In preparing for our visit to Singapore, we discovered that Indonesia is a mere 30 minutes away by ferry, so we decided to include it in our travel plans. We are so glad we did! We found a wonderful over-the-water beach resort on Sugi Island. We took the fast ferry to Batam, and then the resort transported us via a converted Malay fishing boat the rest of the way.
The resort is small…there were just a few other families there, and a few couples. Much to Daniel’s delight, there was an American family from Singapore with 5 and 6 year old boys, so he had playmates for a few days. We had a little chalet over the water, with bunk beds for the kids, and a private balcony with a hammock.
All meals were included, and were served family style in a large dining room built over the water. Local women from some of the nearby villages did the cooking, and the food was incredible! Indonesian, Thai, Tex-Mex, Italian, Chinese…great variety!
The waves were calm, and the water was warm. We spent hours bobbing in the shallow waters, and playing games on the beach (volleyball, badminton, etc). We spotted monkeys a few times during our stay…once digging through a garbage can, and another time scampering on the beach at sunrise. So cool!
Our dare-devil daughter’s favorite activity was jumping off the high jump at the end of the dock:
We tried fishing off the docks and our balcony, but didn’t catch anything (the fish seemed to enjoy the bait, though). We had better luck when we went shrimping after dark at low tide, armed only with headlamps and a long stick with a flexible fork-like head at the end. The trick was to look for the glowing eyes of the shrimp down in the mud. After shrimping the staff pulled up the large fishing net used to catch fish for the meals, and we all got to check out the little squids, eels, and fish that were caught up in the net.
View from our balcony
The kids would have stayed for another week, if it was possible. We all had a great time, and would happily return if we ever find ourselves in this part of the world again.
ABCD World Travels 
Hello Anita, how are you and family? So which part of the world are you now?
Hi Ian! We are all doing well. I hope things are good at Telunas! We are in Pucon, Chile right now. Wishing the lake was as warm as the waters were where you are!