Malaysia - Perhentian Kecil Island

lorisolan
May 1, 2017
5 min read

Our Vietnamese visa was due to expire at the end of April and my partner had accepted a job in Malaysia which was due to start on the 8th of May. As we had one week to fill I began researching places not too far away. I looked in to Sri Lanka and the Philippines however as this was so last minute they were very expensive to get to so we scrapped those. I kept coming across the Perhentian islands when I typed in beach holidays and the pictures on google were of white sand and clear blue waters.

The Perhentian Islands are a group of islands situated off the east coast of Malaysia. The best time of year to visit the islands is between March - November so we were in luck. We booked a flight out of Hanoi to Kuala Lumpur on the Saturday and then an evening flight from KL to Kota Bharu, the nearest airport to the islands. It was only after we booked our flights that I looked for accommodation on Perhentian Kecil and Besar. There was NONE. Booking.coms website actually said the words 100% of accommodation is reserved. I had never seen this before and on closer inspection it was Labour day holiday in Malaysia on the Monday so the weekend was entirely booked on both islands. Because of this we had to spend 2 nights in a small town called Jerhit about 25 mins from the ferry town Kuala Besut until accommodation was available. There was nothing to do other than read, eat and wait and that is what we did!

We got a taxi on the Monday morning to Kuala Besut and booked on to a boat at 11am. We walked to the nearby April cafe and had some breakfast and coffee then made our way back to the booking office. We were walked towards the boat but before boarding we had to pay a conservation fee of 30RM, locals have to pay 5RM. We were glad to be on our way. The boat pulled off nice and calmly and then next thing I knew it grew to a speed I had never experienced on the water before. It was ridiculous, everyone was bouncing around, hair flying, and holding on to whatever they could for safety. The boat was hitting the waves and I swear for a split second we were actually flying through the air. People didn't know whether to scream or laugh, there was both happening. I wanted so much to be off that boat.

Before I feared for my life

Ombak Divers resort

Luckily, we were the first group to get dropped off at our resort. I booked us in to Ombak Divers Resort on Perhentian Kecil (Small island). The waters were definitely as blue and clear as what was on google. We got our bags and walked the short distance to Ombak Divers Resort (we weren't planning on doing any diving). I was a little bit disappointed with the beach out front as there was not a big width of sand and there were sandbags everywhere, obviously to stop the water reaching the resort, however all of the plastic coming off the bags was just scattered on the beach and in the water.

We checked in to our room, dropped the bags then went exploring. The resort itself was very nice (later we discovered the nicest one on the whole island). There was a great big seating area at the restaurant both under cover and not.

Long Beach

We walked through our resort and out the back and along a path for about 5 minutes towards Long Beach, meeting some komodo dragons along the way. The section right before you get to the beach is filthy, I started to wonder what use our conservation fee was being put to. Was it just a way for the government to make money as I didn't see any evidence of care for parts of the island.

However once you ignore that part, the actual beach itself is lovely dotted with little cafes and dive shops. You could rent a beach mat under an umbrella for 10RM each. We set up camp and spent pretty much all of our time down on this beach, reading, eating and drinking. We were meant to go on an island hop to snorkel which sounded really nice however one of the days there was a mix up with our booking and the next we were far too sunburnt to be out on the open waters!

Movie night at Ombak Divers Resort

Every evening we would leave the beach at about 6.30 after having a beer at one of the new pop up bars that had been set up. We would go back to the resort, shower and then settle in for movie night. Every evening after sunset, there would be a different movie shown on a big screen. My favourite time of day was happy hour. I started to have a good friendship with Pina Colada.

The food at the resort was very nice. They had a barbecue every night and you could select different things you would like cooked whether it be fresh fish or chicken skewers. The staff were all very attentive and friendly.

Local wildlife - Komodo dragon

Long Beach at night

On our last night, we ventured back down to Long Beach as the beach is one of my favourite places at night time. We got a lovely barbecued meal at one of the beachside restaurants. All of the restaurants offer the same type of thing the whole way down the beach - 50RM p/p for a barbecue, sides and a juice.

The beach was full of people and the setting was so pretty. There were small tables with candles lighting and fire torches lined down along the shore. After dinner, we went back to our little shack bar and had a beer. We met some people there who were staying on the other island, Besar who took the trip to our island as they heard it is a party island at night time. It sure was that.

They also told us about the fire show that happens every evening. We ordered a strawberry and apple shisha at The Shisha Bar and watched the show. The guys who were throwing fire sticks sure knew how to move. If we had of known this happened every evening, maybe we wouldn't have been so keen to watch a movie but all the same, no regrets and it was a great few relaxing days. I don't think I would ever go back as there are many other islands to visit in the world but I am glad I saw another part of Malaysia.