Nikoi Island, Bintan : Reloaded

Not too long ago, (something like erm, 6 months back) my wife and I visited Nikoi Island again! The main idea was to do our pre-wedding photo-shoot there because both of us were loved the place and were captivated by how beautiful it was. And I have to stress, this was despite my “elbow-dislocating” experience in 2009!

Didn’t take as many photos as we’d like to, as we were pretty much occupied with the photo-shoot for most of the first two days.

Anyway, to cut the long story short, we did our planning and off we went! This time, we visited Nikoi Island with our photographers and make-up artist (plus her hubby). That makes for a total of 3 couples! The journey was long but smooth – Nikoi have a nice jetty on Bintan main island now. No more walking on wooden planks!

Seems like some things never change – same old boat used as our transport to the private island. The cloudy skies worried us a little, as we were supposed to be doing our casual shoot on the first day. Turned out to be a blessing in disguise as the light afternoon drizzle brought out the most amazing postcard-perfect shots!

Our favourite, well-travelled soft-toys hitching a ride in our backpack.

All was well as we reached Nikoi Island. It seemed like it was only yesterday when we first visited the resort island! Absolutely love the raw, wooden look of the place.

A peek at the props we brought along for the photo-shoot, which filled up the entire of my luggage. Spot the books, picnic mat, picnic baskets etc if you can!

Back then, there was only one jetty but now, there’s two! Both are new and looking great! Looks a little bit like the ones you’ll find on Maldives, eh?

After we were done with the photo-shoot, we woke up early again on our third day at Nikoi to catch the amazing sunrise at the new jetty. Pretty awesome stuff =)

A quick look at their bar located near the beach :

Once the sun sets, the island would be shrouded in total darkness. These trusty torches located sparingly along the walking paths would lead the way back to our beach house.

Nearer to the centre of the island, we spotted a couple of work-in-progress villas.

As I’ve mentioned in the previous trip, dining at Nikoi Island can be a communal affair – everyone can eat together at the incredibly long dining table!

A sample menu of what we had for lunch – yum.

At this time of the year (June), there isn’t any sand spit, but all the facilities for water sports are still available.

Check out the funky stuff we spotted while on the Nikoi Island :

On our second night, we were alerted by Nikoi staff that turtle nesting was in progress! We carefully followed them, trying our best not to make too much noise or create too much light. It was rather dark, which made it pretty difficult to see much. The next morning, we went back to the same spot (it was like, beside our beach house) to find that Nikoi staff has already prepared a little barricade around the eggs to protect it.

Overall, it was a great trip re-visiting Nikoi Island, and we were blessed with good weather! If you’re interested in taking a look at our photos, check them out at the links below!

• Our Photographers @ Stories by Integricity
• Featured @ Wedding Guide Asia

Nikoi Island : Relaxed By Nature