Apr 8, 2024
No arrival to an island is as thrilling as via seaplane, the aircraft gradually descends to its runway of open sea before slicing into the still waters.
Skip ahead to the top questions we get asked about seaplanes or enjoy reading the full blog with everything you need to know about our seaplane:
We are a private island resort in the middle of the South China Sea, since the nearest traditional airport to Bawah is at the "neighbouring" island of Letung, which is a mere two hours away by boat... seaplanes are a much more efficient option for guests to get to Bawah Reserve. And who would love it....
Most visitors come to us via Singapore or Jakarta, and as there is no immigration and customs clearance at Bawah, as transiting in Batam, an Indonesian island with border facilities that are a short ferry ride southeast of Singapore, is required first. It's a seamless journey to Bawah Reserve.
The round-trip seaplane transfer from Batam to Bawah costs US$800 per person. If you’re
coming from Singapore our round-trip transport package costs US$950. This includes
car service in Singapore to the ferry terminal, escort by ferry to Batam with expedited passport clearance, and car service to the airport in Batam - door to door!
"A seaplane is a powered fixed-wing aircraft capable of taking off and landing (alighting) on water. Seaplanes that can also take off and land on airfields are in a subclass called amphibious aircraft, or amphibians." Wikipedia
Our aircraft is part of the Airfast fleet, an Indonesian aviation company with more than 35 years of experience in the industry and an impeccable safety record. The amphibious Twin Otter seaplane 300 has wheels and float pontoons, giving it the enviable ability to take off and land on either water or land.
Built originally in Canada, it’s a STOL (short take-off and landing) aircraft that’s become a commercially successful twin-engine commuter seaplane.
If you are wondering how much a seaplane costs to buy... They don’t come cheap! Prices vary, depending on whether you’re buying a new one or an older one, and so do maintenance costs. Annual maintenance alone ranges from around $6M to -$8M or more a year, even before you consider fuel and other flying costs.
Bawah’s amphibious seaplane or floatplane as it can also be called takes off from Batam’s Hang Nadim International Airport and guests are weighed with their luggage at check-in to ensure even distribution of weight aboard the plane (just be sure to keep prying eyes off the scale) see here for our guide to packing in under 15kg.
Currently, the plane can hold up to 10 passengers, weight dependant. Given the small size of the vessel, passengers feel intimately connected to the process of flying. You’ll watch the pilots turn round to give a quick briefing to passengers before the propellers slowly wind up, and they push buttons, pull levers, check gauges and move the aircraft forward.
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Soon the plane is airborne and the land of Batam cedes to the open sea for the majority of the 80-minute flight. The passage is smooth, with the occasional bumps we’ve come to expect from plane travel, and all flights take place during the hours of light. Before landing at Bawah, the aircraft makes a circle of the island so that guests can get an overview of the layout and snap those once-in-a-lifetime aerial shots of the resort.
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Each flight has two pilots in front, one international and one Indonesian. One of the international pilots, the dry-humoured Captain Wolski, boasts 6000 hours of flying experience on seaplanes. “Landing and taking off on the tarmac is the same but the water is the biggest difference,” he explains after a routine landing. “You start as a boat, satisfy the boat planing like a speedboat, and by the end, you are 100% an aircraft. In between, you need to satisfy the conditions of both the boat and an airplane. The same considerations are also true for landing. The runway is always changing, always moving. Our plane is designed for short take-offs and landing, with thick wings that generate a lot of lift without the need to point the aircraft at the sky.”
There is a 15-kilogram luggage restriction per passenger, but thankfully given Bawah’s easy-going vibe, you won’t need to pack much.
Like our new look navy blue design seaplane too?
A seaplane is generally a modified landplane. We use a twin Twin Otter aircraft that has been adapted with amphibian floats. Here’s an interesting guide to seaplane flying that explains the differences between a seaplane and a land plane.
It’s an important question! Air Tunilik has answered it beautifully, concluding:
“Put simply, seaplanes are safe when they are maintained and piloted by trusted, experienced
pilots with seaplane rating from reliable companies.”
Our seaplane pilots have over 6,000 hours of flying experience on seaplanes with the highly-rated air
carrier Airfast Indonesia - rated highly all over the world. Through its commitment to safety, Airfast has earned and maintained Category 1 in Indonesia’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation safety rating since that rating was introduces introduced in 2007.
If you have fear of flying, any flight may cause you anxiety. But there is some comfort from meeting the pilots pre-flight, and being able to see them throughout the entire flight. People also say that knowing you can land on water is an additional reassurance.
Seaplanes do fly more slowly than land planes due to the increased drag from the floats, which adds both weight and surface area to the design. We fly at around 130 to -135 knots, depending on the altitude. Flight time between Batam and Bawah is around 80 minutes.
Seaplanes with straight floats have no wheels and cannot operate on land; - they can only go
from water to water. Our aircraft has amphibious floats and retractable wheels, it can therefore take off from land and touch down on water or vice versa.
If you have any further questions regarding the transport to Bawah Reserve please do drop our reservations team a note at reservations@bawahreserve.com
Or if you would like to book a trip to Bawah Reserve online you can do so here: https://book-directonline.com/properties/BawahReserveDirect
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