Great Snorkelling and Diving Pulau Tioman

7/28/2019 Great Snorkelling and Diving Pulau Tioman

1/5

Great snorkelling and diving, nice beach and crystal clear water

Reviewed 1 September 2011 NEW

The Berjya resort is in a great place with a great tropical setting, goodfor families.

The hotel resort is a little worn and I would rate this as a 3.75 starhotel. We stayed at the resort over the Hari Rya weekend and theplace was very busy with the pool areas packed with kids andfamilies with limited bed spaces. The pool area is also a little worn butwas clean and the staff were helpful and trying their best to do a good

job. We stayed in a Deluxe Room Villa right on the beach, the roomwas quite nice (4 star) clean, big and had great views of the ocean,was great for us with our 7 month old baby as we could sit on thebeach and be next to the villa and this worked out ideal for us, thebathroom was dated and in need of a bit of an upgrade but in general

was quite nice, THIS WAS THE BEST ROOM AVAILABLE at theresort (we got an upgrade) so not sure what the standard or othervillas would be like, would be worth checking before booking. Thebreakfast was pretty good. The lunches were average but theCoriander seeds Thai and Indian place was great and good value,plus the cost of a beer was very cheap (3 USD) for a resort hotel.Thecost of food and drinks in gerneral was good value. The hotel trythere best to do a good job and I have to give a mention to PravirMishra the duty manger who was very attentive not just to us but to

everyone and he generally wanted to help and give the hotel a goodreputation, but he can only work with what he has and as to abovethe resort could do with a bit of a upgrade but the location,snorkelling, beach and prices do make it a good place to vist as longas you're not looking for 5 star facilities.

http://www.tripadvisor.com.my/Hotel_Review-g303993-d308032-Reviews-

Berjaya_Tioman_Resort_Malaysia-Pulau_Tioman_Pahang.html

We stayed in for 8 nights in May. Excellent weather and great time on the beach and in the

sea snorkelling.

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2/5

Review & Tips: Pulau Tioman, Malaysia

Written by Amber Saturday, 25 August

2007

Please be aware that these posts don't provide comprehensive, guide book level information. We're n

claiming a lack of bias either ;) These overviews are simply a record of our experience which we posthe hope that they may occasionally provide more up to date, specific or detailed information than

you've been able to find elsewhere...

Getting There:

There are flights direct to Tioman twice daily from Singapore and Kuala Lumpur on Air Berjaya. Ifyou're edgy in aircraft I wouldn't eat a meal before you go however, because the landing usually invo

a 30+ degree bank dropping onto a short runway wedged between two massive jungle-covered ridges

the first of which you will scrape over by what appears to be mere inches.

If you'd rather head in by bus, it's very easy to get to Mersing, the village 57km west of Tioman on thMalaysian peninsula, no matter which direction you are coming from. The ferry ride was relatively sh

(I'd guess less than 2 hours) and enjoyable. The ferry ticket (we paid RM35, about US10) will allow y
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3/5

to get off at any of the villages on the east side of the island.

Accommodation:

We spent 12 days in the same guesthouse on Air Batang, simply because there wasn't any reason to

move. After walking around checking rooms and talking to tourists already on the island we discoverthere wasn't anywhere that was better value or more convenient than our own little pad. At My Friend

Place we paid RM35 (10US) a night for a chalet in a little garden not 10m from the beach. MFP is

located about midway along the southern strip (south of the jetty), right where the beach begins to getsandier.

At that price we got our own little verandah with comfy chairs and table, a neat though basic room

consisting of one double bed and one single with clean sheets, towels and mosquito nets provided. A

small but effective fan is wall mounted facing the bed. Private shower and toilet are included. The toiis western, though a bucket and ladle are provided for flushing. Fractionally larger rooms with ceiling

fans are available for an RM45. If you just want the double bed and a sunnier room that is closer to th

beach (a bit noisier and hotter) you'll pay only RM25.

Immediately to either side of My Friend's Place are Marwar and Moktar's, offering identical rooms fothe same prices. The southern tip of the beach is by far the most beautiful and we usually walked the

extra 50-100m to save our coral bitten feet when heading out for a swim or snorkel. It's not that far bu

you don't want to walk Nazri's offers neater (but not noticeably more comfortable,) rooms at 80RM.

North of the jetty the accommodation is fractionally smarter and more expensive, but the beach isn't a

nice. At the extreme north, you can get air conditioned chalets with spectacular views at Bamboo Hil

as little as RM70.

We didn't get as far as Salang, so I can't recommend anywhere there. I'm glad we stayed at ABC thoubecause everyone staying in Salang faced either a very long trek or an expensive boat trip to get

anywhere else on the island. ABC (Air Batang) is convenient to the main village at Tekek.

Food and Drink:

Almost every guesthouse has it's own restaurant with a similar menu and prices. My Friend's Place ha

excellent cheap food and large portions and we ate the whole (vegetarian) gamut and didn't have theslightest hint of tummy upset. They also offer the best fresh fruit juices. It was easily my favourite pla

to eat. Marwar's food is not bad but it doesn't hit the tastebuds with as much panache. Nazri's has a ni

airy beachside restaurant where the food is a bit more expensive and (in my opinion) not quite as tasty

though of course we never tried their special BBQ. They have more western options for those missinghome. Tekek has it's share of restaurants and streetside stalls selling everything from mangos to fresh

fish to fried noodles.

