Price comparison of Singapore ferries to Bintan & Batam - Which is the cheapest?
PUBLISHED ONAugust 26, 2019 3:51 AMByEugenia Liew
Just a short (and cheap) ferry ride away, both Bintan and Batam are top resort destinations among Singaporeans. Depending on your destination (and ferry operator), it’ll take about 1 to 2 hours and cost under $50 for a return trip.
Yup, it’s so easy to get to that you don’t need a long weekend. Heck, with as many as 5 trips per day for some operators, you can even go there and back within a day if you really wanted to.
Itching to escape? Here’s a comparison of the ferries departing Singapore to Bintan and Batam.
Singapore to Batam
- Majestic Fast Ferry to Batam Centre
- Batam Fast Ferry (multiple routes)
Singapore to Bintan
- Bintan Resort Ferries to Bandar Bentan Telani
- Mozaic Ferry Lines to Bintan Lagoon Resort
- Bintan ferries to Tanjung Pinang
SINGAPORE TO BATAM BY FERRY
For Batam, it’s pretty straightforward. There are 2 main operators: Majestic Fast Ferry & Batam Fast Ferry.
The former only takes you to Batam Centre, whereas the latter has a few other routes to Nongsapura and Harbourbay too.
Majestic Fast Ferry - Singapore to Batam Centre:
| Ferry operator | One-way fare | Return fare |
| Majestic Fast Ferry website | $24.50 ($17.50 + $7 terminal fee) | $49 ($35 + $14 two-way terminal fees) |
Batam Fast Ferry - multiple routes and ferry terminals:
| Batam Fast Ferry route | One-way fare | Return fare |
| Tanah Merah to Nongsapura | $25 | $49 |
| Tanah Merah to Harbourbay | $25 | $49 |
| Harbourfront to Batam Centre | $25 | $49 |
| Harbourfront to Sekupang | $25 | $49 |
| Harbourfront to Harbourbay | $25 | $50 |
When checking, make sure to look at whether or not the listed prices include hidden costs like the taxes and levies, including the $7 terminal fee when both departing and returning.
On the surface, Majestic Fast Ferry may look cheaper by sporting fares as cheap as $35 for a return trip. However, if you add in the $14, it comes up to $49 if you buy from the official site.
$49 is the same published price as Batam Fast Ferry. For Batam Centre, both are the same price for return trips, but Majestic Fast Ferry is cheaper for one-way tickets.
Those are the prices on the operators’ official websites. But here’s a tip: For discounted tickets, look on travel voucher sites like KLOOK and Changi Recommends. It’s much cheaper!
Majestic Fast Ferry tickets are $35.80, including all taxes. Batam Fast Ferry is also on KLOOK and Changi Recommends, but they only have vouchers for rides to Nongsapura and Harbourbay ($38 to $36 for return trips).
Now, let’s move on to the Bintan ferries.
SINGAPORE TO BINTAN BY FERRY
For Bintan, there are more ferry operators — namely Bintan Resort Ferries, Mozaic Ferry Line, Sindo Ferry and Majestic Fast Ferry — and they can take you from Singapore to 1) Bandar Bentan Telani, 2) Bintan Lagoon Resort, or 3) Tanjung Pinang.
Bintan Resort Ferries from Singapore to Bandar Bentan Telani:
| Bintan Resort Ferries | One-way fare | Round trip |
| Economy | $45 | $58 (off-peak), $64 (off-peak and peak), $70 (peak) |
| Emerald | $67 | $102 (off-peak), $108 (off-peak and peak), $114 (peak) |
Bintan is mostly a resort island, and many beach resorts are located at the Lagoi region, accessed via BBT. This area is served by Bintan Resort Ferries.
There are 2 classes of seats — economy, and the “first class” Emerald. Prices are significantly more (up to 2X more), which, to me, isn’t very worth it for a such a short ride.
The prices are also differentiated based on peak and off-peak periods. Off-peak is from Monday to Thursday, excluding eve of public holidays and public holidays. Peak is from Friday to Sunday, including eve of PH and PH.
You can also buy tickets on KLOOK and Changi Recommends, but you only get about $2 to $6 off the retail price.
Ferry from Singapore to Bintan Lagoon Resort:
| Ferry operator | One-way fare | Round trip fares |
| Mozaic Ferry Lines | $32 | $64 |
If you specifically want to go to Bintan Lagoon Resort — they are the largest integrated resort on the island — then the ferry there is operated by Mozaic Ferry Lines.
There are no discounted tickets for this.
… Not that I know of, anyway. If you find any, leave a comment so I can add it in!
Singapore to Bintan, Tanjung Pinang:
| Ferry operator | One-way fare | Round trip fares | Additional costs |
| Sindo Ferry | $22 | $44 | +S$7 Singapore departure fee
+RP60,000 Pinang Terminal fee +RP20,000 confirmation fee |
| Majestic Fast Ferry | $23 | $46 | +S$7 depart terminal fee |
Tanjung Pinang is a town in Bintan. There are no beaches there, but if you get a packaged tour with some agencies, they may be able to arrange transport for you to get to the waters to go snorkelling and etc.
There is no public transport on the island so it’ll be hard to travel that far on your own. Tanjung Pinang is more for city tours and beautiful temples.
2 operators go to Tanjung Pinang, Sindo Ferry and Majestic Fast Ferry. Prices are comparable, but Sindo’s prices exclude some fees on the Indonesia side (adds up to about S$8).
There’s no mention of those fees on Majestic Fast Ferry’s site.
This article was first published in MoneySmart .