Hi

My wife and I are still looking into where to go in February/March next year. We have friends in Malaysia/Singapore so it would be nice to go to that area. I have been looking at some web pages that describes Perhentian Island and it looks like a nice place. Anyone been there? I guess February/March is a good time to go there. What is the quality of the food like in the hotels? What is the price level like? Is it a good place for snorkeling?

Regards
Gard
http://gardkarlsen.com - homepage with trip reports and pictures

Have you given up on the Philippines? Did you read my responses to your questions about the Philippines?

The Perhentian Islands (there're two - Perhentian Besar (big) and Perhentian Kecil (small)) are quite rustic...in the sense that there are no 5-star chain resorts.

Feb is low season as it is just after the monsoon period when the islands shutdown completely. The prices should be amongst the lowest then.

I've not been to the Perhentians but have been to Redang Island which is close by (more popular, also more commercialised they say). Crystal clear waters, white (coral, hence, prickly) beaches. Yes, wonderful snorkeling (your chosen resort usually has boats that bring you out to different parts of the waters/around the islands/to other islands at least twice a day for snorkling), so you get the variety of different snorkeling locations.

This website has all the Perhentian resorts with pictures and text as well as prices.
http://www.pinganchorage.com.my/perhentian_island.htm

Hi BillT

Yes, I did read your feedback about the Philippines. Thanks for taking the time to answer. We have not totally given up on the Philippines but as you can see we are looking into other options as well

Regards
Gard
http://gardkarlsen.com

Yes - I have been to the Perhentians - in my case Perhentian Besar (big island). Perhentian Kecil has a slight reputation for parties, and in a small way for sex, drugs and roll 'n roll!!

I hope, I pray, that there are still no "resorts" there. So if you are looking for somewhere you have to get to by boat, and where most of the accommodation is "rustic" and where there are no roads, and no streets of souvenir sellers, and nothing much to do except walk the paths and swim off the beach, and talk to people, then it's wonderful.

I believe there are one or two places that might be classed as "hotels" but mainly what you have is a beachside eating area and a cluster of huts round about - huts of various quality. Everything from a bamboo A-frame with loo and shower across the path somewhere, to comparatively swish huts with en-suite.

It's nothing special for snorkelling but still fun. Re food - what sort of quality were you looking for? I remember the food as just food - nothing to write home about, but keeps you from getting hungry - the fish was good. But maybe if you stay in what passes for upmarket you might get more variety.

hi, I've got family staying in Malaysia (KL) and have already been twice to Perhentian. The first time we went is already quite some time ago, I think 3 to 4 years. And the main thing I remember thinking was, 'how could the lonely planet describe this as non-touristic ?', as we could have italian pasta and freshly baked Swiss cookies there, made by a mix of (hip) locals and backpackers who decided to stay on longer in paradise, working there for peanuts, but getting accomodation atleast for free. But then, the place was incredibly beautiful. You take the bus from KL central bus station (leave in the evening) (get your tickets on forehand if possible), and arrive at the shore in front of Perhentian early early morning. There you sit in this ugly little "café", waiting for the sun to come up, drinking horrible coffee, and sitting there for hours. You take the boat, and from the moment you get in the boat, the magic starts. Slowly you ride out of the port, leaving real world behind. The wobling speeding boat on the water, slowly turning lighter and clearer as you come closer to the Islands. And then you arrive, your mouth dropping in awe... an instant feeling of 'wow', the sun shining, the sand white, and the water crystalclear.

The first time we stayed on the small island, and we had a difficult time in finding a cheaper, yet comfortable place. On the small island you have two sides, the coral side and long beach. Most of the places to stay on long beach are 'backpacker'huts, quite basic, though there are some nicer places around as well (ask Khalid, he has huts up the slope with beautiful view and very clean). However,on long beach the only place really front on the beach, with hot water(a luxury that can be very rewarding with times), was rather uncharming in our eyes. On coral side, there were some nice places to stay with that extra bit luxury, for good rates, but then facing coral reefs and no beach. Between coral side and long beach, it's half an hour walk through a jungle path.
The second time we went to the large island, a total different experience. We booked a 'more expensive' bungalow (I think it was about 125 USD for 3 persons per night)right on the beach, and we had the time of our life. There was sufficient life around to not feel completely remote, but on the larger island are less people/backpackers and contrary to the first time, this was more low season. We did however take the boat to the small island two times, and enjoyed the ambience there as well.