Apparently most of the nightlife is in Salang, but there are two good bars on ABC. The livelier one isopposite the Lime Tree Cafe close to Nazri's where they have lovely bales (open-sided huts) filled wi

cushions for drinking and lounging in and an excellent selection of cocktails and shooters. For beer, b

and more beer, head to the farthest southern bar. Just over the hill at Tekek, Ari's Cafe offers extreme


4/5

cold Tiger beer and you can snack on longans and coconut cookies while chatting to the locals. It's a

very nice location and the bar catches the sea breeze beautifully.

Environment:

The marine park is located just offshore at the southern end of ABC and just around the corner in TekYou only have to swim out 10m or so to be floating over the best coral. It's very damaged and bleach

in a few places but there is still plenty of colour and variety if you roam up and down the beach. We s

quite a few crown of thorns starfish that might be contributing to the damage. There are plenty ofgorgeous fish of all kinds, big and small, giant clams, sea slugs, schools of little neon tetras and

anemones. The best snorkelling though, is on one of the many boat trips available to Cat Island and o

places a bit further away from the settlements.

I read before we arrived that people come to Tioman for what is under the water, not above, but Irespectfully disagree. The jungle is a wonderland and the fauna is spectacular. Apart from the cats (an

the odd dog) hanging about the villages, without even heading off the main paths you can see monkey

giant awak squirrels and tiny little red ones, thousands of birds and butterflies, massive water monitorgeckos, crabs, goannas, goats... it's an animal lover's paradise.

Facilities:

Tekek has a very small bank, lots of duty free (read: chocolate, booze and cigarettes) and souvenir sh

if you walk beyond the airport jetty as well as a couple of money change facilities in the large buildinthe northern end of the runway. Both of the money change facilities closed for a week while we staye

on the island because the owners went back to the mainland. We were still able to change US dollars

reduced rate at the largest of the duty free stores. ABC is littered with convenience stores and interne

cafes. There are decent public toilets in Tekek at the marine park headquarters, the very large blue-

roofed compound around the northern jetty.

Things To Do:

Tioman is pretty laid back. We avoided the (relatively) expensive boat and snorkel trips because there

was so much to see and do around ABC. The marine park was right outside out door, so there didn'tseem a lot of point in heading off to Coral Island. All the guesthouses offer various boat trips, starting

RM40 or so for the Asah village and waterfall and rounding up to RM100 for a full boat tour of the

island. It's apparently very cheap to get your diving certs here but Doug can't dive because of an innerear problem, so we couldn't bench test them ;) Apart from sunbaking, swimming, snorkelling and

viewing the wildlife in your garden or the orchards, you can get a massage for RM50 an hour at the

northern end of ABC or go on a nighttime jungle walk (RM40). A guide to take you up Tioman's largvolcano will cost you RM400 for a 2 day, overnight trek and you'll climb around 1100 metres.

Then there's the Juara trek. There is a lot of misinformation about this walk so I'll try and explain wha

we deduced. Though we are not sure, there is apparently, according to just about everyone we talked

a road from Tekek on which you can catch a minibus or motorbike the entire way. The track we took(also from Tekek, the third path from the north leading back from the main road, it has a sketchy old

board reading "Juara 7km" at the entrance) is most definitely not navigable on anything but foot for m


5/5

of the way. From Tekek this track leads up a short road and seems to disappear in front of the water

treatment plant. You need to walk around the plant and continue behind it. The jungle trail leads prettmuch continuously UP until you reach the river at the top of the ridge. There are a lot of stairs and it i

not a terribly arduous journey, though the path gets very rocky in a few places. Not far beyond the

highest point of the ridge the path joins the sealed part of the road into Juara. It is a steady walk down

all the way to the village from there, about 3.5km. This road is not so kind on the way back, the graderather steep in places and slippery when wet. Watch out for snakes, I came within half a step of a

dangerous looking critter on our way back. You can read all about it and check out some pictures in

Doug's Juara Jungle Joypost.

Impressions:

In general, Tioman makes for an excellent holiday whether you are stopping in for a few days or have

more time on your hands, though I think it probably reveals its natural beauty better over the long run

may take a while for the locals to see you around and warm up to you, but once they do they are quitegood sources of information. If you're all about a party, you might not enjoy ABC, though I heard the

are more amenable to that kind of thing at Salang. It's probably not heaven if you are single and lookito meet people, I have seen a lot more couples and families since we arrived. It doesn't have the pretti

beaches I've seen but there are more than a few views to take your breath away. It's also ridiculouslycheap, our budget for two was running under AUD40 per day on Tioman and we feasted like kings,

threw in beer and cocktails occasionally and generally had a great time and didn't worry about the

money. The only thing that might balls up your budget would be taking a few of the boat trips on offeWe loved Tioman and we won't forget this first stop on our itinerary in a hurry, it just charmed the pa

off us.

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Great Snorkelling and Diving Pulau Tioman