The first time I went to Bintan was in 2015, to take my diving course. The visibility of the ocean and the hotel I stayed in was kinda meh but two years later, after reading lots of good reviews on The Canopi, Bintan, I was looking forward to my 2D1N glamping trip.

Travel HANter

06 Jul 17

The Canopi, Bintan

The trip was kind of last minute so we booked our trip through the live chat option with Lokopoko to ensure the dates we wanted. The process was quite fast and fuss-free (heh).

Package

Room Type: Safari Tent
Per Adult: S$183 per person
Package includes: 1-night accommodation with breakfast, welcome drink, 2-way SIN-Bintan-SIN ferry tickets, 2-way Bintan Land Transfers, 1 bonus activity of choice: 60-mins massage in TOWN (there was also an option of  a mangrove tour if massage is not your thing)

HAN-dy tip: Book at least one week in advance to get S$25 off, which is the published price on their website.

Journey to and fro Bintan

We took the ferry from Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal which departed at 11:10 and the return ferry at 17:35. The ferry ride was about an hour or just a short dream away.

HAN-dy tip: Bintan is 1 hour behind Singapore

The Canopi, Bintan: Day 1

When we arrived at Bandar Bentan Telani Ferry Terminal, the hotel’s staffs were there (look for people in safari attire holding “The Canopi” sign) and we were told that we would be going for the massage first as the check-in time to The Canopi was at 3 pm.

• D’Bintan Salon Day Spa

The ride to the spa salon was just 10 minutes and we left our luggage near their reception desk. The place was clean and spa-ish smelling. The massage was quite good. They had this 5 hours spa package which included all the pampering your body is gonna need that costs about 1.5 million rupiahs and for returning guests, there was a 10% discount. They also provide return transport from the resort. Really tempted but 2D1N wasn’t enough for that long of a pampering session. The friendly staffs helped us to contact our driver after our lunch at the nearby hawker center.

• The Nearby Hawker Centre

Okay, the food at the nearby hawker center was okay. My friend told me that one of the stalls was famous but she couldn’t remember which stall it is. So okay, that was lunch.

HAN-dy tip: There were a few very mini-marts next to the hawker center so remember to get your things there as the things in the not so mini-mart in the resort was much pricier. 

• The Canopi, Bintan

On entering the premises of the resort, there was a security post at the entrance of the resort which meant safety +1!

Once we alighted, we were greeted by the oh-so-famous (man-made) crystal lagoon.

Upon checking in, we had our welcome drink and the receptionist gave us a rubber “watch” which was a gadget for all our transactions in the resort and the activity center aka THE TREASURE BAY. We were also given a wristband which was for the admission into THE TREASURE BAY. Non-resort guest had to pay 100k rupiah to enter THE TREASURE BAY.

HAN-dy tip: The rubber “watch” entitles a 10% discount for the activities in THE TREASURE BAY.

The friendly receptionist also told us the directions and gave us a map for us to locate our tent but it was confusing (and really sunny), so we requested for a buggy!

• Our Safari Tent

The tent was clean and the bed was a little soft for my preference but we still had a good night sleep. The carpet floor wasn’t very clean but disposable slippers were given. Two bottles of water were provided along with coffee and tea.

The toilet was beautiful and OUTDOORS, which was great for nature lovers and not so good for insect haters. But hey, haters gonna hate hate hate hate! We managed to survive bathing and using the toilet (anxiously) at night with no scary insects encounters.

HAN-dy tip: BE BRAVE when using the toilet. Insects can smell your fear!

• THE TREASURE BAY

We requested for a buggy to drive us from the lobby of the hotel to the treasure bay. The Treasure Bay in The Canopi, Bintan, is a water adventure park and also where the activities are located at.

HAN-dy tip: Keep buggy-ing between the lobby and THE TREASURE BAY.

THE TREASURE BAY had few treasures when we visited. Due to the cloudy weather, outdoor activities were temporarily suspended. We went on a weekday and THE TREASURE BAY was quite empty and there was no one playing the water activities. My friend couldn’t get into the water so the closest we had gotten was walking along the lagoon, which had a scalding hot floor!

HAN-dy tip: Take off your shoes when you are nearer to the water. Just imagine the floor to be LAVA.

To be fair there were supposedly lots of activities:

Finally, the weather cleared up and we were able to ride on the Segway – one round of guided ride around the lagoon for the price of IDR120k. The Segway was easy to ride but the speed limit of 12 km/hr meant tired legs.

• Hook On Seafood Grill & Bar

We had our dinner (and lunch the next day) at Hook On Seafood Grill & Bar which was in THE TREASURE BAY. The food was quite affordable, about S$25 for a set dinner for 2 and $5 each for our set lunch, both of which came with drinks. Service was good as we were the only guests there but the food was quite salty.

• Firefly tour

We booked ourselves a firefly tour which departed at 8 pm. A bus picked the guests up to a jetty where we boarded a large rectangular mortised raft with seats and safety rails that ferries you through the mangrove. If you are imagining the night sky lighted up by fireflies, then you are in for a disappointment. I would NOT recommend going on the tour. The raft ride itself was chilling with the night breeze but the tour guide had to constantly splash water on the branches whenever they locate the sparsely populated fireflies to make them fly and amuse the guests. To make things worse, some guests tried to catch the poor little fireflies to show their kids and the flies stop glowing after being passed on from one kid to another. T.T

HAN-dy tip: Say no to disrupting the ecosystem! 

We came back after 1.5 hours to see the crystal lagoon beautifully lit up.

We walked back to our tent since it was cooling at night. There was an outdoor movie screening area by the lagoon available but had ended by the time we were back. The smell of BBQ filled up the air and it seemed like a good idea to chill and BBQ by your tent. The BBQ for 2 pax costs about S$50 and I will definitely try it the next time I visit.

The Canopi, Bintan: Day 2

• Breakfast buffet

After pillow talking until late the night before, we woke up late. Went for our complimentary breakfast 10 minutes before the closing time. They ever friendly staffs were kind enough to allow us to get our food before they cleared the buffet. The food was very average but a free breakfast is a free breakfast.

We went to THE TREASURE BAY after our breakfast but sadly the air pistol was not available again and my friend didn’t wanna go for the ATV ride with me. So after people staring and aimless walking for a while we went for our massage.

• Spa 

The spa within the premise of Canopi had a comparable price to the D’Bintan Salon Day Spa. We made a booking in advance for our massage at the spa salon, which was actually just a tent with two rooms.  The massage was better than the one at D’Bintan Salon Day Spa but the tent was quite small. We could really hear the conversations around us when the place got more crowded.

HAN-dy tip: Have the massage in your own tent for cheaper rates and more privacy.

• Electric scooter

We had wanted to rent the electric scooter for 6 hours to explore the resort and its surroundings but time always flies when you are doing nothing and we ended up only having time to rent the scooter for an hour.

HAN-dy tip: You can book and drop off your electric scooter at different locations, either at the treasure bay or at the reception place.

• Home sweet home

The Canopi is a great place for a short retreat and the crystal lagoon is really as stunning as the photos. The staffs were all very friendly and ready to help. I think I can get used to glamping at the Caponi and will definitely visit again!

Also, check out:

Top 5 Things to do in Batam

Montigo Resorts, Batam, Indonesia [Review]