| Pangkil Island 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. There are two main passenger ports in Bintan:
- Tanjung Pinang (“TP”), is the largest
town on Bintan and has an efficient - if scruffy - international ferry
terminal). This is the ONLY pick-up point for Pangkil guests.
- The Bintan Resort Ferry Terminal is
officially known as “Bandar Bentan Telani”. This area is also know as
“Lagoi” and will be familiar to anyhone who has ever visited the Bintan
Resorts. We DO NOT pickup from Lagoi. If you want to
come via Lagoi our Operations Manager can arrange one or more taxis for
you. The cost is S$60 for a one-way journey to the south of Bintan to
our Pangkil jetty. It is S$65 to our Joyo Island jetty which is a
little further.
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 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). Whilst the
ferry journey is shorter, the disadvantage is that the road trip from
Lagoi takes a LOT longer, AND you will need to pay S$65 per taxi to get
from Lagoi to the south of Bintan. For large groups we will not allow
you to use this port as the VoA lines on a Friday night could add an
hour to your journey or more. 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 then need to 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. If you insist, our Operations
Manager will organize taxis for you from the south of Bintan to the
Lagoi end. The cost is S$65 per taxi and you will need to pay this
directly, in SGD cash, to the taxi company.
FERRY COMPANIES: SINGAPORE TO
TANJUNG PINANG
There are three ferry companies operating this route. They are all
generally quite reliable. Before Penguin and Falcon are code-share, ie
a ticket
booked on one, can - suject to availability - be transferred to the
other. However starting July 2011 all ferry companies are independent.
You'd think that in 2011
you could book tickets for any of these operators online. You'd be
wrong. You'll have to work the phones or faxes, although Penguin is
very responsive on email. Some take credit cards. Some don't. We
recommend that you try and book a month or so before Indonesian or
Singapore public holiday weekends. For 'normal' weekends a few weeks
before is fine. Having said that, they don't always let you book more
than a week or two out. Their primitive booking systems don't seem to
be able to handle it. In short, if you feel like you're getting the
runaround than (a) Don't panic - it's them not you and (b) Work with
our Operations Team if necessary to secure tickets. (c) If you use
Wavemaster on one of your legs and Penguin or Falcon on the other leg,
then you WILL have to ask our Operations Manager to book your Indonesia
to Singapore leg and reimburse us. For bizzare reasons we don't
understand, it is not possible to book and pay for an Indonesia to
Singapore leg even if you're standing at at their counter in Singapore.
The information in the timetable below is
valid as of May 2011 but the ferry companies tinker with the timetable
a few times a year, so if in doubt phone them up and check.
|
|
|
PENGUIN |
- |
07:00 |
|
FALCON |
08:50 |
10:10 |
|
WAVEMASTER |
09:20 |
10:30 |
|
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 |
09:20 |
10:25 |
|
PENGUIN |
10:20 |
13:30 |
|
FALCON |
13:10 |
14:00 |
|
WAVEMASTER |
13:30 |
14:25 |
|
|
FALCON |
17:10 |
18:00 |
|
WAVEMASTER |
17:30 |
18:30 |
|
PENGUIN |
18:20 |
- |
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.
FERRY COMPANIES: SINGAPORE TO LAGOI
As mentioned previously we don't recommend that you come in via Lagoi.
But if you do, 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.
Their website allows online bookings and is at: www.brf.com.sg.
Their
schedule is currently shown here but
this link dances around periodically, so let us know if we need to
update it.
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. If at Lagoi there will be a taxi driver with a
sign of some sort. If TP, it will be by one or more of our staff
members. We have a blue 29-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 our
private jetty called Pama.
Approximate journey times are as follows:
| PUBLIC
FERRY |
1
¾ TO 2 HOURS |
SLIGHTLY LESS
THAN 1 HOUR |
| BUS OR
TAXI |
45 MINS |
1 ½ TO 2
HOURS |
| PANGKIL
LAUNCH |
15 MINS to
½ HOUR |
15 MINS to
½ 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
SGD200 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
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
|