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Getting To and From MB Palambak Island Resort

Hello, Thank you for contacting us.

Before we begin our explanation on getting to the banyaks, a word if warning, indonesian sim cards and your foreign phone:

if you have just landed in Indonesia from overseas please be aware that your foreign phone will not be compatible with an Indonesian sim. so while you can connect to wifi you will not be able to use an indonesian data sim unless you register your phone's imei at an offical telkomsel grapari (not a shop on the side of the road that sells sims) so it can be used with an Indonesian sim for up to 90 days. You must bring your phone, passport in person. There is a telkomsel grapari at the airport but if it is closed there are others around medan in malls that open until 2100 (plaza medan fair).

A way around is one shop located aout 20 mins/8km from the airport. For some reason this shop, unlike any other shop we have found in medan, can register your phone within about 20 mins. The shop is called mr. lubis ponsel, open from 0700-0000.

Transportation can be a bit tricky if it is your first time travelling to the Banyaks. Don’t worry, we will help you every step of the way.

Basically you go to Singkil (mainland) then cross over to the banyaks by boat by private boat (speed) or public boat (ferry/ woodenboat) ideally in the morning.

If you want to save time you can travel by car overnight to singkil aiming for a morning crossover. Or you can travel during the day and stay at our accommodation in singkil built purposefully for a one nighter (@mb camp singkil). If you want more days in singkil there is an interesting back to nature swamp tour we offer.

if you are coming from bukit lawang or lake toba don't be fooled by a shared bus (it is just a shared car). since the route is uncommon the car diverts to take other local passengers to medan or elsewhere so you will have a long ride and probably end up in singkil at midnight (as often happens). from medan to singkil the route is more common so the shared car is an ok option but of course not as comfortable as having a car to yourself.

Speedboat (direct from singkil-palamabk): If you plan to cross over by boat in the morning and there is bad weather you may still have a chance later in the day. If you plan a later cross and there is bad weather you will be stuck in singkil that night. Also guests go to and from the island so we always plan to leave at 0800 from Singkil and about 1000 from palambak.

Woodenboat (singkil-balai): it leaves daily from 0800-1300, usually 1100 & takes 5 hours. If it ends up leaving at 1300 (has happened occasionally), it will arrive at 1800 and this will be too late to cross over to palambak (another 70 mins by slowboat). In that case you can stay one night in Balai (The best is accommodation is Putri Penginapan). On the way back the woodenboat is more punctual, leaving balai from 1300-1500, usually 1400 (aims to arrive in singkil before sundown).

Ferry (Singkil-Balai): the monthly timetable only comes out a few days before (& can change due to weather), but the generally timetable is 3 times a week, usually Friday, Sunday and one other random day. Since the ferry is so much cheaper and safer you can plan you holiday by aiming for a crossover on the Friday or Sunday ferry. The timetable will show the route: Singkil-Pulau banyak. Pulau banyak is balai, and that is the place you need to go. From there we can pick you up by slowboat, same as if you took the woodenboat Singkil-Balai. If the ferry departs singkil from 1500 it will arrive at 1830, also too late to cross over from Balai to the resort, so in that case get the woodenboat from Singkil-Balai, not the ferry or spend the night in Balai.

The breakdown:

GETTING TO/ FROM SINGKIL-medan

To/ From Medan City/ KNO Airport to Singkil

Option 1: PRIVATE Car

Option 2: PUBLIC Shared Car

GETTING TO/ FROM SINGKIL-PALAMBAK

Option 1: PRIVATE Speedboat

To/ from Singkil-Palambak

Option 2: PUBLIC Boat then PRIVATE Slowboat

To/ from Singkil-Balai-Palambak

Step 1: Public Boat to/ from Singkil-Balai

Option A: Public Ferry

Option B: Public Wooden Boat (“Boat Kayu Besar”)

Step 2: Private Slowboat to/ from Palambak-Balai

In Detail:

GETTING TO/ FROM SINGKIL-Medan

We can organize Private and Public transport to and from Singkil to anywhere in Sumatra. Below is the Information to and from Medan.

