The siren call of the perhentians

I got to the Perhentian Islands after another long travel day that included boat-bus-train-border crossing-taxi-another boat but it was so worth it. From the second I saw the beaches I knew this was the place for me. Koh Tao was a lot of fun but it wasn't the relaxing image I had fantasized about. And since the other coast was pretty much rained out, I headed down to Malaysia where I had heard the weather was better and more importantly a lot less hectic than Thailand.

The Perhentian Islands consist of 2 islands, Kecil, the small island, and Besar, the big island. They are off the east coast of Malaysia and pretty far north, near the Thai border, making it the logical next step in my travels. The islands are some of the most beautiful in Malaysia with white-sand beaches and aquamarine water. Also, the Malaysian government doesn't push development as enthusiastically as the Thai government, so though they are popular, they haven't been super-developed (yet). There are no paved roads and no real buildings except some chalets, shack restaurants and dive shops on the beach. Its not a five-star resort place but its perfect for weary backpackers looking for sun and a good time. Really, I can't say enough about how great the Perhentians were. I would definitely go back on holiday!!

Look at the color of that water! This is the view from the veranda at Suria. The rest of the beach wasn't that rocky though.

A perfect island sunset. We enjoyed this with Mai Tais in hand. Ahh...

Get me back there! Why did I ever leave??

I met these 2 Irish people, David and Eimear, who were also looking to do an advanced course so we took the ferry together to Long Beach, the main drag on the islands, to hunt down some dive shops. We landed on the beach and we immediately knew it wasn't the place for us. It was too filled with crappy lodging and bars blaring bad pop music. Ack! Another Koh Tao! But we were able to walk to the other side of the island to Coral Bay Beach and it was a completely different story. There were a few restaurants littered on the beach but with only 5 groups of chalets, it was so much quieter and laid back than Long Beach. And after looking at some pretty dreadful chalets, we decided to splurge on some air-con and clean room at the Suria Resort. And it was perfect. The staff were so friendly and the food was phenomenal there so it was worth the splurge.

But the best part of Suria was the dive shop, Dive Tribe. Since it was right next door, we booked our advanced course with them. The staff there were also so great. Really professional but also a ton of fun. We were immediately folded into their community and we ended up hanging out there pretty much all the time. It was so nice to feel like you were being enveloped into a family instead of having to be fake-friendly with strangers. They had these hammocks, perfect for afternoon naps between dives, and there was always someone there to hang out with. I don't think I've had such a great relaxing time so far on my trip. It was everything I could have hoped for.

We spent many relaxing hours, hanging out and diving. I HIGHLY recommend this place to anyone planning on doing any diving in the Perhentians!

And the dive shop was just a few steps from the water. Paradise? I think maybe so.

David, my diving buddy and me, signaling the diving Okay! sign.

Helena, Paul and Sara, our dive instructor, enjoying some well-deserved beers after completing our advanced course. Yay!

The diving was also phenomenal. The visibility wasn't as good as Koh Tao but I thought there was more variety in fish and stuff. We saw tons of nemo fish (really clown anemone fish), pufferfish, lionfish (you know, the fish in Deuce Bigalow that started off the whole crazy adventure), moral eels, barracuda and my absolute favorite, boxfish. They are like mini-pufferfish but they look like they can barely swim, floundering around in the water. So cute! The one thing we didn't see was a turtle though it turns out every other freakin person on the island had seen one. Grr! We also went on a dive around a shipwreck, which was so amazing! The visibility wasn't very good but it just made it that much spookier. The ship was covered with life so it was great for fish-watching but we also got to swim in and out of the hold. Definitely one to remember!

But as great as it was to hangout at the dive shop (it was like Cheers on TV where everybody knows your name), I still needed a few days of serious beach time without people or clutter. I was sad to leave Suria and all the great people I met there but I needed time to decompress and just chill out. After all traveling I've been doing and worrying about life post-travel, I needed a holiday where I could just completely space out. So I traveled to another part of the island where there was a long beach and only one resort, Impiani Resort. It was a big splurge to stay there ($40/night) but it was really nice and exactly what I needed. I spent 3 days there doing absolutely nothing but snoozing by the water, reading, sipping watermelon shakes or hanging out on the balcony of my chalet. It was so quiet there with nothing but swaying palm trees for entertainment. I felt my soul rejuvenate and all the stress just slip away though it was probably more quiet that most people would look for. I don't have that many photos of this trip but hey! I was on holiday! That means no camera, no sightseeing and no guidebooks!

The beach at Impiani. I was usually the only one on the beach so I could hear nothing but the gentle waves hitting the sand. The sand wasn't as white but the water was just perfect. Can you believe this is the only picture of Impiani I have? Shameful I know but I couldn't be bothered to put my watermelon shake down and take pictures!

I ended up staying at the Perhentians a few days longer than I expected (its so hard to leave the siren call of Paradise) but it was much more expensive out there than I expected so I was finally forced off. So now I only have about 3 days to see the rest of Malaysia before heading to Singapore and finally to Australia. That's okay since I'm still in island mode and really can't be bothered to do anything anymore. I thought my holiday would remotivate me for travel but now all I want to do is sit around!