After two weeks of super intensive sightseeing the time has finally come to slow down and relax, for that we chose a less popular destination of Perhentian islands. The archipelago is located about 18km from the eastern shore of the peninsula and consists of two main islands, pulau Besar and pulau Kecil which literally mean "big island and small island". Perhentian means literally "a stopping point" because it was a stop on the trading route from Malaysia to Bangkok.
Not as crowded as thai Koh Phi-Phi or Krabi but still paradise-like, Perhentian Islands offer lodgings for literally every budget. For a relatively low price you can rent a chatlet right by the beach. Each resort combined accomodation and a restaurant, the prices of food were more expensive than on the mainland, but still it wasn't that bad.
So basically, now I shall do a review of different beaches of the islands. We weren't capable of staying in one spot for two long, so we hopped around the beaches by water-taxi or crossed the island through jungle trails.
Pulau Besar - The big Island
The big island is known to be more of a calm, family resort that offers generally higher standards. It's larger but still it has no roads at all, all the communication is by boats.
We rented a chatlet there, on floral bay. It was vast, yet secluded, that's why we liket it so much. Right a few steps away from our chatlet there was a narrow, golden beach on the verge of the jungle shaded by palm trees and other exotic trees, with large rocks popping out of the bright turqouise water. It was half-wild, so if you were lucky enough you could spot local fauna, like birds, squirrels or monitor lizards. The latter could give you a heck of a fright, these beauties are about one meter long and look dangerous even though they are more scared of you than you are of them.
Snorkeling is a thing on the islands. At first we dived on our own just swimming away from the shore with goggles, and by that you could see a lot already. We also booked a special snorkeling trip organised by our resort, we were given life jackets and snorkeling masks and a guide took us by boat to four different locations where the best reefs were. It was absolutely amazing, the coral reefs, the colourful fish of all shapes and sizes. We saw a big turtle and sharks swimming wild as well. Oh, and I found Nemo!
Jungle trekking is another thing. Not all trails in the islands were open, some of them were unaccessible. We discovered one trail leading from our beach to the other side of the big island. It wasn't an easy trail, parts of it were a little flooded, a few tree trunks were bloking it sideways, it went up and down on a rocky, narrow path. I felt like a true adventurer crossing the jungle.
It was a much cheaper way to get to the other side of the island by jungle than to take a water taxi.
Honestly I don't remember how the beach on the oppisite side of the island was called, but there was a Perhentian Island Resort taking the most of this shore. It was much more crowded than our side of the island, however it seemed to be more tidy and less wild.
Pulau Kecil was visible across the sea.
On Pulau Besar the following afternoon we took a water-taxi to the Bubble Beach, a small beach far in the north of the island. It's known for being a nesting ground of turtles.
It was beautiful and totally empty, we were the only ones there. The weather changed as we chilled on the beach, and dark clouds appeared on the horizon but we managed to flee from the monsoon.
We got up to see the sunrise over our beach one day. It was so worth it.
Pulau Kecil - The Small Island
The small island is known for it's backpacker vibe, it's cheaper, more rustic and offers parties.
We landed at The Long Beach - supposedly the most beautiful beach on the islands. True, it was splendid. By this beach most of the backpackers stay. Crystal clear water with no rocks was hard to resist.
We went up a trail leading to "the windmill viewpoint". The windmill was basically a wind turbine providing energy for the island, but yeah it was located on the top of the hill. Right beside it there was a nice viewpoint opening up to the blue lagoon, north part of the small island. There were also concrete steps going down to the shore, but they were in such a state of decay that we couldn't make it all the way down.
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