The Perhentian islands have a very special feel to them. They're sort of touristic, and at the same time not really. it attracts a very particular crowd (especially since getting there has to be done on one's own initiatif and by local transport), but it's totally not comparable to Thailand's beaches. It may sound weird, but the atmosphere you find in the movie the Beach (I mean the first part of the movie), sort of is a good reflection of the feeling you'll get there, except, maybe a bit less hippy like.

If you're looking for really remote beaches, there are many in Thailand. Another trip we found this beautiful beach and almost had the full resort for us. But still, the feeling was way less fantastic as we had at Perhentian. You should just go now, because like all good things, things do get more commercial with time....

We've stayed on both islands. I thought it was lovely - we went a few years ago and I things may have changed since then (2002) as there wasn't a lot of drugs and rock and roll on Kecil as fuzzylogic has indicated! The only alcohol you could buy was beer - but then when we went in 99 even that wasn't much of a possibility to I guess things to change.

In 2002, we had a twelve hour overland journey there from Thailand and the night before we stayed in a complete hole of a hostel in Kota Bharu (we hadn't booked at there was an islamic festival on so all the rooms were booked out! - not great planning...). To be quite frank, I just wanted to go back to Thailand. Then we got on the boat and as we rounded the island, the sea was so crystal clear that you could see the coral and fish from the boat - we spotted turtles and a manta ray, it was amazing.

We stayed initially in simple wooden huts on Perhentian Kecil on Long Beach and then moved over to Perhentian Besar and stayed in the upmarket Perhentian Island Resort for the last couple of nights (a/c bungalows, swimming pool etc). I actually preferred Perhentian Kecil - the clientele were younger and it was just more fun, cheaper restaurants etc. I'm not too bothered for few days about whether I have air con, hot water etc but if you prefer to have that, there are a couple of air conditioned places on Kecil (small island). Mostly, you can't book in advance on Kecil, it is first come first serve, but there are a couple of places that you can book. We just turned up and got into our chosen resort on the second night there. The islanders are really friendly - we stayed there during the football World Cup and before we got to Perhentian, people kept telling us that there wouldn't be any televisions to watch the matches. My boyfriend was threatening to leave if there weren't...but luckily there were and it was such a fantastic international place to watch the matches with the islanders lending vociferous and enthusiastic support to whichever team was winning. Long Beach is a beautiful white sandy beach.

Besar (big island) generally has more upmarket places - but still very relaxed. Besar attracts KL weekenders so is more busy at the weekends and on holidays. You can book the places on Besar. The nicest place on Besar was I think Coral View Resort, more low key than Perhentian Island Resort, but it had the most atmospheric restaurant at night. I didn't really like Perhentian Island Resort - the rooms had that slightly mouldy smell you sometimes get in air con places in the tropics. The swimming pool looked dirty and nobody was using it and the resort was completely lacking in atmosphere. Of course, things may be different now. 4 years ago is a long time.

Btw, it is not necessary to make a horrific 12 hour journey to get to the Perhentian islands! If you are going direct, you can take an international flight to Kuala Lumpa and then a short internal flight to Kota Bharu (a city on the east coast) and from there it is a 1/2 hour boat ride if you get the quick boat.

The snorkelling was great - the best that I have experienced swimming from shore and diving from the boat in SE Asia. Swimming with the turtles was the best - as I mentioned above, we saw them from the boat as we came into Perhentian Kecil and then the same afternoon took a fisherman boat out to snorkel diving from the boat. The turtles were in fairly shallow water with white sandy bottom and no coral or rocks around so even watching them from the boat in the jade water was amazing, swimming with them made me think I had died and gone to snorkelling heaven We also did quite a lot of dives there - there are some really professional dive shops.

The only thing I would say is that I didn't think the quality of food was great - it was better on Kecil (the smaller island - more low key restaurants) than on Besar.