colored cave and natural pool between the boulders. It’s a fascinating spot.

• Tukong Kelayang Island

This is a small island near Kelayang, with perfect white sand and not too many visitors. There’s a small shack inside the trees, but I don’t think anyone lives there anymore.

• Garuda Stone Island (Pulau Batu Garuda)

This one is named after a rock at the back of the island that looks like the beak of Garuda, the legendary bird creature from Hindu and Buddhist religion.

• Pegador Island

Most Belitung tours seem to skip this island, but it has a nice beach and some flat rocks to relax on.

We didn’t get to spend much time exploring this island, but it’s at the top of our list next time we’re back in Belitung!

• Bird Island (Pulau Burung)

Pulau Burung island gets its name from the shape, that looks kind of like a bird in flight.

You may have to pay your boat driver a little extra to go to this island since it’s an extra 15-30 minutes farther from the main tourist route.

We paid our guy an extra 100k Rupiah (~$7) to add Pegador, Burung, and Kelamin islands to our boat tour.

• Buto Island

This island gets its name from a penis shaped rock. If you scale the main boulder in the center of the sandbar, you can get great views of the whole island from above.

You may have to pay your boat driver a little extra to go to this island since it’s an extra 30 minutes farther from the main tourist route.

We paid our guy an extra 100k Rupiah (~$7) to add Pegador, Burung, and Kelamin islands to our boat tour.

• Tanjung Kelayang Beach

This is the main beach that all of the Belitung boat tours depart from, but it’s also a pretty nice beach in its own regard.

It has a long stretch of white sand and there are some sections that are never as crowded as the more famous Tanjung Tinggi beach.

Belitung Tour Packages

Billitone Capture has private Belitung island hopping tours. You can contact them by WhatsApp at +62 853-1555-5288.

This tour visits the top sights like Lengkuas Island, Batu Berlayar, and more, and it includes free lunch, entrance tickets, snorkeling gear, life jackets, and hotel pickup/drop-off.

Alternatively, if you just show up at the main harbor in Tanjung Kelayang, then you may be able to find a boat driver with a better price by haggling. That's what we did on one of our trips and everything went smoothly.

Leebong Island

Aside from the popular island hopping tours in northwest Belitung, there’s also a nice little island in southwest Belitung that’s owned by the 3-star Leebong Island Resort, which has sea view villas and overwater bungalows.

There are day trips to Pulau Leebong departing from Pegantungan harbor, or you can stay overnight at the resort. Their official website has more info about the day tours. Leebong has a beautiful white sandbar and other things to see.

Book Now: Leebong Island Resort

Leebong Island Resort

Best Time To Visit

The best time to visit Pulau Belitung is from April to September.

This is Indonesia’s dry season, so it’s less rainy, with more sun, smoother seas, and better snorkeling visibility.

Months to avoid are November to January, when there’s a lot more rain. If you have to go in the rainy season, give yourself some extra days as a buffer in case of bad weather.

Belitung Hotels