To/ From Medan City/ KNO Airport to Singkil

Option 1: PRIVATE Car

*Ownership: Private

*Type of Vehicle: Toyota Innova/ Avanza; AC

*Capacity: 5 Passengers (Depends on how much luggage you have also)

*Travel Duration: 9 hours including a 1-hour stop usually for lunch

*Departure Day: Any

*Departure Time: Any

*Departure From: Your designated pick-up point

*Price:

-Rp.1,100,000/5 passengers from Medan City

-Rp.1,200,000/5 passengers from KNO Airport

*Pros:

-Air Conditioning

-Flexibility to stop anywhere on the way

-Private

-Comfortable

*Cons:

-More Expensive compared to the Shared Car

*Tips:

- If you want to avoid one night of accommodation in Singkil/Medan, travel from origin at night time to time arrival for the morning. This usually works well if you are catching the morning boat from Singkil to Pulau Banyak. If you would like the more relaxed option of travelling during the day, check out our accommodation in Singkil: MB Camp Singkil.

Option 2: PUBLIC Shared Car

*Ownership: Private

*Type of Vehicle: Toyota Innova/ Avanza; Non-AC (Same vehicle as the Private Car, only they turn off the Air Conditioning to save fuel)

*Capacity: 5 Passengers

*Travel Duration: 7-8 hours including a 1-hour stop (Usually they speed)

*Departure Day: Any

*Departure Time: 2100-2300

*Departure From: Your designated pick-up point

*Price:

-Rp.170,000/1 passenger from Medan City

-Rp.340,000/1 passenger from KNO Airport

*Pros:

-Cheaper if there are only a few in your group

*Cons:

-Loud Music

-Speeding

-Sitting next to strangers

-No Air Con

-Squashy

*Tips:

- If you choose this option book the front middle seats or you will be squashed in the back.

GETTING TO/ FROM SINGKIL-PALAMBAK

If you have a flight to catch on the way back, have a spare day on the mainland in case the weather prevents you from leaving the islands (especially between May-Sep when the weather is more extreme).

Option 1: PRIVATE Speedboat

To/ from Singkil-Palambak

*Ownership: Private

*Type of Vehicle: Fiber Speedboat 40HP Engine

*Capacity: 6 Passengers

*Travel Duration: 2 hours, depending on the weather.

*Departure Day: Any.

*Departure Time:

-From Singkil: 0700/0800

-From Palambak: 1000

Note: It is advised to depart as early as possible in case there is a change in the weather that would prevent you from departing.

*Departure From:

Singkil:

-MB Camp Singkil

Palambak:

-MB Palambak Island Resort

*Price: Rp.2,500,000/1-4 passengers (Add Rp.150k for each additional person; Max 6 persons).

*Pros:

-Direct way of getting from Singkil to the resort: Only takes 2 hours to reach destination as you by-pass Balai.

-Adventurous, as you are on a boat with close contact to water.

*Cons:

-Expensive.

-Environmentally Unfriendly: Speedboat Burns so much fuel.

-Small Vehicle: It could be a rocky ride if the weather is rough.

-If the weather is extreme this option is more likely to cancel than the larger Ferry.

*Tips:

-On the way back from the islands, make sure you have a spare day in case weather prevents you from departing.

Option 2: PUBLIC Boat then PRIVATE Slowboat

To/ from Singkil-Balai-Palambak

Public Boats (Ferry and Wooden Boat) go to and from Singkil to the non-resort, populated islands called Balai or Haloban. If you are interested in going to Palambak, get the public boat to the closer island, Balai. From Balai we can pick you up by Slowboat.

