When looking for a short break that would combine all the activities that we wanted to include, diving and relaxing, we chose the Perhentian Islands.
The islands are located off the east coast of Malaysia and consist of Perhentian Besar (“Greater Perhentian”) and Perhentian Kecil (“Lesser Perhentian”) and the only way to reach these islands is by boat from the main port on the island, Kuala Besut jetty. You used to be able to fly directly from Singapore to the local airport of Kota Bahru but this is no longer in service so in order to get there we flew 45 minutes from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur and then a quick turnaround for our internal flight of about 30 minutes to Kota Bahru.
This was also the first time we were trying AirBnB and our host Michael picked us up from the airport and after a quick drive we were at his house. The room was private with our own bathroom and we both got a good nights sleep before an early rise to get the van to the jetty which had kindly been arranged by our host. Michael had kindly gone out at 6am to get us some local breakfast which consisted of brown coconut rice, chicken, curry sauce and a boiled egg; it was one of the best Asian style breakfasts we’ve had and the rice had been cooked in coconut milk which was delicious. I can thoroughly recommend it!
I have to say that the journey to the Islands is not an easy one and we did have a lot of time hanging around waiting for the van journey, then the boat across to the island so it’s not an easy journey or one I would recommend if you have young kids. The fast boat across to the island takes around 40 minutes and can be quite bumpy but was definitely good fun!
Whilst waiting for the boat we had a little wander around the town and it has some really quirky wall art which was nice to see and to obviously take some pictures with, but apart from this there is not much else there. It was also too early in the morning for all the restaurants to be open so it’s hard to gauge what it’s like when everything is open.
If you’re expecting luxury then these Islands are not it, think rustic more than opulence. The islands themselves are beautiful and picturesque but there is only one stretch of beach where all the hotels and restaurants are located. This means there is a limited choice for dinner unless you have paid for an all-inclusive package with your hotel and the food is of a mediocre standard with local Malaysian and Western options.
Postcard Tip *Most of the restaurants and hotels don’t serve alcohol due to religious reasons. I would advise taking along your own alcohol or you pay a high price on the island for it**
Having a phobia of the sea is not great when you are on an island, but I am working hard on getting over this fear, so the afternoon of our arrival we headed over to book a snorkeling trip which started at 2pm. The trip included a few of the main snorkeling sights including shark bay (although we didn’t see any sharks) much to my relief! The other area is called Turtle Bay where I tick another item off my bucket list which was to see a turtle in the wild and I got to see two which was an added bonus.
The trips are fairly relaxed and they give you plenty of time to snorkel and there is a good amount of varied wildlife to see, my favourite was the parrot fish! The underwater landscapes are also different with large coral fields in one area and boulder like areas in another.
Having taken a walk from our hotel along the beach to the next cove which was definitely the best spot for turtle watching, you can walk up to the top of the cliffs which provides a great view of the bay. At the top there is a ‘masseuse’ which you can book but if I am honest it didn’t look particularly great and when I asked if I could have the 11am slot which was available on the time sheet, the masseuse told me that this appointment was not available in a very rude manner and once I questioned him he just said he didn’t want to do it! There was no customer service and so if you do head to the masseuse do not expect anything grand or friendly!
I would recommend this trip if you are looking for a relaxing getaway or as something that you can build into a longer trip if you are in that part of the world. It was truly relaxing and there are plenty of trips that you can do between the various other islands including Rawa.
- Notes on a Postcard
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