I had heard a lot about Perhentian islands, that it was among the most beautiful islands of Malaysia and the dive sites were amazing. So I went to check for myself.
The problem with the Perhentian Islands is that they are not easily accessible due to its location in the North of the Peninsular Malaysia .. I heard about the overnight bus journey from Singapore in 7-8 hours but I finally opted for the plane. Flight on Thursday night for Kuala Lumpur and an early flight on Friday morning to Kota Bharu, followed by an hour of taxi to finally take the boat to the island in late morning.
Arriving at the island
Once on the boat, the weekend can start, with a beautiful blue sky and a bright and strong sun! After an hour, I started to see the islands covered with jungle and is bordered with rocks or long beautiful beaches. Our humble abode is the Bayu Dive Lodge, a set of fairly basic bungalows on the South beach of the Big Island. The location is great, only three accommodations along the beach and easy access to Shark Bay by swimming (the lodge provides the snorkel and mask for free). The comfort of the bungalows is quite spartan and services performed (snorkelling, diving) are not the most interesting compared to other lodging on the island (but hey, no choice, it was one of the last free when booking). But the restaurant next door is really excellent!
Bayu Dive Lodge
It was a relaxing weekend. Since I do not have my Padi, I went snorkelling on the first day (3 spots, 50 MYR, it’s possible to find more interesting deal). The spots were average with many varieties of fish. I was especially lucky to see two small sharks and some clown-fishes (Nemo!).
Turtle
Shark
Clown fish
The day after, kayaking, initially I was thinking of doing a tour of the island, but I did not know it was so slow and gruelling in the sea, so we stayed in the bay. The island also has some small walking trails, especially one that connects South Beach to North Beach, known for its turtles. In the evening, the beach is super quiet, just four tables filled in the restaurant and nobody! We had some troubles finding a bar but we did and we enjoyed the Orang Utan Arak Kuning (Juice Monkey), a kind of local rum that smells of vanilla. Very good.
The walking trail in the jungle
I really loved this week end in the Perhentian Islands, If it was easier to access I would definitely go back often! I’ll have to try other accommodation, the Turtle Beach look nice or otherwise on the small island which from what I’ve heard is more festive at night.
The beach on Perhentian Islands