The Indonesian rupiah may be legal tender, but the Singapore dollar (S$) is Batam's unofficial second currency. Tourist-oriented hotels, restaurants and shops usually quote prices in S$, and they will be accepted by nearly anybody, money changers can be found at the major shopping malls e.g Nagoya Hills, DC Mall, BCS Mall and Mega Mall. If you decide to pay by credit card, by law your bill must be converted to rupiah first. There are ATM machines everywhere most of which accept foreign debit cards

Indonesian Rupiah

Indonesian (Bahasa Indonesia) is modeled on the Malay trade language, Riau Malay is regarded as quite similar to the Malay language and visitors from Malaysia will find the Indonesian spoken here very similar to Bahasa Malaysia. Batam also has a large population of chinese Indonesians, who speak Hokkien (Fujian), Teochew and Mandarin. There is. Of course as with almost everywhere in the world these days most people have a good command of English.

Indonesian Language

Batam has plenty of eating out choices. For real value and authentic experience, visit one of the many Batam food courts where you'll be overwhelmed by the choice of delicious food favoured spots are such as the Windsor and Nagoya Food Courts and A1 Pujasera Batam boasts several sea fronted food restaurants offering delicious fresh catch seafood dishes. including great Chinese seafood in the outdoor food courts. For seafood over the water, try Golden Prawn or Rezeki seafood at Batu Besar. They are famous for their seafood. In the Nagoya area behind Harmoni Hotel, there are dozens of bars that serve Western pub food popular with the expat community. For authentic Balinese roasted pork, visit Warung Bali in Batam Center. They have fresh babi guling every Saturday after 11:00. All of the major hotels have restaurants, some better than others. If you come during Ramadan (In August-September), you have your choice of all-you-can-eat buffets of traditional Indonesian fare from every major hotel; Beer and spirits are readily available in Batam and at a fraction of the price in Singapore. Food courts serve the cheapest beers but it's a little more expensive in the bars. Wine and spirits are available from the duty-free store at Harbor Bay, some off licences and bars in the main entertainment area.

Batam Restaurants

There are plenty of taxis in Batam, licensed taxis have yellow license plates. As there are no meters, you will need to bargain with the drivers Batam also has it's own unique bus services which operate throughout the island.

Batam Transport

For many people Batam Island is a golfing paradise, there are 7 golf courses, namely Indah puri, Tering Bay, Palm springs, Tamarin Santana, Batam hills, Southlinks and the newly built and very impressive Padang Sukajadi course. Our apartment is located just walking distance from the club house at Indah Puri..

Batam Golf