A Weekend Getaway to Ranoh Island, Batam

I have to thank my sister and cousin for organising this fun weekend getaway to Ranoh Island for our extended family. It was not an easy feat to arrange an overseas trip for a huge group, especially when the group includes families like mine with four young children. I think I asked the most questions and had the most requests. Tsk.

Where is Ranoh Island?

Ranoh Island is a small island located south of Batam. It is near to Abang Island, a spot known for snorkelling.

To get there from Singapore, we took a one-hour ferry to Batam Centre ferry terminal and another one-hour minibus ride to the south of Batam. Finally, we took another 15-minute speedboat ride to the island. So the entire journey from Singapore to the beautiful island including getting through the customs took about 4 hours.

Our Itineraries

Other than a scheduled snorkelling trip at around noontime, all other activities were free and easy. Although frequent drizzles and thunderstorms accompanied us throughout the trip, we managed to snorkel and attempted some water-activities such as the banana boat ride, kayak and the water park. These activities are part of our package, and we did not have to fork out extra money.

My personal favourite was the water park. Not only I felt like a ninja warrior attempting the various obstacle courses, but I also fell into the water a couple of times and got myself into different hilarious poses while trying to lift myself up onto the platforms.

There are other activities such as the Flying Fish, jet ski and ocean rafting that are available at an additional fee. We did not participate in those as there were already enough free activities to keep us all occupied for an overnight getaway.

Our land activities included beach volleyball, archery and lots of karaoke!

Accommodation and Other Facilities

Sleeping arrangement was simple. Everyone bunked into two rooms, each comprising of 12 spacious beds. As these are shared rooms, there are lockers available to store your valuables. Bathing and toilet facilities are shared and located just a few steps away from the bedrooms.

My honest opinion of our one-night stay on Ranoh Island

It was a simple and value for money trip. We achieved the objective for the extended family to spend some quality time together. With no Wifi available, we could only spend time together and get to know each other even better than before.

The active ones including myself and my eldest girl thoroughly enjoyed the outdoor activities. However, the less active members of the family found the place a little boring. They were further disappointed when the buffet meals served were not satisfying.

However, if you are looking for a great place for team building and large family gathering, Ranoh Island is an excellent choice. The shared bunk arrangement, the accessible price tag and range of outdoor activities available were the key factors in selecting Ranoh Island.

If you are bringing your little ones along

Be prepared to rough it out. Families with young children may not enjoy the trip as much because the facilities are not set up to provide young children with comfort. There was no hot water for shower, and water pressure was low. Thus we had some difficulty cleaning up our two 16-month old, who spent the entire day playing on the sand and hanging out with the young aunts and uncles.

There was nothing available for our toddlers to play, except for fresh air, sunlight and a beautiful sandy beach!

I am grateful to my mum who helped to babysit the two little ones while I was out in the sea playing. I managed to have lotsa fun.

Food was not suitable for the young ones too, as the rice was dry and the dishes were mostly spicy and grilled. Fortunately, I had prepared travel food for them. Mixed the purees with rice and water, and that was dinner for them. Breakfast was a simple custard with banana.

I should also mention that each room is equipped with a kettle so we could boil water for the twins’ milk. As an extra precaution, we bought a few bottles of mineral waters along the way to the island as we did not want to use the tap water provided by the island for the twins’ milk.

Travelling to Ranoh Island with your little ones

In addition, don’t think of bringing your pram there! Sandy beaches and the 15-minute speedboat ride are not pram-friendly. We used our baby carriers for our entire journey, keeping us hands-free for holding on to our two elder kids, luggage, and handrails while boarding the boats.

In case you don’t have a baby carrier, you can always rent one. Go to Baby Carriers Rental Singapore, they have more than 80 baby carriers suitable for babies and toddlers. See this post here on my experience with Baby Carriers Rental Singapore.