Step 1: Public Boat to/ from Singkil-Balai

Option A: Public Ferry

*Ownership: Government

*Type of Vehicle: Ferry

*Capacity: 300 passengers & about 15 Cars

*Travel Duration: 3.5 hours

*Departure Day: Once a day, usually 3x/week: From Singkil-Balai: usually Wed, Fri & Sun. The schedule comes out about 1 week before the date of operation and can change due to the weather or operational factors

*Departure Time: Depends on the timetable. Usually either 0900/1000, or 1500. Reading the timetable, for the route Singkil to Balai you want Singkil-Pulau Banyak and for the route Balai to Singkil you want Pulau Banyak – Singkil (Balai is called Pulau Banyak)

*Departure From:

Singkil Ferry Port:

-Perlabuhan Ferry (not CPO).

Balai Ferry Port:

-Perlabuhan Ferry Pulau Banyak.

Note: Try to get the morning Ferry so that you arrive in Balai during daylight and can cross over to the island resport on the same day. If you get the 1500 Ferry you will arrive in Balai after sundown and it will be too dark to cross over to the resort. In that case you will have to spend 1 night in Balai. To avoid this, opt for the Woodenboat to Balai instead.

*Price: Rp.34,000/passenger.

*Pros:

-Punctual compared to the Wooden Boat

-Larger Vehicle (Safer)

-Safety Protocols

-Bathrooms & a Prayer Room Available

-Seats Available (The Woodenboat does not have seats, you must sit on a mat on the floor)

-Food/Drinks for sale (Instant coffee and Pop Mie)

*Cons:

-Environmentally Unfriendly, since it is such a large vehicle and is rarely operating at full capacity, but it will run anyway according to the timetable

*Tips:

-There is open seating with sun-coverage for fresh air on Level 3.

-There is an Air-Conditioned VIP seating area with comfortable seats located in a room behind the canteen. It is currently accessible to all ticket holders despite having a VIP sign on the door, so just go on in.

Option B: Public Wooden Boat (“Boat Kayu Besar”)

*Ownership: Private

*Type of Vehicle: Large Wooden Boat

*Capacity: 50 passengers

*Travel Duration: 5 hours

*Departure Day: Once a day, usually every day. There are about 5 private boats operating, with generally one boat leaving each day. Since the boats are privately owned the schedule basically depends on the owner. We usually call up the port the night before to see what boat is leaving the next day

*Departure Time:

-Singkil-Balai: Morning from 0800-1300, but usually 1100

-Balai-Singkil: Afternoon from 1300-1500 but usually 1400

-Note: Departure time depends on operational factors like Tide and Load. We can only ask the night before to get an approximate time of departure, but it is never definite. From Singkil to Balai there have been many cases where passengers have been waiting hours for departure from Singkil-Balai. On the way back from Balai-Singkil the boat is generally more on time because the boat aims to get into Singkil by sundown.

*Departure From:

Singkil Port:

-Pelabuhan Anak Laut Indah (15 mins between MBCS and Singkil Town).

-Note: The old port was Jembatan Tinggi but it is no longer used because Low Tide prevented the boats from being able to get out and in.

Balai Port:

-Tangkahan Nanda

*Price:

Rp.100,000/ foreign national

Rp.40,000/ Indonesian national.

*Pros:

-Experience the local way before the Ferry was introduced to Singkil (If you want to try it best try it Balai-Singkil as it is more punctual).

*Cons:

-Unpunctual

-No real safety protocols. Some Tourists don’t mind it; some think it is just too dangerous especially since it is used for transporting fuel and people smoke freely.

-No decent bathrooms for Women

-No seats. You just sit on a mat the floor of the boat

-No Food/Drinks for sale

*Tips:

-Bring Food and Water in case departure is delayed

-Use the bathroom before getting on the boat

-Do as locals do: sleep!

Step 2: Private Slowboat to/ from Palambak-Balai

*Ownership: Private

*Type of Vehicle: Wooden Boat with Robin Engine

*Capacity: 9 Passengers

*Travel Duration: 70 mins