Bintan

We are thinking about spending 3 or 4 nights on Bintan during our stay in Singapore next April. Would it be OK to book the ferry once we arrive in Singapore, how much notice would you need at this time of year. I am wondering if it would be cheaper to book when we arrive rather than book on the internet in advance we live in the UK. Thinking about staying at the Angsana. Any advice would be helpful.

Bintan

Hi ya Noodles, Hope this helps Alan.

How to Get There From Singapore:

Hop aboard a luxurious catamaran and enjoy a comfortable ride to Bintan Resorts. Bintan Resort Ferries operates a regular ferry service between Singapore%26#39;s Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal and Bintan Resorts%26#39; Bandar Bentan Ferry Terminal. The journey takes only 45 minutes. Make sure you are at the terminal half an hour before the ferry leaves.

Depart from Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal (Singapore Time) :

Mon-Thu 0905 1105 1400 1700 2000 - -

Friday 0805 0905 1105 1400 1700 2000 -

Sat %26amp; Public Holidays 0805 0905 1105 1200 1400 1700 2000

Sunday 0805 1105 1200 1400 1700 2000 -

From Indonesia:

Take a domestic flight to Hang Nadim Airport in Batam, an is island just next to Bintan. From there, daily speedboat services operate from Telaga Punggur Ferry Terminal to Bandar Bentan Telani Ferry Teminal. The journey takes 35 minutes.

Depart from Bandar Bentan Terminal (Indonesia Time) 1 hour behind Singapore Time :

Mon-Thu 0930 1430 1630 1730 2015 - -

Friday 0830 1130 1430 1630 1730 2015 -

Sat %26amp; Public Holidays 0830 0930 1130 1430 1530 1730 2015

Sun/PH 0830 1130 1430 1530 1730 *1830 2015

**1830 hrs (Bin-SIN) ferry will not be available on Sunday if Monday is a holiday

Getting Around:

Two-way transfers between the hotel and ferry terminal will be provided by your hotel. Alternatively, Indorent (a car rental company) provides bus and mini-bus shuttle services which can take you from the ferry terminal to the various hotels within the Resorts. The price for a return journey ranges from Rp 8,400 to Rp 20,000. Indorent also provides land transfers to other parts of the island, namely Tanjung Pinang, Tanjung Uban, Lobam and Trikora.

Bintan

You can book your tickets online at http://www.brf.com.sg It wouldn%26#39;t be any cheaper to buy it over the counter.

I%26#39;ve been to Bintan several times, but never had to deal with the ferry tickets though, it%26#39;s all handled by our travel agent when we booked the hotels.

Kevin Did you think Bintan good value for money, or as I%26#39;ve read elsewhere just about everything is a rip-off, i.e. Water $6.00 a bottle ? Also did you find personal safety a potential problem, or harassment by locals trying to %26#39;%26#39;earn%26#39;%26#39; a buck or two? Alan

In Bintan, everyone stays within the compound of the Resort, unless you join organised tours with the hotels that visit the mangrove, village tours, etc. There is nothing (no shops, no local people, no taxis) directly outside those resorts. The towns and villages are on the other side of the island. The area where the resorts are specially built are just the resorts only with jungle and some plantations.

The $6 water per bottle is bottled water from the hotel and not from the local shops. Anyway, there are no shops outside the resort to buy groceries.

The beach are all private beaches of the hotel, there are no handicraft sellers that ply the beach area like in Bali or Phuket.

Well... Bintan is ok for a short getaway for people in Singapore, withhout having to fly. Weekday trips are cheaper than weekends. Weekends include Fridays. Singapore Golf lovers also enjoy trips to Bintan.

