It was a spur-of-the-moment decision to visit, and it’s been only a couple of years since I came to Bintan, but who'll turn down a beach holiday? I’m excited to come anytime. It's the tail-end of the monsoon season, and we arrived before peak tourist season begun.
We stayed at The Sanchaya on my previous visit, which we simply adored. It was a pleasant surprise to see that Four Points by Sheraton shares the same beachfront, alongside Hotel Indigo, and the beach was as beatific as I remembered. In a couple of areas of the beach, the sand was so so soft, our feet sank in a couple of inches as the tide came in. It felt like quicksand.
I didn’t learn to appreciate this enough on my last visit, but the intertidal zone was lovely along Lagoi Bay. As the tides recede, parts of the shoreline that were previously covered by the waters become exposed. The beach brimmed with life. We got up close with the fishes darting about the surf, and saw waves of scuttering crabs amongst the sand.
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| Photo by N |
We’ve also found a lot of live sand dollars too. They’re marine creatures that are cousins to starfishes and sea urchins. Unlike the bleached white of dead sand dollars, the live ones are dark coloured and are usually found shallowly buried in the wet sands. Living ones also secrete a residue that can stain your hands yellow, as we found out the hard way. Dead ones are fine for collection, but it’s illegal to pick up live ones. Leave the live ones alone!
I said it once and I’ll say it again: Lagoi Bay is perfect for photography. These hotels enjoy a coastline that stretches for miles. There’s beautiful cloud formations in both the mornings and in the evenings, which together with the waves, form a perfect backdrop.
There’s a nearby island which you can swim out to, but we found that at the lowest of low tide, the water actually receded enough for us to walk to. It’s ringed with gorgeous boulders, and is likewise perfect for photoshoots if you chance across them at low tide.
There’s a nearby island which you can swim out to, but we found that at the lowest of low tide, the water actually receded enough for us to walk to. It’s ringed with gorgeous boulders, and is likewise perfect for photoshoots if you chance across them at low tide.
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| The island at high tide - may not be a great idea to swim out |
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| And here it is at low tide - entirely walkable! Bring snacks |
The weather held up for most of the days. We took hours-long walks along the shoreline, and each stroll was a complete pleasure. It wasn’t hot like I feared, the sea breeze was unabating and it was strong. The coastal winds were relentless and powerful: so strong, there was a guest zipping around the coast in a sand sail. On our last morning, as we dipped in the sea with an overcast sky, it was positively cold.
My wise friend once advocated strongly for me to buy small bottles of sparkling wines as portable luxuries for couples, to jazz up events like picnics and when travelling. Boy, did he know what he was talking about. (My go-to picnic food nowadays is said small bottle of wine - a perfect quantity for two - and a tray of sushi.) After this resort trip, I've added sake to that list of portable luxuries. Each sake bottle is small enough to be packed, in Goldilocks-approved quantity for two, and can always be capped to continue drinking another day. I'm a convert to his ways, and I highly recommend bringing drinks along when people travel to resorts.
Food while staying in resorts is always a bit of a hit-or-miss, but we enjoyed the food we ate on this trip! The food was decent at Four Points, and I developed a newfound appreciation for sambal (Indonesian chilli sauce). There were little pots of sambal ranging from green to red for our meals. My favourite was a little something called Sambal colo colo; it’s made with chopped bird eye’s chilli, shallots, lime juice and a healthy amount of kecap manis. It’s pretty great paired with roast beef and lambs, and even drizzled over sunny side ups.
We also found a terrific independent restaurant called Warung Yeah!, which was just a few minutes’ walk away from our resort along the beach. We had it for lunch on our second day, and it was so good that we made sure to return on our last day before boarding the ferry. I usually associate warung as a place that can be a bit local, run by the older generations and a bit rough around the edges, so it’s a surprise to discover this restaurant clean, well air-conditioned, and staffed entirely by youths. We sat on the outdoors section for our meals, which came with a really good view of the bay. There was a cool coastal wind present at all times, making outdoor sitting a delight.
It was even more remarkable to find the food absolutely delicious. The food was served on humble weaved rattan dishes, but the flavours were spectacular. The unremarkable-looking mutton fried rice (Nasi Goreng Kambing) was one of the tastiest fried rice that I’ve ever eaten in my life. It was perfectly seasoned, and may have been the only mutton dish that my wife ever enjoyed. Another outstanding dish is their satays. The Madura Chicken Satay came wonderfully grilled and topped with peanut sauce and kecap manis. The other satay, Taichan Satay looked a little anemic but turned out to be deeply flavourful as well. I shouldn’t have been such a skeptic. Tahu Bunting (Deep Fried Stuffed Tofu) was crispy on the outside and filled with juicy shredded vegetables on the inside. Tahu Telor (Beancurd Omelette) was wonderfully fried as well. The Gado-gado (cooked salad with peanut sauce) was scented with lemongrass. The Banana Fritters was also fine, though a bit on the sweet side for my palate. We ordered the Madura Satay and the Nasi Goreng Kambing twice. Was this number of dishes quite impressive for two people over two lunches? Well, every dish was a knock-out, and so we kept rolling the dice. But still, we couldn't find a weak link: these guys just that good. Most of the renowned warung in Bali or Yogyakarta had got nothing on this warung located thisclose to the Lagoi area resorts.
Every time that I come to Indonesia, it delivers a better experience than I expect. This had been a terrific stay, and a great short getaway.
