Soak Up In The Sun: Tioman Island 2013

Sunburn from Perhentian trip is not fully recovered, yet I was spending last two week on another beach trip. This time it was Tioman Island! The trip was organized by one of the staff where I’m working and it was more like a family trip. So the feeling was of course, different from the previous Perhentian trip. I gotta be honest; I dislike this trip as much as I love it.

When I first reach the island, the sea water doesn't impress me - it’s clear but not crystal clear. The place where we stay reminds me of Pangkor Island - too develop. Still no phone coverage here. The chalet is called Island Reef Resort. It was an okay accommodation overall, but there were mountain stairs I need to climb before I reach my room. The stairs is no joke, seriously. I would prefer to stay at somewhere closer to the beach.

Beautiful scenery.

The waves effect. The waves here was kinda wild.

We only had one snorkeling session at two points. I was surprised that we went to the coral reef area by fisherman boat! Maybe because there were too many of us but the boat moves so slow, it takes forever to reach the place. The first point is Tioman Marine Park. I think this area was meant for first timer where they can get used to the snorkeling equipment, though it was still deep, my friend really freak out. Plus, the fishes are friendly - I slapped some because they tried to bite my fingers, haha. But there were no corals there and the fishes were more or less the same, so it was a little boring for me, heh. Oh, and my snorkeling gear is broken; there was a leak in the snorkel. I was so upset because we don’t have time to do the test on the equipment since we only got a hold to these equipment an hour before snorkeling session. Lucky for me, one of my colleague decided that she can’t risk her life for fish-watching and offer me her snorkel. So I was a happy snorkeler once again : DDD

Cruising on fisherman boat. 

Tioman Marine Park.

The second point was at Renggis Island. The first time I see what was underneath, I was really amazed. It was like big wide bushes full with Staghorn coral down there! I thought this is it! This will be my favorite spot to explore. As soon as I look around the second time, I saw something long gliding through an open space about thirty feet from where I was. I thought it was an eel but as I get a good look at it, I realized that it was a sea snake! I swear to God, it was stripy of black and white. I was too bewildered to panic; I just watched it glided away from where my group was and disappeared behind the corals. And that was it. Then I continue to explore the reef as if nothing happens (only to get really traumatized about how dangerous it could be during the dinner!) But really, the area is great for snorkeling. There were a lot of colorful fish – rabbit fish, butterfly fish, parrot fish, ect. I wished that there were enough snorkeling guard to help some of the first timer.

Small island near Renggis Island.

Snorkeling at Renggis Island.

And lastly, we were told to wait for the ferry at 11.30 am but we only managed to get on board at 1.30 pm. It was like whose-lucky-he’ll-get-on-board-first kind of system. I wished there will change the system because waiting for ferry on a small jetty crowded with people while the sun is straight up on your head is almost as scared as nightmare.

Despite all that, I still enjoy this trip. There were sukaneka and karaoke session where we need work in group. It felt like I was in a motivation camp, but in positive way :P And people in this group were all fun and sporting, they were so easy to get along with. It was more relaxing as we get more free time and I spent most time just walk around the village and sitting by the beach at night and counting the stars…….

I know there’s a lot more on the island that I need to see and explore. So it is not fair for me to make a conclusion that Tioman is not as great as Perhentian or Redang, not until I experience the best this island can offer me.  So if I get the chance, I will definitely come back to Tioman. Insya-Allah!

Till the next post, be good people!

p/s: Still suffering a major sunburn!