There're as much as 6 or 7 ferry terminals in Batam but the 2 that will lead you to the action is Batu Ampar and Sekupang. Ferries depart dailyfrom World Trade Centre and journey takes about 45-60min for both. Most
prefer B.Ampar becus of shorter travelling time( 5-8min ) to Nagoya town
where all the action are compare to Sekupang ( 20-25min to town ). But
if u just miss the ferry & don't wanna wait another hour or wanna less
crowded ferry & terminal, u can take the one leaving for Sekupang about
20-30min later.

At WTC u can purchase a 2 ways ticket inclusive of seaport tax btw $20 -
$26 just half an hour before departure, give yourself an hour if you're
looking for a hotel/ferry package provided by the many tour agency here.
Dino & Penguin are the prefer ferry operator here, we each bought a
Penguin ticket($26) for the 11:15am ferry, later found there is another
counter sellin at $23, dunno why.

Schedule of Penguin Ferry
SG to B.Ampar ( sg time )
0735/0850/0930/1015/1115/1250/1350/1450/1555/1655/1745/1825/1850/1925/2000/2045/2130

B.Ampar to SG ( Batam time ; sg:11:15am = btm:10:15am )
0650/0740/0910/1045/1140/1240/1345/1420/1545/1615/1710/1750/1840/1910/2010/2050/2130

HOTEL

here're some reasonable ferry/hotel package provide by Penguin:
novotel/harmoni - $98
melia/mandarin - $95
royal/oasis - $85
extension nite : $50-$65
ask for a few dollars discount if you don't intend to use their bus for
pier to hotel transportation.

these are usually available even at last min on a busy Sat, becus most
people will not opt for 4-5 stars hotel. I've tried melia, cool ! but 1
plate of nasi goreng cost Rp35K !!!

Here're some 3 stars hotel info provided on courtesy of Bionic :

Singa : 0778 - 451919 ( $35 - $40 )
2000 : 0778 - 428483 ( $36 - $48 )
Rashinta : 0778-455888 ( $40 - $50 )

hotel rates are usually cheaper in weekday.

I choose Singa for this trip to cut some cost since we're letting the
driver get some commission off our gals, but it surprise me as a pretty
decent hotel. swimming pool, bathtub, fridge, big room with a
blockbuster movie channel round the clock and a Jap AV channel. I rate
it slightly better than our usual Hotel Pelangi at TP. It's better to
book a hotel in advance for weekend if you don't want to pay for a 4-5
stars hotel, otherwise in weekday u can always walk in, lotsa hotels &
rooms, no problem at all.

DRIVER

I choose to use a driver this time becus there're 3 of us plus gals
total 6, so don't think we wanna take those 4 seater taxis that stink !
furthurmore we intend to check out a few places, so wanna skip the usual
"taxi ride to nearby hotel, go in take a pee & wait for taxi driver to
disappear" stuff. Bionic recommend Osman ( hp : 08127005498 ), a malay
chap that speak good english ! Overall we find his service good, his
handphone always on to standby for us to call him should we run into any
trouble, and he is very punctual ! We arrive at B.Ampar around 11:15am
indo time and spotted him rite away, how smart for him to put on a
bright red shirt holding a banner with my name written clearly on it.

For first timer or people who are not familiar with Batam, i strongly
suggest u took one recommend by a friend, not just anyone from the
arrival hall. If you're in a group, better still since you're giving
him more commission to earn, just gave him anything and he will also
accept. For my practice, how much to tip him depends on how much we use
him & how much commission we let him earn . If just pier-gal-hotel,
hotel-pier, he will also accept nottin for a group of 4 will already
earn him 200K in gals' commission. But if you had him stay with you late
into the nite for disco/pubbing, be a bit generous lah. Be warn that
some driver will also get comission from the money changer, restaurant,
pub etc he bring you too.

I find most people choose not to use one, I respect their decision.
Everyone spend their time there differently, so long u know how to get
around safely, do what pleases you most. We're glad to have one this
time as it rain heavily while we hop from joint to joint lookin for our
gals.

TRANSPORT & GETTING AROUND

Those 4-5 stars hotel cum ferry package usually provide free pick-up
from pier with bus. If you don't like to share a vehicle with others,
ask them to send a driver to pick u up. They are usually in uniform and
can be easily recognise, they will also not pester you to pick a gal or
go anywhere u don't want to. But the hotel will charge you about Rp20K
for pick-up at B.Ampar & Rp30K for Sekupang. There will be a lot of
driver trying to pick you up outside the arrival hall, advice is don't
choose from these, chances are you'll be press to choose a gal from
joint that pay them higher commission or get rob. Walk outside & took a
taxi to your hotel if you must. Be warn that some 3 stars or below hotel
do not have their vehicle & so might just ask a taxi off the street to
pick you up.

