Two outstanding camp programmes, one private island off Bintan, and a three-day two-night stay to give away: here's why Nikoi Island deserves a place on your September school holiday plan.
There is a version of a school holiday that involves an island, no Wi-Fi, and your child figuring out how to build a fire shelter before lunch. If that sounds like exactly what your family needs, Nikoi Island’s September and October camps are worth your full attention.
Nikoi is a private island off the coast of Bintan, a 45-minute ferry from Singapore, and one of those rare places that genuinely earns the word “unspoilt.” The beaches are empty. The water is clear. The jungle is the kind of jungle that makes kids want to explore it. And this September and October, two camp programmes are taking up residence there that you’re gonna want to enrol your kids into.
Into The Wild Island Survival Camp (Ages 4 to 12)
The Into The Wild team returns to Nikoi for three back-to-back Island Survival Camps running throughout September. Across three half-day sessions per camp, children aged 4 to 12 will pick up practical survival skills — shelter building, fire safety, foraging basics, navigation — while getting a proper taste of what it actually means to manage on a deserted island. The key word there is “manage.” The secondary word is “enjoy.”
This is not a passive experience. Kids come away with real skills, genuine confidence and, based on previous camps, a completely transformed relationship with being outdoors.
Camp 1: 5 to 7 September 2026
Camp 2: 8 to 10 September 2026
Camp 3: 11 to 13 September 2026
Price: S$300++ per child per three-day programme
Green Camp on Nikoi (All Ages)
Green Camp, founded by the team behind Bali’s celebrated Green School, is known for something specific: hands-on, nature-based learning that builds independence, curiosity and environmental awareness in children — without any of the structured-classroom energy that school-holiday kids are trying to escape.
On Nikoi, the programme draws from both prepared materials brought from Bali and resources found on the island itself, which is exactly the kind of learning that sticks. Sessions run for two to three hours daily, led by Green Camp’s own facilitators, and the setting does at least half the teaching on its own.
Session 1: 27 September to 2 October 2026
Session 2: 7 to 11 October 2026
Price: S$350++ per guest per three-day programme
Why Nikoi works for families
Nikoi was built with the principle that the best thing you can do on a private island is as little as possible, deliberately. There are no TVs in the villas. No scheduled entertainment. No buffet crowds. What there is: a beach that goes quiet after breakfast, a reef worth snorkelling, hammocks in the right places, and the kind of unstructured time that both children and parents have quietly been craving since January.
The island is small enough that kids have genuine freedom to roam, and the team knows families well enough to make it easy. The villas are properly designed for families, and the one-bedroom beach villas with bunkroom are genuinely good for kids who want their own space without being far from you.
Win a three-day, two-night stay on Nikoi
We have a three-day, two-night stay in a One Bedroom Beach Villa with Bunkroom to give away, valued at S$1,320. The prize covers accommodation for stays within 12 months of issuance, outside peak periods. Ferries, transfers and meals are not included.
Stay tuned!
To book either camp or to find out more, email the Nikoi team directly at relax@nikoi.com. Spots are limited, both programmes fill quickly, and September starts in six weeks.
