Bitung - General Info
Where is Bitung?
Bitung is the harbour of Manado City. It is located on the north eastern end of North Sulawesi, the large island lying east of Borneo and to the west of West Papua.
It is the principal port for this part of Sulawesi and a port of entry, but not the most attractive place. It is approximately 44kms between Manado and Bitung.
Cruiser Highlights for Bitung:
Excellent diving can be found in Lembeh Strait with some of Indonesia’s most stunning tropical ocean life. The nearby Tangkoko Nature Reserve is home to the rare and tiny Tarsier monkeys with their big saucer eyes.
Position:
01°26.22’N, 125°11.83’E (harbour entrance)
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Related to following destinations: Bitung, Indonesia, North / Central Indonesia - Sulawesi
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Feedback from a cruising boat that recently entered Bitung from Kudat, Malaysia:
Bitung clearance
We dropped anchor off this pier https://maps.app.goo.gl/V4wVMRCrNA8yjtid7
We didnt use an agent for clearing into Indonesia. Before arriving you need to do the vds registration online https://vds.beacukai.go.id/YachtOnline/#home.html. As well remember to apply electronically for visa https://evisa.imigrasi.go.id/.
First we did Port Clearance https://maps.app.goo.gl/Up5TRj8GPfQdBaZC7 which was very straight forward, Econ the officer was amazing. Invited us for Indonesian breakfast! Then customs clearance ,https://maps.app.goo.gl/FHRxndGPFYcaFTgQ9, but they wanted to board the boat as well, so we went to Immigration https://maps.app.goo.gl/Z8mRasSEcc72YPjD8 and finished that off before we joined the customs officers to make inspection on the boat (all crew needs to show up at immigration for fingerprint and photo). The customs officers were extremely polite and the inspection of the boat took approx 30 minutes.
We took on fuel, which was a bit of pain as we needed Dexlite fuel. If you use Solas fuel its very easy to get. We had to take it in barrels which took a few hours (5000 ltrs). For water there are blue boats roaming around the harbour and they can pump water on your boat. We were parked next to the fishing pier and we simply went and spoke to the guys on the tuna boats which sorted out water from a truck on the pier. Everybody was extremely helpful and nice.
The only hiccup in Bitung was immigration, as one of the crew had only 4 months left valid on his passport. They created lots of fuss about that and started threatening us that we would need to go back to Malaysia. After arguing the matter back and forth they said they could fix this for 2000 USD…. We refused and argued another half an hour and ended up with 500 USD. If this ever happens to you, make sure you count the money you give them, in front of the immigration officer. I failed on that and shortly after they came back with a 100 USD note that said “copy” on and demanded us to give them another… Absolutely corrupt. Anyway, the port control and customs made up for this as they have outstanding staff that was polite and friendly. No cost whatsoever other than the bribe paid to immigration.
Sorry, forgot to mention good anchorage at……
01 26.921n 125 12.723e
Jem
Heaven’s Door
Bitung, great place to clear in or out, expect a bit of a run around to visit all the necessary offices. Customs will want to visit the boat but they are friendly and helpful. Immigration seem to have only one person to stamp passports and he is not always available as he may got be visiting incoming cargo ships, easy to arrange to come back to the office at a given time.
Recommend very helpful guy, Udin, +62 821 92478604, reasonable price for his services, expect to pay 300,000 for a days car and driver to visit all the necessary offices and supermarket etc. Over and above Udin’s fee, around 600,000. Udin can arrange good fuel @ 10,000/ltr.
Fair winds,
Jem
Heaven’s Door
Posted on behalf of EMcE on 29th October 2016
Here I would like to publish my experience in Indonesia. We obtained our 60-day visas in Davao (Philippines )) and planned a cruise south to Australia. When our little boy suffered seasickness we decided to check in at Bitung.
The Immigration officials we dealt with were the most obliging, friendly, welcoming officials I have ever experienced throughout the parts of the world I have been to. Full marks Indonesia. You have a beautiful country, largely unspoiled and friendly welcoming people. My sadness is my need to leave before seeing more.