Babi
Island or Pig Island or called as Kelayang Island is a beautiful island
adjacent to Lengkuas Island at Bangka Belitung Province. Even, you can see its
island clearly from Lengkuas and vice-versa. Babi Island has white sand with
granite rocks, palm trees, grassland and become one of tourist destination in
Belitung Island. The island is situated at northern Belitung Island, not too
far from Tanjung Kelayang Beach or Tanjung Tinggi and it will take 20 to 30 minutes.
There are two stories of Babi Island. First, long time ago there was a pig
farming and the second version said if there was a big granite rock resemble to
a pig.
 |
| Picture Tour.bangkabelitung123.com |
That is
why people call the island as Babi Island. But, if you come there, you will
never see any pig. Actually the Babi Island has 2 islands, Big Babi Island and
Small Babi Island, where these islands are adjacent to one another. With
beautiful scenery, it will be so much easy for you to find fishes swimming
around the reef and visitors love to stay longer in the island. Unfortunately,
there are few facilities to support visitors because it is an inhabitant
island.
To reach
Babi Island, you can start it from town about 24 km. You can hire a car from a
hotel or guesthouse in Tanjung Pandan ranging from IDR250.000 – IDR350.000 or
US$26 – US$35 per day. You can choose a driver or without a driver. Then, you
can go straight to Tanjung Kelayang or Tanjung Tinggi. These beaches are place
to berth motor ship. If you want to hire motor ship, you have to pay around
IDR300.000 – IDR400.000 or US$31 – US$41 per group. These prices are not
included lifejacket or snorkeling equipment. So, if you go to Babi Island with
your friends, the price will be cheaper. When you arrive in the island, don’t
be surprise when you read a plank written Pulau Kepayang.
Strolling
in the Babi Island is an activity you must do before you jump into the water.
There, you also can see so many big granite rocks. With various shapes, you can
interpretation those shapes because they are so familiar to our daily life, such
as head of whale, peach, and many more. Actually, Baby Island becomes one of
alternative place to stay in Belitung. There are many rooms with stilt houses
and a restaurant of the coast and also outbound area. The most favorite
activity is snorkeling because visitors can see various fishes in the shallow
water. But the fishes tend to shy and not aggressive.
After snorkeling,
you can go to Gosong Island. The island is consist sand dune in the middle of
ocean and standing alone. If the tide of water high the island will disappear.
If you lucky, you can find starfish there. If you want to see other views of
Babi Island, you can climb the big granite rocks. From above, you can enjoy
many small islands in Tanjung Kelayang. You will feel like in Raja Ampat in
Papua. Your adventure in Babi Island becomes unforgettable moment because you
can do many things there.
