It's SingTime

Trip: Malaysia Perhentian Island – Kecil Long Beach

© by Patric Boelstler
March 15, 2006 on 11:47 am | In Aga's Blog, Malaysia, Patric's Blog, Singapore, Trip
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Thursday: Journey starts with the bus trip!

We started our trip right after work on Thursday. We left work a little bit earlier to have enough time to catch the bus in time. We picked up our luggage at home at the Plaza, changed some SingDollar into malaysian ringgit (the exchange rate was 1 S$ – 2.23 RM which was not to bad … at the Perhentian Island they changed it 1S$ – 1.95 RM) then we got a taxi and drove to the Lavender street bus station (next to lavender MRT-station) for the Transnational bus to Kota Bahru, Malaysia.

The bus was Mercedes-Benz busniess class and looked really comfortable … wide seats with footrests and a lot of space around you, just 3 seats per row, 2 on the left and 1 on the right. At that point I thought this would be a chilled 12 hour busride, but the freezing aircon in the bus prooved this to be wrong! Have you ever tried to sleep in a moving fridge ???? Seriously, you need a thick winterjacket to be able to get some sleep in such conditions…especially that this moving fridge offered another attraction: COCKROACHES. Not many but one was enough to cool down the excitement and optimism Shall I mention the Malaysian toilets that we were forced to use on our way to Perhentian? No…let us skip this. Just please take a note that they do not belong to the most pleasant aspects of the Malaysian landscape

Friday: Minivan and Speedboat – ride

Early Friday morning the drivers woke us up (at least those who were sleeping) and dropped us in the middle of nowhere as it seemed … it defenitely wasn’t a bus stop! All the more amazing it was that the minivan that should pick us up was already waiting there to take us to the fairy terminal. btw: Thanks to Nicole for the very good organisation!!! At the ferry terminal we took the speedboat to Perhentian Island. We already had tickets which were also already booked by Nicole! Both-ways was about 60 RM. The speedboat cruise was really fun! Since the monsun season was over, the sea was peaceful enough to enjoy the trip without getting seasick. Before reaching our destination, we drove first to some other beaches at the other of the 2 Perhentian Islands – Besar Island, to drop some other people that were on the boat with us. The last stop was “our beach”: THE LONG BEACH on Kecil Island.

Friday: Perhentian Island and accommodation

The Island was a dream. There is really no other term for it! Anyways, the photos should speak for themselves.
We arrived at about 9am. The beach was pretty big, and seemed really peacefull. But it wasn’t that everybody was still asleep. Since the weekend did not start yet, we could enjoy this paradise on Perhentian Island without crowds and noise typical for most of the beatiful holiday destinations. Pehentian Island seemed from the beginning more like a place that you know about from some friend’s travel hints rather than from tourist guides. There are only a couple small “chalet” type hotels on the Long beach, not too sophisticated and really cheap. The one we stayed at (Panorma Chalet) was ONLY 30 RM per night for a double beedroom with fan. It is only 3.5 EUR per person per night!!! Considering the price, we obviously did not expect any luxury. But we weren’t dissappointed either.

The room was very simple but clean and cosy. Over the bed, there was this white mosquito net which was very practical but also gave the room a more friendly look . Most chalets on the island are low budget, simple standard hotels, so people you meet there are mostly young, back-packer tourists, like us

We would not recommend a family with small children to choose exactly Perhentian: it would be far from Singapore and too much inconveniece for them despite the gorgeous surrounding, unless you stay in the only stone made luxury hotel called “Bubu hotel on long beach”. You can find a price list here.

We spend there 3 wonderful, relaxed days: enjoying the sun (the weather was fantastic !), clear, blue and warm see water and delicious food . Numerous restaurants there offer a vast choice of sea food that you simply have to try in order to make the whole experience of the place complete.

One hint for divers and snorklers: the place is absolutely perfect for diving! coral reefs and amazing diversity of sea life all around the island. There are plenty of diving schools there, offering open water courses, and different dive trip options. The prices are again really low, with about 70 RM (17 EUR) for single dive from a boat!

Sunday: Leaving paradise at 3.30 pm

We left the Island at about 3.30 pm on sunday. The speedboat took us back to the ferry terminal, a minibus picked us up and drove us to Kuala Terengganu (2 hours drive). From there we took the bus to Singapore back … again freezing cold … lots of stops during the night … traffic at the border …. We arrived at 8 am monday morning, took a shower and went back to the “normal working live”.

To sum up everything:
The experience was unforgettable and defenitely worth the long bus trip effort! We could strongly recommend you to go to Perhentian Island