SIMPLY (t)RAVELLING

Finding Nemo @ Perhentian Island

 

16 September 2011.

Thursday the 15th, and I quickly finished off my job and rushed home. We will be embarking on a long distance driving that night to the east coast with a few friends. The Malaysia Day falls on the next day, so we were having an ample 3 days off  which will not be wasted away. The fact that we were just coming back from Krabi  means that I had not got the chance to do any packing yet.

We met the others at the petrol pump near to Genting Sempah at 10.00pm, and from there onwards we convoyed to Kuala Besut, Terengganu via the Gua Musang old trunk road. Shortly after our previous journey to Kota Bharu in 2010 (see HERE), I had made a mental note to never use the road again. Not only the road cuts through thick, secluded Malaysia most virgin jungle, but the most fearsome factor to me is having to cut through a line of trailers carrying lumber. Very bad especially when climbing uphill. To survive it alive is totally at god’s mercy. There is actually another road to the east coast; the distance is much longer but it is also much safer. Since the gang has already decided, we just followed along.

As much as travelling via the road is bad during the day, it is worst at night. Without proper road lights, we had to totally rely on headlights of the incoming vehicals when it comes to decide whether or not we should overtake a car or a lorry. And thank god that those slow lumber trailers were not on road that night. The whole ’cutting queue’ business is too much adrenalin pumping to me, so I decided to sleep through out most of the journey. I had to admit that it was a bit cruel and selfish to leave DH doing the driving alone. Sorry dear!

 

Praise to god, we safely reached Kuala Besut Jetty in one piece, thanks to DH safe driving. So, where we will be going next? To Perhentian Island, off course!

 

 

Kuala Besut township. It was public holiday so that explained the quietness.

 

  

 The time was already 9.00am but the goat was still sleepy. Too much partying the night before, eh mate?

 

The jetty. We had our breakfast at the nearby cafe and a simple meal costs us a bomb! We should had stopped somewhere for breakfast rather than having it there and then.  DH made a valid comment that since the place will be closed during the monsoon season, perhaps the price hike is to make up for those time. Oh, well.

 

Waiting for our boat. The price for return speedboat to Perhentian is about RM70.00  per adult (valid at the point of time).

 

The journey to Perhentian Island from Kuala Besut takes about 45 minutes by the speedboat. It was a bumpy ride, but I managed to take this shot in focus with one hand (using the point-and-shoot, of course!).

 

Perhentian Kecil Island, at last!

 

The Perhentian Islands (Pulau Perhentian in Malay) lie approximately 10 nautical miles (19 km) off the coast of northeastern Malaysia in the state of Terengganu, approximately 40 miles (64 km) south of the Thai border. The two main islands are Perhentian Besar (“Big Perhentian”) and Perhentian Kecil (“Small Perhentian”). The Perhentians belong to Pulau Redang National Marine Park, which means that fishing, collecting coral and littering are strictly prohibited. (Source: Wikipedia)

 

The Coral Bay (Teluk Aur in Malay), a small and quiet bay of Perhentian Kecil Island. The other is Long Beach (Pasir Panjang in Malay) which is more popular and happening especially among backpackers.

 

At the furthest end of the beach is Senja Bay, the place where we spent the night.

 

 

 DH and Acha, a pose at Senja Cafe while waiting for our key to the room.

 

The key to our room, finally! A boat trip had been arranged later in the afternoon, so we took the opportunity for a nap especially DH as he’d been driving the whole night. 

 

As DH and the kids were all asleep, I on the other hand was fully awake (as I’d been sleeping through out the journey) so I decided to have a look around. The above is the view of Coral Bay from our balcony. What’s good about Senja Bay is that all the rooms fronting the beach so we got a personal view of the sea.

 

A lone boat and the pristine, cristal clear water.

 

 

Later. We hired a boat service from the nearby operator, and while waiting for the others I took some photos of the area.

 

Coral Bay, Perhentian Kecil Island.

 

Coral, of the Coral Bay.

 

Flippers. All the snorkeling gears are part of the tour package.

 

Canoes. Available for rent.

 

The day snorkeling trip was to the nearby Shark Point, Turtle point, and some corals cove.

 

Welcome to Perhentian underwater paradise!

 

Praise to Allah the Almighty, it was such a sight to behold! Am truly grateful to be there!

 

Some cute and colorful anemone, something like Ahnaf’s colorful bottle brush.

 

 The Table Coral (Acropora Hyacinthus). No, I’m no coral experts. I googled the name.

 

 Some mushroom-like coral.

 

A couple of yellow fish playing around the Staghorn coral.

 

And of course, finding Nemo was number one in our list!

 

 

A blue clam, sorry I’m no biologist nor marinist so I don’t know its name. I’m glad if anybody could tell me. Thanks in advance.

 

Perhentian is trully an underwater paradise. My camera (and my lack of skill) did not do the  justice.

 

Our boatman doing the skin-diving, looking for Nemo I guess.

 

DH searching for the best angle.

 

The striking green Staghorn coral by DH. Too bad some of them were dead, otherwise it would be a picturesque image.

 

Now you see, then you don’t! My cracker gone in less than 10 seconds. That’s fast!

 

We then made a move to the Turtle Point, which is located nearby the Perhentian Island Resort. This time I didn’t get off the boat as it is quite deep and you’ll need a bit of chasing with the turtle. So I left the job to the rough and tough! Nonetheless, the turtle was quite friendly, he’ll peek off to the surface once or twice so that we could catch a glimpse of him!

 

Chasing turtle at Perhentian Island. Great photo courtesy of our superb boatman, Mr. Matt a.k.a The SnorkelerKing. Image taken using his Panasonic Lumix in underwater casing (which I’ve been eyeing for quite sometime, but due to the princely price I only managed to grab the substitute - Olympus Tough 800. And that already created a hole in my pocket!)

 

Face to face with Mr. Crush, the turtle. Watsup Dude! (Image is quite blurry cause DH was having nervous breakdown when Mr. Crush suddenly turned towards him). Not that he will crush you man. “A flapped on you face could make you dizzy for days”, said DH. That was really a lame excuse! (easy to say for someone who was on the boat!)

 

 

Last stop of the day was the Shark Point, located not far from the Turtle Point. Again I didn’t get into the water, for obvious reason!

 

Swimming and snorkeling consumes a lot of energy, and we did feel hungry. Especially after someone ‘considerately’ mentioned Fried Chicken Rice on the boat! So, upon reaching the shore, we quickly jumped off the boat and headed to the nearest cafe available!

 

While waiting for the food to be ready, Ahnaf and Acha went for a dip.

 

It was already sundown when the food were brought to our table, and we had an enjoyable dinner over the lovely sunset before going back to our room for a good night rest. 

 

Sunset at Coral Bay, Perhentian Kecil Island.

 

End of Day 1.