The lau-jiao will usually book a hotel close to their favorite joint, so
that after checking into the hotel, they can just walk to the joint to
pick up a gal at Rp50K price lower. Or take a taxi to a nearby hotel
close to the joint, then walk in after the taxi disappear. I've done
these too but if you're in the mood to go hunting from joint to joint,
i'll either take a personal driver or one provided by the hotel.

Getting around is pretty easy if u don't have a personal driver. taxis
are available everywhere, walk outta the hotel & you can flag down one
anytime. Travel anywhere within the town & to B.Ampar pier should cost u
no more than Rp10K, ask the price first. You can also try bargaining
hard to pay 5K if this is your cup of tea.

GALS

We check into the hotel first then went for lunch since most joint only
open after 11/12noon indo time. We also do some shopping for
necessities like condom/drinks/ciggi before we start our hunt at around
1pm. Here's the joint we checked out :
1) Sensasi ( i picked my gal #63 for Rp270K, saw a few chio one around
but were all reserve, also saw a young pretty chinese lookalike that i
might wanna try on next trip, #20 and same price, mamasan said only
arrive 4 days ago so dunno service good anot )
2) Legenda ( very dark , difficult to choose gal )
3 ) Crown ( hornyman pick his gal here at Rp260K )
4 ) Bovo ( classy place but ave gal is only so-so looking, the price
here all fuck up, good looker goin for Rp360, one PR goin for 800K, fuck
gold better )
5 ) Titanic ( GreyK finally picked his gal #169 for Rp250K here )

we actually took 2 hours for gals sight-seeing, no real stunner
encounter, maybe next trip we should start like this : Orkid , Queen ,
Dynasty, Alisan .... Most joint are equip with ktv facility so u can
actually ask a gal to sit with ya, tok cock, sing a song before u decide
to book her but drinks are not cheap. Typical price for a gal's booking
range from Rp250K - Rp280K ( with commission ).

MISC INFO

The Nagoya downtown area is very compact, if I stay in an hotel there,
usually I'll walk outta the hotel to get cheap food/drinks/snacks etc.
Lotsa local eating place around, just avoid side alley & be streetwise.
A few eating place popular with s'porean are :

A1 , Oki , Oke : like our newton circle hawker centre, I like it here.
A meal of fish,prawn,veggi and tahu for 7 person cost only Rp145K plus
another Rp50K for drinks.
Golden Prawn : a live seafood restaurant by the river, kelong style.
Batam Kuring : indonesian restaurant, cheap !

over dinner at A1, we discuss what to do next, the gal as usual suggest
goin to disco like planet/ozone to pop some pills. But we're all
thinking of arranging for a short time for tomolo morning before we went
back, later give up the idea as most gals will only be back quite late
so too rush. Finally we went to Sensasi ktv as recommend by my gal,
there'r some singer there to kept u entertain until later at nite where
a fat guy & a sexy gal put up a dance show, stuff 10K into an Ang-Pao &
flash it, the gal will come & lap u up before u slide it into her
crotch. Total bill for the ktv session come up to Rp270K.

GETTIN BACK

There're ticket counters inside B.Ampar & Sekupang ferry terminals so
you can always confirm at last min, just be there 30min before
departure, there's a ferry leaving almost every hour. Your return ticket
should be able to last 30 days and is usable at both B.Ampar & Sekupang
( some said Waterfront city also can ). I prefer to goto Sekupang if I'm
coming back on sunday to avoid the weekend crowd at B.Ampar, Rp15K is
enuff for you to take a taxi from town to Sekupang.

SPENDING

There're many variable cost here, it all depends on how you wanna spend
your money, like other riau islands, $200 should be enuff for most. The
cheaper(nearer) ferry ticket will offset the more expensive gals, other
spending is the same, you want comfort, u pay more. Batam is not more
expensive than other riau islands, but got more places to spend your
money.

here's my spending for this trip with exchange rate at $1 = Rp5K :

ferry : $26 ( penguin )
hotel : $35 ( weekday rate at singa )
gal : $54 + $20 ( Rp270K + Rp100K tips with driver commission )
lunch : $ 4 ( Rp20K - bah kue teh at coffeeshop )
snack : $10 ( Rp50K - room service in hotel )
dinner: $14 ( Rp70K - seafood at A1 )
ktv : $20 ( Rp90K + Rp10K tips )
super : $ 5 ( Rp25K - room service in hotel )
driver: $14 ( Rp70K - tips )
ciggi : $ 4 ( Rp20K for 4 packs of luckies )
condom: $ 4 ( Rp20K for a pack of 12s )
drinks: $ 4 ( Rp20K - bought in supermarket )

TOTAL : $214