Belitung
An Island Of Enormous Granite Boulders Piled On White Sand Beaches; A Former Tin Mining Centre Made Famous Across Indonesia By The Novel And Film Laskar Pelangi · Tanjung Pandan, Bangka Belitung
Belitung's beaches are covered in GRANITE BOULDERS THE SIZE OF HOUSES, piled and balanced on white sand in water so shallow and clear it reads pale green - at TANJUNG TINGGI and TANJUNG KELAYANG the effect is unlike any other coast in Indonesia. The island sits between Sumatra and Borneo and for a century it was a TIN MINING CENTRE, which is the other half of its landscape: the interior is pocked with FLOODED MINING PITS, some of them turquoise from dissolved minerals and photographed as if they were lakes, and the industry left real damage behind it. WHAT MADE BELITUNG FAMOUS ACROSS INDONESIA WAS A BOOK. Laskar Pelangi, published in 2005 and filmed in 2008, is set here, and the domestic tourism boom that followed rebuilt the island's economy around visitors. There is a replica of the schoolhouse and a museum built around the book, and Indonesians come in numbers to see both - which is why the beaches fill at school holidays and are close to empty the rest of the year.
Belitung Island, Bangka Belitung Islands, Tanjung Pandan, Bangka Belitung, Indonesia
REACHED BY AIR - TANJUNG PANDAN HAS FREQUENT FLIGHTS FROM JAKARTA, about an hour, which makes Belitung one of the easiest island destinations in Indonesia to get to. There is also a ferry from Bangka. THERE IS NO GATE AND NO ADMISSION: the beaches are open and free, with small parking charges at the popular ones. ISLAND-HOPPING BOATS to LENGKUAS and the outer islets are arranged at TANJUNG KELAYANG, negotiated by the boat rather than per person, and run through the day in calm weather. THE LENGKUAS LIGHTHOUSE, a Dutch iron tower from 1882, can sometimes be climbed depending on its current condition and whoever is managing it. THE ROUGHEST SEAS ARE ROUGHLY DECEMBER TO FEBRUARY, when island-hopping is frequently cancelled. Hire a car or scooter; the island is large.