Did you know that you can visit Indonesia from Singapore? Specifically in Bintan, Indonesia.Many travelers do a quick and day tour in Bintan since it’s just a few minutes away from Singapore.
Bintan Island is located in South Singapore and offers white sand beaches, nice and wide shorelines, luxury resorts and a great night vibe to tourists.
We take advantage of this. As a traveler, I love to collect passport stamps as much as possible. I’d like to fill my passport with so many stamps. So we decided to go ahead and chose to stay at Treasure Bay Resort for a day tour only.
Quick Points
Location: Bintan Island Indonesia
Best time to visit: Early morning if day tour. Can visit any time in a year
Budget: 10,000 PHP
Nearest port: Bandar Bentan Telani
Mobile signal: You need to have a local sim card for mobile data
Ideal trip length: Day tour or overnight stay
How to Get To Bintan Island, Indonesia from Singapore
- From Singapore, go to Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal
- Then take a ferry bound to Bintan, it’s roughly 1 hour or less travel time
- You will arrive in Bandar Bentan Telani ferry terminal
- Then proceed to the immigration
Ferry Rates
You can get ferry tickets around SGD 70–120 roundtrip includes terminal fee and taxes
The Immigration
You need to exit Singapore and then pass on the arrival immigration in Bintan Indonesia. Passport should be at least 6 months from the expiration date. Bintan Island Indonesia is visa free.
We arrived in Singapore immigration and a lot of tourists were already in queue already. It was a fast transaction in immigration since we just needed to tap out the passport in the machine. It’s so efficient.
Then we proceed to the boat ticket going to Bintan pier. Upon arrival at Bintan pier, we proceed to the immigration in Bintan. A lot of tourists were already in queue and waiting. This is much busier and took a while because the immigration is a manual process. It’s better if you go early in the morning, so you can maximize your time if you are planning to do a day tour only.
Indonesian Currency
The currency of Indonesia is Indonesian Rupiah. There are a lot of money exchange booths in Bandar Bentan Telani. You can exchange some as not all resorts would accept SGD currency. However most resorts accept USD or SGD but local transport like tuk-tuk, most of them will accept Rupiah currency. I exchanged Rupiah as a souvenir as well.
The Treasure Bay Resort
You can see many luxurious resorts when you arrive in Bandar Bentan Telani. We chose to stay at Treasure bay resort. We booked a local transport going to Treasure bay resort after we finished immigration. It’s a local transport called tuk-tuk.
The Treasure Bay Resort is clean, huge with a wide swimming pool fronting the beach, they called it the blue lagoon and this is what makes the Treasure bay so popular. It’s not very luxurious but it offers great amenities and a relaxing vibe. We enjoyed kayaking and photo ops.
We stayed there until afternoon, we talked to some locals. I’m glad to know a few Indonesian languages due to online games that I have played before.
Here are some basic Indonesian language to try
Makasih or terimakasih means thank you.
Sama sama means welcome.
Selamat pagi is good morning
Selamat siang is a good afternoon.
Selamat tinggal is goodbye.
These are basic Indo languages that might be useful when visiting Indonesia.
The boat trip in the afternoon is around 5pm. So we pack up before the ferry schedule. We roam around the resort and then head back to Bintan pier.
The same process at the immigration going back. We arrived in Singapore around 6pm.
Expenses / Budget Breakdown
Expense | Cost |
| Train to Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal | SGD 3 (150 PHP) |
| Ferry | SGD 120 (Roundtrip) (5000 PHP) |
| Bus shuttle | SGD 2 (90 PHP) |
| Treasure Bay Resort Day Tour Entrance Fee | IDR 150,000 (Around 500 in PHP) |
| Others like food, drinks | IDR 500,000 (Around 1500-2000 in PHP) |
| Total | 7,200 PHP |
Travel Tips
Travel early
Expect long queue in Bintan immigration
Exchange money to Indonesian Rupiah
Learn basic Indonesian language
Can stay overnight or day tour
Ferry has afternoon schedule daily, last trip is 6PM
Don’t miss the ferry last trip if you plan for a day tour
Conclusion
I love the overall experience in Bintan Island, Indonesia. The locals looked the same as Filipinos and locals are so kind and friendly. They love it if tourists can speak their local language. Overall the Treasure Bay experience is worth it. It was just a quick afternoon trip but a great experience as well. I would definitely recommend to include Bintan Island when you travel in Singapore. There are lots of great resorts and beaches to choose from.
