| Pulau Pangkil is – despite
its relatively close proximity to Singapore - in Indonesia.
We will offer you as much help as time and resources
permit, but it is the responsibility of the group organiser
and/or individual guests to get themselves to Bintan
(a big Indonesian island near Singapore) and through
Immigration (ie you will probably need a Visa).
As the experienced Pangkil guests know, at the end of
the day, the journey is pleasant and straightforward.
FERRY BASICS
By far the majority of our guests arrive from Singapore.
It is also possible to arrive from Batam (another
Indonesian island with an international airport) or
even by ferry from parts of southern Malaysia. We
will pick up guests either at:
- Tanjung Pinang (“TP”), the largest
town on Bintan (which has a ferry terminal). This
is our preferred pick-up point. OR
- The Bintan Resort Ferry Terminal (ferry route
not shown on the map) is officially known as “Bandar
Bentan Telani”. This area is also know as
“Lagoi”
Note that the Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal (“TMFT”)
is the departure point in Singapore. We recommend,
in order of preference, the following journeys from
Singapore to Pangkil and back:
OUTBOUND: TMFT
to TP | INBOUND: TP to TMFT
This route offers the shortest end-to-end journey
time. Visas On Arrival (VOA) ARE NOW AVAILABLE in
Tanjung Pinang. We strongly encourage you to use this port.
OUTBOUND: TMFT
to Lagoi | INBOUND: TP to TMFT
VOAs can also be obtained in Lagoi (for most nationalities)
The disadvantage is that the road trip from Lagoi takes a lot longer. YOU WILL NEED TO GIVE US A GOOD REASON WHY YOU WANT TO USE THIS PORT. One-way tickets ONLY to Lagoi should be bought. Pangkil will buy
your one-way return tickets from TP and invoice you on the
island.
OUTBOUND: TMFT
to Lagoi | INBOUND: Lagoi to TMFT
The overland journey back to Lagoi after a weekend
in Pangkil is LONG ! Trust us – you don’t
want this option.
FERRY COMPANIES: SINGAPORE TO LAGOI
There is only one ferry company operating from TMFT
to Lagoi. It is Bintan Resort Ferries (BRF). It is
a monopoly and hence more expensive at peak periods.
Their ferries are excellent. The last ferry to Lagoi
goes at 20:00 (8pm). We STRONGLY recommend that you
don’t catch this one, especially on a Friday
as the visa queues will be long. You will only get
to Pangkil at around midnight. We recommend the 17:00
(5pm) ferry or earlier.
Contact details & online booking at: www.brf.com.sg
FERRY COMPANIES: SINGAPORE TO TANJUNG PINANG
On 1st Dec 2004, the ferry timetables for all three
ferry companies operating to and from Tanjung Pinang
were harmonized and a code-sharing agreement began. On 15th December 2006 THIS CODE-SHARING ARRANGEMENT FELL APART. YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO TRANSFER TICKETS BETWEEN PENGUIN AND FALCON, BUT WAVEMASTER NOW OPERATES TOTALLY INDEPENDENTLY. AS OF 1ST JANUARY 2008 WE UNDERSTAND THE TIMETABLE BELOW TO BE VALID. PLEASE DOUBLE-CHECK WITH THE OPERATORS AS IT COULD CHANGE AT ANYTIME.
| PENGUIN |
- |
07:00 |
| FALCON |
09:10 |
10:10 |
| WAVEMASTER |
09:30 |
11:30 |
| PENGUIN |
12:30 |
14:00 |
| FALCON |
15:00 |
16:00 |
| WAVEMASTER |
15:30 |
16:30 |
| PENGUIN |
18:20 |
- |
| FALCON |
- |
- |
| PENGUIN |
- |
07:00 |
| FALCON |
08:50 |
10:00 |
| WAVEMASTER |
09:15 |
10:25 |
| PENGUIN |
10:20 |
12:00 |
| FALCON |
13:10 |
14:00 |
| WAVEMASTER |
13:30 |
14:25 |
| PENGUIN |
15:30 |
16:30 |
| FALCON |
17:10 |
18:00 |
| WAVEMASTER |
17:30 |
18:30 |
| PENGUIN |
18:20 |
- |
| FALCON |
- |
- |
FERRY COMPANIES: SINGAPORE TO TANJUNG PINANG
Brief contact details and notes are as follows:
PENGUIN
+65 6542 7105
Ferries are OK. Penguin takes credit cards. Click Here for the Penguin Website
FALCON
+65 6542 6786
Untidy ferries – but quick. Don’t take
credit cards.
BERLIAN/WAVEMASTER
+65 6786 9959
Very new, Australian-built ferries. Clean and fast.
Don’t take credit cards.
