Barelang Islands

The Barelang Islands are in the Riau Islands province, near Batam, in Indonesia. }}

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Introduction to Barelang Islands

The Barelang Islands are just south of Batam. Barelang gets its name as an acronym from three of the islands' names - Batam, Rempang and Galang. The other four islands are Tonton, Nipah, Setotok and Galang Baru. The island of Batam itself is sometimes included in Barelang, but for this travel guide it refers to the other six islands.

Travel to Barelang Islands

The Barelang Islands are about the following travelling times from these locations in Batam:

30min from Hang Nadim Airport (IATA Flight Code: BTH)
30min from Harbour Bay Ferry Terminal, Batu Ampar
35min from Batam Center Ferry Terminal, Batam Center
40min from Sekupang Ferry Terminal, Sekupang
30min from Waterfront City Ferry Terminal, Waterfront City
50min from Nongsapura Ferry Terminal, Nongsa

Get Around in Barelang Islands

What to see in Barelang Islands

Muslim Travel Tips

Full day hire of a taxi Rp 500,000 (around SGD70)

The largest of the Barelang Islands, Rempang Island has many nice beaches along the west coast, such as Melayu Beach, Pasir Putih Beach and Memory Hill Beach, to name a few. These beaches are good for swimming and have restaurants serving local food with drinks available.

Vietnam Village, a former Vietnamese Refugee Camp, was built by Vietnamese "Boat People" that escaped the war in Vietnam by boat and arrived at Galang Island in 1976 and occupied the village until 1995. Around 250,000 Vietnamese occupied the camp during its 19-year history, with most eventually gaining asylum in Australia or Canada, while others were returned to Vietnam under emotional circumstances

The Vietnamese built several buildings and temples during their stay; these have now been preserved and made into a tourism attraction. There are some replica boats of the ones used by these "Boat People" to flee from their homeland.

A Church and the Quan Am Tuesday Quil Buddhist Temple (built in 1984) are still used by worshippers today and is one of Batam most visited attractions. The Khong Pan Sunday Cam Yao administration building, a clinic and social services complex and youth centre were built and ran by the refugees.

View the Ngha Trang Memorial Wall, built as a tribute to the boat people of Vietnam; or visit the Galang Museum with its many interesting artefacts.

Today the camp remains preserved for visitors to stroll amongst and read & view the camp history from many of the displayed paintings and documents

The site is quite overgrown in places by the jungle and takes around 1h to drive to from Batam Centre. However, on entering the site there are several colonies of Macaque monkeys by the road side which are friendly. Unfortunately and there is nowhere around to buy food for them so it is worth stocking up before visiting here if feeding monkeys appeals to you

Halal Restaurants & Food in Barelang Islands

There is a large seafood restaurant, Lucky Seafood Restaurant on Nipah Island

Barelang Islands

From Halal Explorer

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