Imagine paradise; blue skies, beautiful beaches with white sand and granite boulders, amazing food, flowers, happy people, and world class diving, that’s all you can find in Bangka Belitung Island.
When you hear about Bangka Belitung Island, what’s the thing in your mind? Beautiful beaches, Small Islands with white sand, Tin Island, or for you who love reading novels may not strange to Andrea Hirata’s hometown with its amazing stories, yes that’s all true. That’s all about bangka belitung, the islands with beautiful beaches, the unique landscape with its purely white sand, granite boulders, and the crystal clear seawater. On November 21st, 2000, Bangka belitung Island has been approved to become the 31st province of Indonesia separated from South Sumatra. This new province is called ‘Kepulauan Bangka Belitung’ province.
A year ago I got unforgettable experiences when I visited Bangka Belitung, Just after my arrival I was welcomed like old friends by many ethnics such as Malay, Chinese, buggies, even Javanese. Likely in Bangka Belitung they don’t assess people from the ethnics. Most of Bangka Belitung populations come from Melayu ethnic and most of them are Moslem. There are some other ethnics likes Chinese, Javanese, Balinese and some people from Sumatra like Palembang, Minang and Batak.
Bangka Belitung Island has many amazing beaches; the first beach that I visited is Parai Tenggiri beach. This beach is one of Bangka Island’s prides. It became the big three of beautiful beaches in Indonesia based on GarudaMagazine.com on March 2008. The beach is located in Sungailiat district in eastern of Bangka Island. The visitors can find various forms of boulders in this beach, which add its beauty. This beach is very ideal for having swimming, sun bathing and relax. Parai Tenggiri beach has the complete facilities in Bangka Island. There are luxurious hotels and water sport facilities. The tourists will enjoy this beach with the local fishermen who always spend their days by looking for fishes in the sea. The calmness and fresh sea wind will greet the visitor when they arrive there. This welcomed course make the tourists feel comfortable to stay here.
Not too long from this beach you have to visit Matras beach. It is located in Sinar baru village, Sungailiat district. It about 9 Km from Sungailiat district, it’s considered as the best in Bangka Island. The beach is about 3 kilometers long and its width is almost 30 meters. It is unspoiled white sandy beach with coconut trees around the beach area, the tropical breeze and sunshine. Enjoy the warm and clear waters of the blue sea or just have a cooling swim in the river entering the sea. Every single dive I did was memorable I have just picked out a few to indicate how amazing the diving is you can do from Bangka Belitung Island.This beach commonly called as the Heaven Beach because it surrounded with coconut trees and visited by a lot of visitor. An easily accessible beach can be found in the northeast of Bangka, 48 km from Pangkal Pinang and 12 km from Sungailiat.
For you who love Andrea Hirata’s novel, maybe you are not strange to hear about Tanjung Pandan city, from that city you can visit Tanjung Tinggi beach. The beach is about 20-25 kilometers long; Tanjung Tinggi beach is the most beautiful beach in Belitung. This beautiful nature is also accompanied by hundreds of small islands with white sand and many granite boulders, which add the beautiful tourism area. Belitung Island is one of the best and unique beaches own in Indonesia.
I am sure that most of you are really curious about how beautiful Bangka Belitung Island and I guarantee you will get unforgettable experiences. That’s real and already tested you can find it only in Indonesia. Happy traveling…!
bang ardy