Just back from Batam where i had another weekend out. Short trip was refreshing and relaxing. Place is now one of my favourites added in Singapore weekend relaxing trips. This trip changed my perception about the city. I had heard Batam is Old man sex city, but i found it to be very good place for shoppers, water-sports lovers and someone looking for great beach resort. Also city has great massage centres which provides genuine massages known as Balinese massage.
Me and my friend Satish planned for this trip month back, and made it over this weekend of 19th and 20th May. People planning for short batam trip, might want to check Groupon or Deal.com to check available deals. I have shared most of details below.
Ferry to Batam is avaialble from ferry terminal @ Vivo city mall in Harbor front. Ferry to batam are avaialble every almost 1 hour. Make sure you book ferry in advance, since most of times Ferry are full. Check it atleast 2-3 days prior to your trip day. And you need to be at terminal at least 1 hour before departure for immigration.We had booked it for 8a.m. ferry however we couldnt make it in time and reached terminal by 7.30 and had to reschedule to next ferry time of 9.15am. Extra amount of 7 SGD was charged for rescheduling. I would recommend people to take 8 a.m. ferry so that you have most of acitivities covered in time. With 9.15am ferry, we missed sunset @ beach since we reahed to our hotel prety late.
Once you reach batam you need to 18$ SGD per person for on arrival visa fee. Though the boards read it 25$ per person, conversation with counter guy (indonesian) was confusing and we ended up paying 36$ for 2 person. Visa you get is for 7 days.
We had done our booking from Loko poko travel through Groupon. The coupon was 105$ per person including - Ferry return tickets which is normally (excluding fuel surcharge), city tour, massage, stay 2day, 1 night @ Turi beach resort and transfer and return to hotel from ferry terminal. However we had to pay extra 7$ for fuel surcharge and 10$ to our tourish for having missed 8 a.m. slot.
City tour was nice and itenary included old temple visit, Miniature houses which displays indonesian provinces and culture, shopping @ factory outlet and visit to massage centre. In all the interaction with our tourist guide and locals , i found people extremely cooperative and helpful. Though the currency is highly infalted, i found city and its people very descent.
Place is haven for shoppers. You get branded yet cheap tshirts in factory outlet. So set your budget aside for it.
I would highly recommend people for massage in Batam. The massage is called balinese massage as per what i heard from my guide. It was absolute relaxing and refreshing experience.
We reached Turi beach resort around 7.30 pm. Turi beach was beautiful.I would recommed this beach for couples and families specially. The restaurant has island bar which stretchs into sea and has vibrant ambience in night. Good place to enjoy the couple of drinks. During day this beach resort also has water sports including parasailing, banana boat ride and water motor biking. You will definitely enjoy the pool and walk around the beach resort.
The breakfast had lot of varieties and extermely good for some like me- veggie seekers. Just make a note this beach resort is faraway from city and takes alomost 1 hour of travelling. So people looking for pubs and night lifes should looks for other hotels and resorts.
For people in Singapore, batam is nice place to be at on weekends... Enjoy, shop, get massaged, relax and come back refreshed to work on Monday :)