ADVANCE FERRY BOOKINGS
The ferries aren’t always full and it is possible
to book a few days ahead in some cases. However ferries
to Lagoi (especially late on Fridays), and all ferries
on - or a few days before - major Indonesian OR Singaporean
public holidays can book out up to a month or more
before the departure date. We strongly recommend you
start looking into the ferry situation as soon as
you’ve booked Pangkil. As a minimum you need
to start making reservations for your group a month
before the trip to Pangkil.
JOURNEY INFORMATION
TANAH MERAH FERRY
TERMINAL
All ferries for both Lagoi OR Tanjung Pinang leave
from the Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal (TMFT) which is
near Changi Airport. DO NOT go to the World Trade
Centre. DO NOT go to the Changi Ferry Terminal (which
is close to TMFT, but has ferries to Malaysia). You
should be at the TMFT at least 45 minutes before departure.
The directions to get to TMFT are as follows: Leave
the ECP (the main highway) at Exit 2A. Follow the
Changi Coast Road past the SAFRA golf course. Turn
right into the Tanah Merah Ferry Road, just after
the turn-off to the SAFRA Country Club.
JOURNEY TIMES
After your trip on one of the public ferries, you’ll
be met at either Lagoi or Tanjung Pinang by one or
more of our staff members. We have a blue 25-seater
bus which will often be used for the land leg of the
journey. For small groups, we will sometimes hire
one of the local Kijang Taxis (A Kijang is an Indonesian-produced
four-wheel drive vehicle). You will then be escorted
over land to the southern port, also (confusingly)
called Kijang. You will pass the military airport
on the way which is called … you guessed it
… Kijang !
We own our own jetty near Kijang. Unfortunately for
a number of complicated reasons we cannot use it at
the moment. Boarding our launch takes place at a jetty
owned by a big industrial site. It’s not pretty,
but is safe and cuts down on the launch trip to the
island.
Approximate journey times are as follows:
| PUBLIC
FERRY |
1 ½
TO 1 ¾ HOURS |
SLIGHTLY LESS THAN 1 HOUR |
| PANGKIL BUS |
½ HOUR |
1 ½ TO 2 HOURS |
| PANGKIL LAUNCH |
½ to ¾ HOUR |
½ to ¾ HOUR |
| DEPARTING PANGKIL |
2 HOURS BEFORE
FERRY |
3 HOURS BEFORE
FERRY |
The end-to-end journey from Singapore to Pangkil
via TP is about 3 hours (The current record is 2 hours
& 40 minutes). Via Lagoi it is about 3 ½
hours. Note that the return trip from Pangkil can
take a little longer as we have to build in some buffer
time to ensure that you do not miss your public ferry.
You will have to leave Pangkil at least 2 hours before
the departure time of your public ferry (if from TP)
and 3 if you’re leaving from Lagoi. Please note
that our staff will tell you when to leave our island
paradise, but are naturally not very ‘pushy’.
It is ultimately the Group Organizer’s responsibility
to make sure all of their guests have settled the
collective bill, packed and boarded the launch with
time to spare.
OTHER
PANGKIL CHARGES
A single return trip for the group (on the Pangkil
bus and Pangkil launch) is included in the basic island
charge. We are happy to cater for additional arrivals
and departures, however these are charged at SGD125
per trip (regardless of how many people there are
in that sub-group).
ADVANCE NOTICE
We ideally need 72 hours notice of final group numbers
and specific arrival times. Return journey times can
be sorted out with our Customer Service Manager on
the island. The departure times for return trips via
Tanjung Pinang can be changed (providing it isn’t
a public holiday) with relative ease. The Bintan Resort
Ferries tend to be full on Sundays and this will be
harder to do.
ONE-WAY TICKETS
FROM TANJUNG PINANG TO SINGAPORE
If you need one-way tickets from TP to Singapore then
let us know and our staff will purchase the tickets
in Tanjung Pinang and add the cost (SGD20 to SGD23
– depends on the exchange rate) to your final
invoice on Pangkil.
LOCAL TIME
IN INDONESIA
Indonesia (at least Bintan, Batam & Pangkil) is
1 hour behind Singapore. This region is GMT+7. Singapore
is GMT+8. As such, all ferry departure times from
Bintan will be quoted in local time by the ferry companies.
So for example:
- If you leave TMFT (Singapore) for Lagoi at 08:00,
you will arrive at around 08:00 (assuming a 1 hour
ferry trip time)
- If you leave Tanjung Pinang for TMFT at 18:30,
you will arrive in Singapore at about 21:10 (assuming
a 1 hour, 40 minute ferry trip)
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
From our extensive list of FAQs:
You don’t need to worry about
…
being met in Bintan
…
but you might want a few snacks for the journey …
…
and Tanjung Pinang is very safe
You can
arrive from Batam …
…
and we don’t have check-in and check-out times
as such.
You
will need to plan your departure from Pangkil to meet
a ferry …
…
and if you’re catching a plane, Changi airport
is surprisingly close …
…
and best of all there is no cost for our bus on Bintan
|