Last year I stayed at Blub Med Ria Bintan ---%26gt; airfares.com.sg/resorts/clubmed/FE_Ferry_Bin…

For Angsana Resort, see ---%26gt; airfares.com.sg/resorts/angsana/FE_Ferry_BIN…

Thanks for that Kevin, very useful, Like Noodles we were going to do something else on our next trip to %26#39;%26#39;Sing%26#39;%26#39; in March, Initially we wanted to fly with %26#39;%26#39;Tiger%26#39;%26#39; to Krabi, but for some reason %26#39;%26#39;Tiger%26#39;%26#39; have stopped that route. So we thought about Bintan, but there seems to be some personal safety issues, at least that%26#39;s what I%26#39;ve read, and at my age being %26#39;%26#39;relieved%26#39;%26#39; of my hard earned doesn%26#39;t appeal too much. Alan

If your are staying in one of the Bitan resorts then you are in a private enclave of singapore where the currency is the Singapore Dollar and you can expect standards similar to singapore interms of service cleanliness etc. All the breaches and area with the the resort is private property so there is no touting or any thing like that. The hotel will also organsie transport to and from the Ferry terminal as part of the room price so taxi to get. We did a couple of tours (Mangrove and snorkelling) where the tour agent will you pick you up and trop you off reception so no hassels. There is small town near by, short taxi ride that charges in local curreny and sells essentials at normal prices. We stayed at the Banyan Tree and loved it.

Thank you for all your great advice and especially Ddiggs for the ferry details. I am so confused now as to whether to go to Bintan. The two hotels are the Angsana and the Bintan Lagoon and the Lagoon seems to have really bad reviews. Like you say we would just like to go somewhere else for about four days but not too far and unless you fly with Tiger all the other airlines like Silkair are really expensive it would cost us ￡200.00 each to fly to Langkawi which is a shame because that is a great beach alternative and the other option is Phuket and having been to Krabi not sure I would prefer Phuket.

The hotel prices on Bintan are very expensive but I can get a deal as I work for the travel industry but was very surprised at what they quoted direct with the hotel.

Also as the weather can be very wet in that part of the world I would rather wait until we arrive in Singapore to decide whether to go to Bintan because as it is a beach resort would not want to go unless the weather was fair at least in Singapore there are lots of things to do if it rains. I am wondering if in April the hotels would still have accommodation and maybe book the trip once we arrive.

As you can see I am very confused on what to do for the best.

Hi Noodlesetc - just wanted to let you know that my family of four (2 teenagers) loved our 3 nights on Bintan last year. We had organised a 10 day holiday - booked everything myself on the internet - that started with four nights in Singapore (at what is now The Fairmont), 3 nights in the Indra Maya Villas at Bintan, and then 2 nights back in Singapore at Royal Plaza on Scotts for shopping before flying back to Australia.

I did not pre-book my ferry tickets (but did have exact US$ on me for fee upon arrival at Bintan - from memory US$10 each) and there were no problems...but it was mid-week and I think you should only visit Bintan mid-week otherwise it will be busy and more expensive.

Indra Maya is part of Nirwana Gardens Resort and we used our golf buggy (came with villa) to cruise over there most days...beach is beautiful in the Resort area and pool is superb with swim-up bar. Lots of kids having a great time too - but never intrusive. Of course I can%26#39;t comment on the accommodation in the Resort rooms themselves. But we did eat in the limited Resort facilities and it was a bit of a rip-off but as you are ';trapped'; within your resort I imagine this is standard. What we had actually done (being aware of this in advance) was (a) to make sure breakfast was part of the package and then eat heaps (!:), and (b)bring some supplies with us from Singapore...beers, crackers, cookies, snack food, some fruit etc...and this made the ';eating'; side of things just that bit more affordable.

As far as the weather was concerned of course, like Singapore, it is always warm and humid. We had some showers on one or two days but these did nothing to stop us enjoying our short beach retreat. And of course it was totally unpredictable...so I%26#39;m not sure about your idea of waiting until you see what weather is like before booking. We still swam - rain or shine!

All I can say is that this little oasis in the middle of our stay in Singapore really added to our experience and I wouldn%26#39;t have changed a thing! Hope this helps....:))

Thank you for your response it has made my mind up that we will go to Bintan for 3 nights, now I have to decide which hotel. The Lagoon is a lot cheaper than the Angsana and I am wondering if it is worth paying the extra. We will definitely go during the week. Are there hawker stalls etc around or do most people eat in the hotels? As you say the weather is unpredictable so will take the chance, we haven%26#39;t been to Singapore in April yet so maybe we will get lucky. Do you have to arrange the taxi with the hotel or are there taxis at the ferry port to take you to your hotel?

Thanks again for all your help.

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