Having just returned from a mini dive adventure of my own to the Perhentian Islands, I wanted to let you all know some hints and tips – firstly this place is most definitely worth a visit for anyone looking for a relaxing beach break or an adventurous scuba diving holiday.
Be prepared for a journey though as it certainly isn’t the easiest place to reach in Malaysia. From Kuala Lumpur you have to take a flight to Kota Bahru in the Malaysian State of Kelantan, that flight will take about an hour. From there you’ll need to jump in a cab to Kuala Besut Jetty, which is about another hour, and finally get yourself on a boat for (you’ve guessed it) about an hour crossing to the two beautiful islands that make up Perhentian.
Be wary though, the boats running from Kuala Besut are pretty small and the ride across can get pretty bumpy, they run only three times a day at approximately 8am, 12pm and 4pm – miss the last one of the day and you are stranded in Kuala Besut for the night, if that happens to you check out the ‘T Lodge’, a nice little Hotel right by the jetty, reasonably priced with a restaurant downstairs.
Once you’ve take the boat across to Perhentian you will be dropped off on fairly small jetties and will probably have to navigate yourself and your luggage along a beach to reach your Hotel, Motel or Home Stay accommodation – so small carry bags are better than big heavy suitcases. Don’t be afraid to tell the boat captain which resort you are staying in, they’ll need to know to drop you at the right place.
Perhentian is actually made up of two islands (big and small) both are similar but the more well known ‘Long Beach’ is on the smaller island and caters more to the ‘Back Packer’ type and has a livelier night time environment overall – the bigger island is pretty quiet in general and offers a real secluded getaway destination.
Diving takes place from both islands and there are various dive centres dotted around both, fun dives with equipment supplied range from approximately RM85 to RM100 per dive and as expected you can take a multitude of PADI or equivalent scuba diving courses. Dive boats are generally small, dive sites are all around both islands but can be located quite a distance from the islands themselves, our first dive site took us 40 minutes to reach.
However it is all very much worth it once you get yourself underwater – we had excellent visibility of about 20 plus metres, warm waters, great variation and an absolute abundance of marine life, I’d completely recommend ‘Sugar Reef’ and ‘T3’ – both great dive sites. ‘Sugar Reef’ is an old cargo vessel (carrying sugar when it went down) and lays completely intact on its side. A guide line can take you down to the exposed hull at 15 meters and from there you can take off in either direction to explore this interesting wreck. A torch helps you get into darker corners, especially if you are a keen photographer, but it’s awesome and a ‘must see’ if you take a trip to Perhentian. Black tip reef sharks were in abundance and can even be seen snorkelling.
I used Alu Alu Divers on the bigger Perhentian Island – they also have their own accommodation next door at Bayu Resort, all straightforward and complete with excellent food. Respect of corals could be better, as could boat handling by some of the local captains – I noticed a few manoeuvring in to marked off swimming areas – so keep a keen look out if closer to shore and on the surface.