Ranoh Island Adventure - Part 1

Last week I just came back from an island trip to Ranoh with Lincoln and a couple of friends.  Ranoh island is a small isle off Galang Baru island (and Batam), which is accessible by the Trans Barelang bridge, followed by a 30 minute ferry ride from a jetty.  For the whole of this first part I just used my Sony RX100 Mk 3.

Screenshot from Google Map, Ranoh Island, there you are

We set off from Singapore on an 8:15 a.m. ferry ride to Batam with a couple of friends: lady boss of Little Nyonya Batik and her husband.  On arrival in Batam after a quick check-in to the hotel we immediately took a 1 hour and 30 minutes car ride from Harbour Bay to the pier.  The ferry to Ranoh Island departs at 10 a.m. so we had to be fast in order not to miss it.

While we passed the scenic Barelang bridge, I was too slow in taking my camera out for a shot and missed a photo opportunity there.  The road ahead was pretty much monotonous.  It was almost a good one hour on the Trans Barelang road as we left Batam island, passing through Pulau Rempang, Pulau Galang & Pulau Galang Baru.

If I remember correctly, this was the 2nd bridge - RX100 Mk3

And this was somewhere after the 4th bridge - RX100 Mk3

And finally after a long car ride we arrived at the jetty.

You can get to another island resort called Labun Island from here too apparently - RX100 Mk3

And after we alighted from the car there's this simple jetty with a boat, all ready to take us to Ranoh island.  Take note that you need to make a booking prior to visiting Ranoh Island.  This is not a walk-in island hopping tour.  So make sure you make your bookings first by checking their website. We did our registrations at the jetty prior to boarding the ferry and got a paper bracelet to identify ourselves as visitors and the tour package that applied to us (yes, apparently there are multiple types of packages).  A little bit more on this, I paid Rp. 500,000.- for myself, Lincoln and the lady boss of Little Nyonya Batik as we are holding Indonesian passports.  Her husband had to pay Rp. 700,000.- as he's holding a Singaporean passport, but his package includes one free banana boat ride which the rest of us don't have.  So different rates apply to locals and foreigners.   Our package included a buffet lunch, snorkeling, free canoeing, inflatable island, Frisbee, soft archery and beach volley ball.  Other beach games would cost more individually. 

Clean waters ahead!  - RX100 Mk3

That's our boat!  - RX100 Mk3

And once on board, we chose to sit all the way at the back.

We want to see everything from back here - RX100 Mk3

Remember the white bus in the photos above, apparently that bus was carrying a group of Chinese tourists who were going to Ranoh island too.  Apparently we were the 2nd group and there was a 3rd group coming soon.  While waiting for them I just took photos of Lincoln and a wefie too.

Lincoln with his life vest - RX100 Mk3

Father & son wefie - RX100 Mk3

While waiting for the other group to board I also snapped more photos to kill off time.  Apparently the boat we were on was a 750 horse powered boat, consisting of 3 Yamaha outboard engines, each at 250 horse power.

A jetty behind ours - RX100 Mk3

As soon as the 3rd group arrived and got on board, we sailed for Ranoh!  I was quite baffled that the boat was full, I mean don't these people need to go to work or school or something?  How on earth are they so free to travel around? 

The boat is packed with Chinese tourists, except for my group and the crews - RX100 Mk3

Anyway, the boat  ride was quite uneventful other than some sea water splashing onto our face.  The waves were relatively calm too as the weather was fine, although it was extremely hot.

Upon reaching Ranoh island, I spotted some mangroves in nearby islands and took a photo.  Seems like they are still pristine and relatively untouched by people.

Mangroves in nearby island - RX100 Mk3

A 30 minute ride from Galang Baru island to Ranoh - RX100 Mk3

Since we were seated all the way at the back we waited for the others to disembark first while soaking in the sight and the heat... (to part 2)

Here's a closing shot for part 1:

Lincoln all set & ready to go for island fun - RX100 Mk3

~ Photos taken with Sony RX100 Mk 3~