Pulau Bintan Favorites

Favorite thing: Update on Indonesian visa-on-arrival (as of July 2010).

Since beginning of 2010 only the 30 days visa-on-arrival to Indonesia is still available at 25 US$ per person. Exception for Bintan/Batam a 7-day visa at 10 US$ can be obtained for groups of 4 person or more. However this visa needs to be applied via your hotel in advance.

Countries that are elible for Indonesian visa on arrival are

1. Algeria
2. Argentina
3. Australia
4. Austria
5. Bahrain
6. Belgium
7. Brazil
8. Bulgaria
9. Cambodia
10. Canada
11. China
12. Cyprus
13. Czech Republic
14. Denmark
15. Egypt
16. Estonia
17. Fiji
18. Finland
19. France
20. Germany
21. Greece
22. Hungary
23. Iceland
24. India
25. Iran
26. Ireland
27. Italy
28. Japan
29. Kuwait
30. Laos
31. Latvia
32. Libya
33. Liechtenstein
34. Lithuania
35. Luxembourg
36. Maldives
37. Malta
38. Mexico
39. Monaco
40. Netherlands
41. New Zealand
42. Norway
43. Oman
44. Panama
45. Poland
46. Portugal
47. Qatar
48. Romania
49. Russia
50. Saudi Arabia
51. Slovakia
52. Slovenia
53. South Africa
54. South Korea
55. Spain
56. Suriname
57. Sweden
58. Switzerland
59. Taiwan
60. Timor Leste
61. Tunisia
62. Turkey
63. United Arab Emirates
64. United Kingdom
65. United States of America

Favorite thing: Just outside the Bintan Ferry Terminal there is a huge Garuda Statue. It’s a national symbol of Indonesia. Though a Muslim country it reflects early Hindu influence. On our way we enjoyed scenic beauty of the Island.

Fondest memory: Prestine blue waters and beaches make this island an experience to remember. Perfect for those who are finding an escape from busy city life...Place for relaxing and to do soul searching.....

Favorite thing: Citizens of many countries have the eligibility for visa on arrival. 15 USD for a short stay is all you have to pay. It is a very short procedure and in 5 minutes you have your visa to enter Indonesia. However, citizens of some countries need to apply for Indonesian visa such as Turkey. I needed to pay 70 SGD for application and it took 3 days to get the visa from Singapore.

4 more images

Favorite thing: Clear Sea that is near the beach..
Nice food, friend staff..
nice activities...

water at the beach is comfortable..

Fondest memory: Snorkeling at the beach area, instead of going out with the boat to some places that they dive..
Don't have to go out that far.. just stay by the beach of ClubMed.. is good enought to snorkel.

After snorkel.. comes up to the club house and have free flow of beer, wine and food.. nice food..

2 more images

Favorite thing: The sea recedes few hundred meters away from the coastline at low tide time and the sea bed looks very ugly, with tons of sea weed lying all around. This is not a good time to take a stroll along the beach, as the view is awesome. When the high tide comes, lot of these sea weeds get carried away to the the white sandy beaches. The cleaners at the resort have a tough job to remove all these sea weeds and carry them to the waste disposal area every morning. I really pity those guys.
Just look at the third snapshot which shows how the sea looks during high tide. You can make out the difference.

Favorite thing: The moment we come out of the Bintan Ferry Terminal (Bandar Bentan Telani) after clearing the immigration formalities, we noticed this huge statue of the eagle-‘Garuda’. Incidentally, the name of the Indonesian National Airlines is also 'Garuda' and probably this is the nomenclature source.
‘Garuda’ finds mention in the Indian Mythology, where it is name of an eagle which was used as a vehicle for transporting Vishnu-the God who preserves.

Fondest memory: This statue reminded me of a similar statue, which I had seen near the ferry terminal in Langkawi (see my Langkawi-Malaysia page).

Favorite thing: From Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal, there are ferry services available for going to Bintan Ferry Terminal (Bandar Bentan Telani) in Indonesia and Batam Ferry Terminal. The immigration procedures are similar to arrival/departure lounges at/from any international airport. There are check in counters for Bintan Resort Ferries and also for some other ferry companies. Make sure you are heading to the right counter.
There are duty free shops at arrival lounge. But you can do your duty free purchasing only when you have stayed overseas for more than 48 hours.
There is a bus service (#35) connecting Bedok/Tanah Merah MRT Station to the Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal and the travel time is approx. 20 MTS.

Fondest memory: Excellant service efficiency at the ferry terminal

1 more image

Favorite thing: After clearing all the immigration formalities and collecting the luggage at the Bintan ferry terminal, one comes out at the arrival hall and the Resorts counters are located here. The Indonesian Taxi operator ‘Indorent’ also has a counter at the arrival lounge, where taxies can be arranged for local sightseeing in Bintan Islands. We approached the Nirwana Garden resort counter and handed over the heavy luggage to one of the person there who arranged to transport these luggage to the resort. The buses that transport the passengers to the Resort got filled up in no time and within few minutes of arrival of the ferry terminal, we were on our way to the resort. It takes 15 minutes to reach the resort.
Nirwana Garden Resorts is basically a collection of five resorts, which are all located in the northern part of the island. All these resorts are located very close to each other and there is a regular shuttle bus service connecting them roughly at 30 mts interval.
Nirwana Hotel Resort
Banyu Biru Resort,
Mayang Sari Resort
Mana Mana Resort,
Indra Maya Resort.
Each of them provide different types of accomodation, varying from Deluxe Hotel rooms to fully furnished 2 bed room Hall sea facing duplexes with private pool, jaccuzzi and lot of other 5 star comforts.
At the Nirwana Hotel Resort, the reception was crowded with holiday goers, this being the super peak season of holidays. Deepawali and Hari Raya was falling in the same week and there could’nt have been a better time to go for holidays for Singapore residents. We arrived at the reception at 1300 hrs only to be told that the rooms are not ready till 1430 hrs (Check out time 1200 hrs, check in time 1500 hrs). We decided to have lunch at the poolside restaurant and comeback at 1430 hrs.