Glamping and not camping

It was Chinese New Year, yet again. We've visited our relatives in the first and second day, and considering that it was too cold for the kids to travel to countries such as Hong Kong or Taiwan, we decided to just go for a short trip at Bintan again. This was Kevan's first maiden trip to Bintan with us and he couldn't contain his excitement when we arrived at the jetty and board the "Bintan Lagoon" vessel to Bintan.

The sea was really rough and choppy and many passengers vomited including Kevan and my mum. Kevan had vomited all over himself and partially on my hand. Luckily, I've brought extra shirt for him to change. We were glad to have arrive at Bintan because the sea journey was really uncomfortable.

There were many people visiting Bintan during the festive season. Luckily, we chose to board the vessel in the morning and hence arrived quite early. Check in was therefore not as slow as we had expected.

We then looked for the signboard "The Canopi" and was greeted warmly by the crew dressed in the iconic "adventurer" uniform. The crew then led us to a mini-bus which took us to the resort, just 5 min away from Bandar Bentan Telani Ferry Terminal.

The resort boasts of a 338 hectare adventure ground that includes a private mangrove river, the sea and a spectacular 6.3 hectares salt water crystal lagoon. Within the Canopi, the guests will be thrilled with the 40 tent suites complete with modern luxuries, spa and all day dinning facilities. Also, all sea water activities are reachable within the area.

Canopi Reception

When we arrived at the resort, we were greeted warmly by the staff who gave us each a glass of refreshing lemon tea. The staff patiently briefed us on the facilities and as we were entitled to cash of SGD160 (since we booked online), we could utilize the money for sea/land activities or dinning. We were given green electronic tags that were hung over our wrists.

Beautiful Tents

Crystal Lagoon

The concept of glamping pretty much intrigued me as we were brought into the huge tents that were equipped with air-con, TV, boiler, a comfortable king size 4 poster bed, and of course a open-air toilet with nice natural décor and rainforest shower. Some of the tents faced the lagoon while some faced the garden. Each of the tents comes with a swinging hammock where you can relax and star-gaze at night. There are BBQ pits outside every tents for those who love to barbeque.

Although the tent is spacious and the open-air toilet is nicely decorated with greeneries, there were certain things that really put me off.

1. Air-con was not really strong in my tent. Surprisingly, my parents' tent was much cooler.

2. As the toilet was open-air, there were many ants and it could be quite insecure to hear footsteps or chattering voices outside while you were bathing.

3. Ants in the room really irked me.

Nonetheless, I must say that the room is very well decorated and indeed look "Glamp".

Outside of our tents is the crystal blue lagoon. It is so huge and crystal clear. However, the water was really cold but the kids enjoyed the splash thoroughly.

Sea sports at the lagoon were plenty. There were wake-boarding, Lagoon boating, Kayaking, Jetovator, standup paddle, water tricycle, water bumper boat and Aqua sailing. Nature activities to be ready in June includes, sunrise mangrove walks, vegetable farm visits and mangrove boat/kayak tour.

Within the canopy compound, adults can rent the electric mini scooters or the kids can try out the mini ATV. For family, you can also hop onto the old ford vintage buggy ride to tour around the area. There are bound to be something for everyone.

There is a small restaurant at the resort. However, the food really needs more improvement in order to entice the guests. FYI, food was not cheap at all.

All in all, we enjoyed our short staycation at the Canopi. We love the sea sports which were reachable within short walks. This place would be highly recommended for family with young kids or couples who just wish to have a nice splash at the huge crystal blue lagoon.

Lastly, we have the opportunity to try the Seafood Keelung @ Nirwana Garden but was quite disappointed with the food standard as compared to the previous dinning experience at the restaurant 5 years ago. Food was terribly expensive and not half as good as the seafood restaurant at Changi Village.