Cuti-cuti Malaysia : Perhentian Island

I've heard so many good reviews about the islands on the east coast, especially in Terengganu. Perhentian, Redang, Lang Tengah and Kapas Island are among the gems in the South China Sea. But sadly, I've never been to any of those islands!

Yeah.. maybe I take the attractions in our country for granted and prefer to travel abroad. I think it's about time for me to discover the beauty of my own country too. I shall be fair from now on.

So I went to Perhentian Island recently.

Took the first AirAsia flight to Kota Bharu at 6.35am.

Queens Park Rangers yo! My first time flying with this plane...

And it was also my first time flying to Kota Bharu. That explains why I I took below picture. *jakun mode*

Although Perhentian Island is in Terengganu, the nearest airport to the island (on mainland Peninsular Malaysia) is Kota Bharu. Do not fly to Kuala Terengganu ok. You're gonna waste your time. 

From the airport, I took taxi to Kuala Besut jetty for RM78 (fixed price) per way. Just go to the travel agency counters at the arrival lounge. They provide taxi services, boat services to Perhentian Island, hotel bookings, etc. I booked my boat to Perhentian at the counter too. It's RM70 for a return ticket. 

The journey to Kuala Besut took roughly about an hour, passing the villages through the coastal road. I saw a lot of keropok lekor stalls along the road and got so excited. haha...

The Kuala Besut jetty was already crowded with people as I arrived. There are a number of boat operators there, with daily departure from 7.30am to 5pm.

You also have to pay the Marine Park conservation fee here. It's RM5 per person.

After that, it was a 45 minutes bumpy ride to the island.

The boat will drop the passengers at their destinations, wherever it may be on the islands. I say islands because there is actually two Perhentian Islands; Perhentian Besar and Perhentian Kecil. So if you wanna choose your accommodation, take note on where it is located. People say Perhentian Kecil offers cheaper accommodations, more happening and suits the youngsters while Perhentian Besar caters more to families with kids. The resorts on Perhentian Besar are a little more expensive too.

You can hop between these two islands with water taxis, so even if you stay on Perhentian Besar, you still can have fun on Perhentian Kecil.

I chose to stay at Long Beach on Perhentian Kecil for the obvious reasons. Cheap and happening! hehe.. And this is where most backpackers head to.

There's no jetty at Long Beach so the boat stopped in the middle of the sea. From there, there will be a water taxi waiting to transfer you to the beach, and you have to pay them RM2 per person. Pffttt.

Anyway, this is Perhentian Island!

So beautiful!

I didn't book any accommodations prior to the trip cos it was a very last minute plan, I booked my flight ticket less than a week before departing. I knew I was looking for trouble as it was a peak season timing, and public holiday weekend.

I arrived on the island around 10.30am so it was the best time to scout for accommodations as some visitors were checking out to go back. So it is better if you arrive on the island in the morning if you decide to gamble like me cos usually all the good deals will be gone by noon.

After asking around, I settled for Mohsin Chalet. 

It's not the cheapest chalet on the island, cos I paid RM150 (weekend/public holiday rate) for a fan room with attached bathroom. Totally defeated my purpose of staying at Long Beach. But I had no choice as the cheaper accommodations were full. T_T

Anyway, this was the view from the chalet's lobby and restaurant.

Not bad at all!

There's free WiFi at the restaurant so it's quite nice chilling out there Facebooking, Twittering, Instagramming, and Whatsapping, while looking at the beautiful sea.

to be continued...