Lingga Island

by Unknown 8:27 PM 0 comments Riau Islands

The Lingga Islands or Lingga Archipelago or Kepulauan Lingga is a group of islands that located in south of Singapore, along both sides of the equator, off the eastern coast of Riau Islands province and south of the populated Riau Archipelago.

Lingga derives its name from the profile of Mount Daik; Lingam is the Sanskrit word for phallus. This mountain has three sharp teeth as peak, one of them seems to have broken off at its base, and it was immortalized by Malay poets as the symbol of durability.

To reach the island, people can use Ferry services to the islands from outside the archipelago come from the provincial capital to the north, Tanjung Pinang on Bintan, including from Singapore. These days the main industry is fishing. There are a number of fine beaches with some coral around the Archipelago but there is very little tourism on account of the poor transport links with the outside world.

Singkep has two ports, Dabo near Dabosingkep and Jago near Sungaibuluh. Service to the port of Muntok on P. Bangka of Sumatera Selatan ceased operating regularly with the demise of the tin mining industry. However, a high-speed ferry continues to connect Tanjung Pinang to Singkep, from where local boats may be chartered to Lingga. For Lingga, Daik is the major town and port. It can be reached in a day from Singapore transferring at Tanjung Pinang.