Trikora Beach: Bintan’s Popular Beach, Great Fishing and Diving

Located east of Bintan Island in the Riau Archipelago, is a long stretch of white beach, scattered with picturesque huge boulders, called Trikora Beach. This is the popular seaside playground for locals but also for those coming from Singapore and Malaysia.

From here, not far out to sea you will see rows of "kelongs" or fish traps, houses on boats, under which fishermen hang out their nets to catch small fry, or ikan bilis, for which Bintan is so well known. But from the beach are now also built boardwalks with kelongs attached on either side, which are rented out to tourists. These are usually filled with avid anglers from Singapore and Malaysia to set out to sea at night or before the crack of dawn in order to catch the larger fish.

It was also along this stretch of beach that last 25 October 2014, festivities were held to welcome the Sail Bintan participants in the annual 3-months long Sail Indonesia Yacht Rally across the Indonesian seas, visiting the archipelago’s many diverse islands. Sail Indonesia was flagged off in Darwin, Australia, at the end of July, and Bintan the last port of call before participants leave Indonesian waters. Yachtsmen were warmly welcomed by the people led by the Regent of Bintan himself, with song and dance and cultural performances.

Get There

It takes about 45 minutes to reach Trikora Beach by car from the city of Tanjung Pinang, and around half an hour from your hotel at Bintan Resorts. But distance-wise, these are quite wide apart so that you should travel by car or tour coach. In fact, Trikora is usually included in a day tour of the island of Bintan that covers Trikora, Tanjung Pinang city and the historic island of Penyengat that faces the city. So that for sightseeing, Bintan highlights can be explored within a one full day package tour.