Travel: Indonesia - Batam/Bintan

[bezzlay]

Any recommended places to visit?

[reinhart]

Hi, would like to ask if I need to purchase a ferry ticket for a 1 year old baby?Thanks.

[ptb7476]

reinhart:

Hi, would like to ask if I need to purchase a ferry ticket for a 1 year old baby?Thanks.

Yes it is a must.

[bezzlay]

I am bringing 3 children to Bintan and would appreciate if anyone could recommend some good dining places there. Thank you.

[buds]

I wrote to share some stuff at this link, bezzlay..

http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?p=33834#p33834

Hope it can give you a heads up! :celebrate:

Have fun there!

[Liz_Ryan]

bezzlay:

I read about the bintan dolphin lodge, it looks like a great place for kids too. Has anyone been there? Kindly share your experience.

Bintan Dolphin Lodge? Where is that exactly? Maybe I can take my DS there the next time.

By the way, I took my DS to Bintan Agro Beach Resort some time last year and he still remembers fondly of the place.

He enjoyed himself so much.

Why not? We had a room on the ground floor, that was facing the pool.

When I was just too lazy to leave the room, I just left the door open so I could keep an eye on him while he swam.

And the balcony door was like facing the beach. How fantastic! Front door to the pool, balcony door to the beach.

On weekends, there was a horse carriage just outside our balcony.

Oh yes, I did not mention earlier, my DS has always been an animal person, that is why he loved this trip so much.

They too had a mini-zoo, which was upgrading that time when we went.

Knowing that my DS loved animals, the staff suggested that he should go visit the horses’ stable.

The staff took us there in a trishaw. There were monkeys too.

Prices for their water sports were not very expensive either.

But sad thing is that the hotel was not really well maintained. The toilet was clean, but the condition, I would give a 7/10.

Food was not that expensive (well, if I’d wanna compare with what I’d paid at Batam View Resort meals!), but not WOW too.

The beach there was not so great. For swim at the beach, the staff took us to their Cabana Beach which was about 10mins drive away.

Overall, it was really a good stay. The hotel was not expensive too. I believe it was because the resort was about 45mins drive away from the terminal.

I would love to try Nirwana next time as I heard they have elephant shows and rides there and other stuffs that are conducive for kids, but looks like it is too expensive….

[b2b3m4]

Just came back from Angsana Resort at Bintan. Overall it was a good experience for us, 2 adults and 3 kids (8, 6 and 3yrs)


We took the Angsana suite package. The suite came with 2 bedrooms, living and a kitchenette (microwave oven and all).
The pool was not crowded and the kids have lots of fun. Food was indeed expensive and taste really bad. Lots of beef items, which was a major problem for us since we dun take beef. Good thing we took along lots of food, so we were able to prepare simple meals like noodles and soups for the kids who dun take spicy food.
There was also free rental of dvds. We are pretty impressed by the range of dvds available.
The package also included a spa session for 2 and a beach picnic. While hubby and I were at spa, we packed the kids off to kids club.
The beach according to hub is not as pristine as the one at Club Med. But it was still great fun for us. We spent 4 hours on the beach and ended charred till today.

Overall, it was great fun for us. The staff was very attentive and even went the extra mile to babysit my 3 yr old when hub and i were having dinner and the kids away at the recreation centre. If you are looking for something serene and quiet and everything at a much slower pace. I think Angsana will be for you. Lots of family bonding but the mosquitoes… HAizz… that one really cannot make it. It is just bad!!! But they do provide mosquito repellent everywhere- free…

[ptb7476]

b2b3m4:

Just came back from Angsana Resort at Bintan. Overall it was a good experience for us, 2 adults and 3 kids (8, 6 and 3yrs)


We took the Angsana suite package. The suite came with 2 bedrooms, living and a kitchenette (microwave oven and all).
The pool was not crowded and the kids have lots of fun. Food was indeed expensive and taste really bad. Lots of beef items, which was a major problem for us since we dun take beef. Good thing we took along lots of food, so we were able to prepare simple meals like noodles and soups for the kids who dun take spicy food.
There was also free rental of dvds. We are pretty impressed by the range of dvds available.
The package also included a spa session for 2 and a beach picnic. While hubby and I were at spa, we packed the kids off to kids club.
The beach according to hub is not as pristine as the one at Club Med. But it was still great fun for us. We spent 4 hours on the beach and ended charred till today.

Overall, it was great fun for us. The staff was very attentive and even went the extra mile to babysit my 3 yr old when hub and i were having dinner and the kids away at the recreation centre. If you are looking for something serene and quiet and everything at a much slower pace. I think Angsana will be for you. Lots of family bonding but the mosquitoes..... HAizz... that one really cannot make it. It is just bad!!! But they do provide mosquito repellent everywhere- free.....

agreed angsana more pro family...and mosquito and sandfly are scary ... wonder why ...

never try banyan that is not family friendly at all esp for kids more for couple private time

[bezzlay]

We came back from Nirwana Gardens yesterday. I brought my 3 kids,4 yo, 6yo and 8yo there. It was a fun trip for us and I would like to share our experience with parents here. I didn’t send my kids to kids club there because the activities we had was sufficient to occupy their time. I happened to go into the kids club when one of my kid needed to go to the restroom. It was quite small.


We went for a 3D2N trip. We went to their beautiful beach(find hermit crabs, fishes & seashells), infinity pool, mini zoo and kelong restaurant on day 1.

On day 2, we went to the resort centre for archery, rifle shooting and flying fox. After lunch, we went to beach club for the water sports. My kids did canoeing, boogie board and seashell picking. They had lots of fun. As we still have some time in the late afternoon, we went to pasar oleh. There is nothing much there except shops selling souvenirs and keropok. However, to pass time we ordered some coconuts. We went to poolside restaurant for dinner.

On day 3 as our ferry is 14:35, we went to their resort centre for games of bowling. Our plan was to have some snack at makan makan (their foodcourt), however, choices are limited and it seem like nobody buy food from there. So we went back to poolside restaurant.

Food choices are limited and expensive. The staff are very very friendly and helpful. The beach is beautiful and clean. If you are going on a 3D2N trip, you probably want to leave the resort in the morning after breakfast.

[Liz_Ryan]

Hi there Bezzlay,


What animals do they have at their mini zoo?

And is the resort close to the elephant park where we can go for elephant show and rides?

How expensive is the food?

I remember paying S$12++ for a plate of fried rice at Batam View Resort.

At Agro Bintan, the price was not too bad, a plate would cost about S$4 or S$5, that is almost equivalent to the food court price in Singapore.