Sep 12, 2023
Our faraway paradise is well worth the journey!
There are many ways to get to Bawah, be it via Singapore, Jakarta, Bali or by private yacht.
If you are coming from Singapore, and you have taken our transport package, we make all the arrangements and escort you all the way.
The more direct route to Bawah is via Jakarta or another Indonesian location, you will need to book your own direct flight to Batam’s Hang Nadim Airport (BTH). Once there, we will meet you and escort you for the rest of your journey on the 80-minute amphibious seaplane flight to Bawah Reserve.
A driver from our preferred, outsourced car service will pick you up in Singapore at a pre-arranged location; this can be a hotel, a private home, or straight from an incoming flight at Singapore Changi Airport. The driver will take you to Singapore’s Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal, where a Bawah Reserve travel host will be waiting to greet and accompany you on the short ferry ride to Batam, Indonesia. From there, it’s a 10-minute drive to Hang Nadim International Airport, where you will board our amphibious plane for the gloriously scenic 80-minute seaplane flight to Bawah Reserve.
Trips from Singapore start in the morning, depending on the ferry schedule; this ensures you arrive at Bawah in time for a leisurely afternoon snack and spa treatment.
The return journey sees you arriving back in Singapore in the early evening, again depending on the ferry schedule. As this schedule can vary, please confirm timing with our reservations team before you book your flights into and out of Singapore.
Please note that transportation within Indonesia is changing as the country continues to open up more fully. As some flights and ferry schedules are still operating with reduced timings, we continue to adapt and change our own seaplane schedule to make it as convenient as possible for our guests.
You will need to book your own flight on one of the many carriers that operate the Jakarta-Batam route; it’s an 80-minute flight. If you would like to travel to Bawah on the same day, please check with our reservations team to confirm what time your flight would need to arrive in Batam so as to link up with our seaplane departure. Currently, it departs at midday, but this is subject to change. Citilink has a daily flight that departs Jakarta at 10:40, arriving in Batam at 12:25. Batik Air and Lion Air also offer flights at different times.
Please note that we cannot be responsible for any possible delays to internal flights. You may prefer to spend a night at a Batam hotel, and we will arrange for a private car to collect you the following day.
For the return journey, our seaplane departs Bawah in the afternoon and arrives in Batam Hang Nadim around 16:00. So, you could plan to take a return flight to Jakarta anytime from 17:00 onwards.
Please note that transportation within Indonesia is changing as the country continues to open up more fully. As some flights and ferry schedules are still operating with reduced timings, we continue to adapt and change our own seaplane schedule to make it as convenient as possible for our guests.
Bawah Reserve is in Northern Indonesia – Bawah means “below” in Bahasa Indonesian, a name chosen to reflect our location as the southernmost island of both the Anambas region and the Anambas archipelago.
Part of the larger Riau Island Province, the Anambas Islands are a small chain of islands located between peninsular Malaysia and the island of Borneo – roughly 300 kilometres from Singapore. The area comprises around 250 islands, of which only 10% are inhabited; the total population is around 50,000. Terempa, the administrative capital, is a few hours by boat from Bawah Reserve.
Despite the potential for coastal tourism, the Anambas Islands remain largely undeveloped. Perhaps due to its remote location, the region hasn’t been as deeply explored as other parts of Indonesia.
Historically, little has been written about the Islands. The first known record was an account in the 1820s by Hyacinthe Yves Philippe Potentien, baron de Bougainville, a French naval officer and son of the legendary French admiral and explorer. He was the first European to explore the Anambas Islands, and his logbook, recounted in The Greatest Works of Jules Verne, described an area with shallow soil and mountains separated by ravines but without a freshwater source.
Though the region was on a shipping trade route between Southeast Asia and China, Bougainville’s written description of land inhospitable to agriculture may be the reason why the Anambas Islands is what it is today – a remote isle outpost, rarely visited by tourists, with beautiful, verdant mountains surrounded by clear waters and vibrant untouched reefs.
Other Blogs you may find useful:
Where to Stay in Singapore/ Jakarta
Everything you need to know about our Seaplane
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