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Harbour Bay Guide

Harbour Bay Ferry Port

Found upon one of the broad peninsulas that form the ragged, crown-shaped northern island of Batam is the city district of Nagoya and the port of Harbour Bay. This booming province on the outer fringes of Indonesia was once awash with a dense tangle of mangrove woodland until, in the 1970s, development began on transforming the area into an economic powerhouse. After just a few years, the outline of a modern metropolis began to take shape. Soon a network of roads stretched across the expanse of tropical flatland, between which appeared lofty apartment blocks, stylish shopping malls and even golf courses to entertain travelling entrepreneurs. The ferry terminal of Harbour Bay is found on the busy coastline that borders the western edge of the city centre. It’s a small facility consisting of little more than a few undercover piers that jut into the glassy shallows of the Singapore Strait. Despite the minimal number of passenger amenities at the terminal, it sits along a promenade encircled by a clutch of cafes, restaurants and a large shopping mall housing a supermarket and ATMs. Travelling to and from the port is easy due to its central location. The main road that feeds into the harbour runs in a circle around the inner maze of downtown streets before stretching south along the Julan Sudirman motorway towards the outlying pockets of the city. It’s a route that also cuts east through the countryside, the roadsides here coloured by lush grasses and emerald-leafed palms, towards the Hang Nadim International Airport. The island is supported by very few public transportation links. A train route does not exist while the fleet of city buses are shackled by a limited schedule and only service a few central locations. The main way to travel across Batam is by taxi cab, though avoid any cars that do not display the yellow number plates that characterise the legal services. Two ferry services run from the port multiple times throughout the day. Horizon Fast Ferry and Batam Fast Ferry lines hop across to the sprawling city state of Singapore, a short northwards journey that whisks passengers across the warm waters of the Singapore Strait and along the edge of the supposedly haunted St John’s Island.