All Batam ports, namely Harbour Bay Jodoh, Batam Centre, Nongsapura, Sekupang and Waterfront City Teluk Senimba are visa-free and visa-on-arrival ports of entry. For detailed information on visas, please refer to the Indonesia page.
By plane
Batam's airport is the Hang Nadim International Airport BTH. Nearly all flights are domestic where you can get direct connections to Jakarta, Surabaya, Medan, Pekanbaru, Jambi, Palembang, Pontianak, Yogyakarta and Bandung. Indonesian carriers Garuda Indonesia (http://www.garuda-indones...), Merpati, Mandala Airlines (http://www.mandalaair.com), Lion Air (http://www.lion-air.co.id), Riau Airlines (http://www.riau-airlines.com), Kartika Airlines (http://www.kartika-airlin...), [ (http://www.batavia-air.co.id/) Batavia Airlines] and a host of others provide the links. One can travel to Yogyakarta from Batam.
In addition to the domestic flights, Firefly operates international flights from Subang Airport near Kuala Lumpur.
For most foreign visitors though, the most practical way of getting to Batam will be to fly into Singapore and catch a ferry from there. If you want to catch flights from Singapore's Changi Airport, you must be on a ferry to Singapore at least three hours before departure time. See "By boat" section below for details.
By ship
The main ports on Batam are Batam Centre, Sekupang, Waterfront City, Nongsapura and Telaga Punggur. The main city of Nagoya is now served by Harbour Bay Jodoh, replacing the old Batu Ampar ferry terminal.
Batam Center Ferry Terminal has the most frequent ferry connections to/from Singapore and Johor Bahru. Sekupang, with ferries from Singapore is best used for those catching domestic connections to the Sumatra mainland and the Karimun Islands. Waterfront City and Nongsapura mostly serve adjacent resorts while Telaga Punggur is the main ferry terminal for boats to and from Bintan. Harbour Bay is monopolized by Berlian/Wavemaster.
To/From Singapore:
Ferries departing from the Harbourfront Ferry Terminal go to Batam Centre, Sekupang and Waterfront City Teluk Senimba while ferries from the Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal serve Nongsapura.From Harbourfront: Ferry operators include:Penguin Tel: +62-778-467574 in Batam Centre; +62-778-321636 in Sekupang; +62-778-381280 in Waterfront City; +65-62714866 in Harbourfront. S$23/40 one-way/return Nov 2009. Virtually hourly ferries to Batam Centre and Sekupang, fewer ferries to Waterfront City.Dino/Batam Fast Tel: +62-778-467793/464666 in Batam Centre; +62-778-325085/6 in Sekupang; +62-778-381150 in Waterfront City; +65-62700311 in Harbourfront. Also hourly ferries to Batam Centre, fewer ferries to Sekupang and Waterfront City. S$26/40 one-way/return Oct 2007.Indofalcon Tel: +65-62783167 in Harbourfront. This company does not operate to/from SekupangBerlian/Wave Master Tel: +65-65468830 in Singapore. Frequent service to Harbour Bay.From Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal: Ferries operated by:Dino/Batam Fast Tel: +62-778-761071 in Nongsapura, +65-65426310 in Tanah Merah FT. Several ferries daily to/from Nongsapura.To/From Malaysia:
Ferries link Johor Bahru with Batam Centre. There are virtually hourly departures betweem 0750 and 1840 from JB to Batam, and between 0750 and 1720 from Batam to JB. Tickets cost RM60/95 one-way/return before taxes to/from JB. For more information, call Tenggara Senandung Tel: +60-7-2211677 in Johor Bahru. Ferries also operate between Batam Centre and Tanjung Belungkor in Johor.To/From Bintan:
The main port for ferries between the capital city of Riau Islands Tanjung Pinang at the island Bintan and Batam is Telaga Punggur at the southeastern end of Batam: Baruna Tel: +62-778-479162 in Telaga Punggur; +62-771-28578 in Tanjung Pinang and Sentosa operate speedboats between Telaga Punggur and Bintan's main town Tanjung Pinang virtually every 15 minutes during daylight hours. Tickets cost Rp.25,000 - Rp40,000 excluding port taxes Rp.5,000. Frequent speedboats also run between Telaga Punggur and Tanjung Uban on the western part of Bintan. Getting there/away: Official taxis from Batam Centre to Telaga Punggur cost Rp65.000. On the reverse way, it's Rp. 60.000. You can try and bargain for a lower rate with taxis outside the port area Batam centre to Telaga Punggur may cost Rp.50.000. Passenger vans or mikrolet know as Metro Trans by the locals run between Telaga Punggur and Jodoh/Nagoya. Mind you, they will go back & fro to wait until their van is full before they really depart.Boats to/from Tanjung Pinang also call at Sekupang at the northeastern part of Batam when going to or coming from the Sumatra mainland such as to Dumai and Pekanbaru, as well as Karimun Island. These are however not as frequent as those leaving from Telaga Punggur. To get to Sekupang, please see following section.To/From Sumatra mainland, other Riau Islands:
Batam's main domestic port is Sekupang, where you can ferries to/from the Sumatra mainland and other Riau Islands west of Batam. You can also use Sekupang for ferries to/from Bintan but the bulk of ferries to that island leave from Telaga Punggur see "From Bintan" section above. Getting there/away: Numerous taxis make the run between Sekupang and Nagoya. There is also a public minibus service between Sekupang and Batam Center as well as Nagoya.To/From Karimun Island: Regular ferries operate between Tanjung Balai on Karimun and Sekupang. Some of the ferries originate from the Sumatra mainland or Kundur Island. Boats also stop at Tanjung Balai when going from Sekupang to Sumatra or Kundur.To/From Dumai: Several companies, including Dumai Express operates several ferries daily to/from Sekupang. Most of these ferries originate from Tanjung Pinang, the main town on Bintan, and also make a stop at Tanjung Balai on Karimun Island after making a stop at Sekupang.To/From Kundur Island: Several ferry companies run daily between Sekupang and Tanjung Batu on Kundur. These ferries also make a stop at Tanjung Balai on Karimun enroute.Other ferry destinations include Pekanbaru, Selat Panjang, Bengkalis and Tanjung Buton in Riau, and Kuala Tungkal in Jambi province.From other parts of Indonesia:
Pelni ships which serve various ports throughout Indonesia call at Sekupang.