Our colleagues at school highly recommended Perhentian Islands, so much so that quite a few of them were there when we were! Having seen some spectacular marine-scapes around the world between Monica and I (Hawaii, Manado, Maldives), we were skeptical.
Then we crossed the interior with rolling hills, not near as intense as the Cameron Highlands.
Finally, we descended to the flat coastal lands and headed towards Kuala Besut.We arrived at 12:30pm. In time to drop off our luggage, park our cars in secure parking, and grab some lunch before boarding our very nice enclosed boat!
As you can tell from the pictures, despite the early start, we were EXCITED!
Check out the wind-blown look! I think it suits the kids!
The ferry ride was an exhilarating ride through calm, blue water.The ride was merely 45 minutes.
Within an hour of reaching the island. We had checked in, suited up, and plopped into the amazing water!
The swim area was roped off from boat traffic, and there were 2 swim platforms anchored conveniently in deeper water.
It was a convenient place to loiter and watch the marine world go by!
There, I found a rather nice sea cucumber specimen for the ladies to examine...
Aria was rather intrigued until the animal adhered to her hand! When we finally peeled it off, bits of its slimy skin were still attached to her hand.
Hours of muffled shouting through our snorkels later, we were still amazed--granted, we finally stopped sprinting from one wonder to another, and calmed down enough to stand chest deep in water, peering at a very intact ecosystem with not just quantity but variety of fish. Most were the size of my palm, but many were also about a foot long and larger.
We never felt crowded by tourists. It was so serene and relaxed!
There was a resident Garfish about 3-4 feet long cruising around that gray swim floating platform that kept returning even though we startled it!
What a first impression!
~ Shien
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