My partner and I were lucky enough to visit the Perhentian Islands for the first time in August this year and now I can describe my impressions of our 4-night stay.
The Perhentian Islands are listed as one of the most popular tourist destinations in Malaysia.
They are in Besut District, Terengganu. The two main islands are Perhentian Besar and Perhentian Kecil, and two small, uninhabited islands of Susu Dara, Serengeh and Rawa which lie off Kecil. The two main islands of Perhentian Besar (large) and Perhentian Kecil (small) attract more and more tourists every year, whether they are backpackers, travel bag tourists, divers or local day trip Malaysians.
Okay, so the past few months has been a little different with obviously fewer tourists than usual, but still quite lively during our stay.
Ferries/speedboats to both Perhentian islands leave almost every hour from Kuala Besut during regular business hours. Travellers from Kuala Lumpur or other destinations can take a train or bus here, or fly to either Kuala Terengganu or Kota Bharu airports.
Our stay in Perhentian Besar Island
After flying from KL Subang airport to Kota Bahru airport, we took a taxi to the pier of Kampung Besok. Both the ride and the boat were arranged by the excellent staff at Suhaila Palace beforehand. The journey took about 1 hour, which was quite far and not very interesting, as it was mostly coconut plantations, but it was the only way to go!
But we still hadn’t reached our destination yet!
When we arrived at the pier, we needed to change to another mode of transportation – speedboat. This was because the only means to reach the island’s beach is by boat. As we waited on the dock to receive our boatman, it was so lively watching the expectant crowd of holiday makers and their families.
I really like to take a speedboat, watching the blue and clear natural sea, blowing in the cool sea breeze, I feel super relaxed and happy. The speedboat drove quickly to the destination. About 40 minutes later, after dropping off another couple on Kecil, we arrived at Suhaila Palace Hotel next to Tuna Bay Resort on Besar.
To begin our stay, we were welcomed by our friendly hosts and we got the room key directly. After unpacking our small luggage and resting for a while, we couldn’t wait to explore the island immediately.
The first highlight was the beach in front of Tuna Bay Resort (absolute dream beach), especially on the adjacent large pier, from where you can enjoy the beautiful view of the beach and speedboats coming and going.
This also has tourist information boards about the fish and coral in this conservation area. Moreover, you can snorkel directly from the beach and on almost all other beaches on the islands.
The fringe coral reef is meters from the shore and there are superb coral and fish to see very easily in the mostly clear turquoise water. You can hire a mask and snorkel from Abdul’s shop but also Suhaila Palace too for 10 Ringgit per day. Flippers/fins are not allowed due to the damage to the coral they can cause, but life jackets can be hired cheaply instead to help with your buoyancy.
For me, it is definitely one of the most beautiful places on the island and as it is a roped off section so safe to snorkel with no danger from boats. There are no jet skis or parasailing allowed here.
We ate at Tuna Bay resort as this was really the only place open in the evenings, it had a good range of really good quality food at reasonable prices. We had a great BBQ fish on skewers. The buffet breakfasts were also good value and you could get a good choice of food including eggs cooked how you wanted by order.
Snorkeling and diving sites around Perhentian
Water taxis are the only transportation on the Perhentian Islands.
Since there are no roads on these islands, only jungle trails, this is the only way to quickly get from one beach to another or to island-hop. The standard price is always indicated on the signboards next to the small jetties.
Snorkelling novice
Perhentian was my first experience of snorkeling ever. We went snorkeling on the beach where we stayed.
When I first went into the water, I felt a little nervous, but when I saw the beautiful scene of the seabed, I fell in love instantly My nervousness was forgotten, and I was stunned to enjoy and explore this beautiful world under the sea!
After snorkeling here a few times, we took a water taxi after breakfast one morning to go North up the coast about 20mins to Turtle Beach.
Turtle Beach
This bay in the northeast is a real paradise, even a Maldivian feeling!
The beautiful beaches on the islands have such clear turquoise water and powdery white sand. The name of Turtle Beach comes from the fact that turtles use it as a resting and hatching ground at night.
You cannot reach Turtle Beach on foot, you must take a water taxi to reach it.
We were dropped off early before the bigger boats and snorkel trips arrived and were the only people on our own private beach. The water taxi was booked to pick us back up after two hours.
We swam out following the rocks from the end of the beach to Turtle Point and back.
The water was very clear and we were lucky enough to see two small reef sharks basking and swimming lazily in the shallow waters within the rocks. We also saw a small Hawksbill turtle too moving slowly in deeper water, and shoals of colorful banner and parrotfish and gorgeous coral including large brain corals and soft orange anemone complete with darting clownfish. Turtles can also be seen at many snorkeling and diving spots on the island.
When you book a diving or snorkeling trip, ask where they have seen them recently and go there!
But even better, if you visit between June and September, you might see giant green turtles laying eggs on the beach.
Diving on Perhentian
There are plenty of dive schools on both islands and most offer PADI courses to get certified or try diving experiences.
I used Universal Divers and did two dives. They were located right next to Suhaila Palace where we were staying. A very professional and friendly team who were well organized. Alex was an excellent dive leader and very knowledgeable.
I had two dives at Shark Point and Tanjung Basi both sites had excellent visibility and there was a Hawksbill Turtle right underneath us during our descent on our first dive. I also saw huge shoals of mackerel and Humhead Parrot Fish.
Long beach- Kecil
If you like to go out, attend parties and fire shows at night and like being in a crowd, then you can spend a good time here.
In my opinion, this is not comparable to other beaches on the island as it is by far the most developed but has plenty of dive schools, kayak hire places and restaurants.
You can find a lot of delicious food here, and there is a larger choice than the smaller beach areas.
We loved the BBQ Marlin and Prawns we had at one of the small beach restaurants and despite a very short rain shower that forced us all to head into the covered restaurant we had a great dessert of banana fritters and ice cream, before heading back on our night water taxi to Besar.
For those who enjoy the nightlife or like to drink, it is easier to find alcoholic beverages here and some places are open until late at night. On Besar in comparison, everything closes by 11 pm.
Although it is easy to shuttle between the two islands and explore both using water taxis, it is a bit more risky done after dark.
The speedboats have flashing LED marker lights and the boatmen use a high-powered head torch to see the way, they don’t have life jackets though. We got stuck for a short time when the one we took ran out of fuel two-thirds of the way back across to Besar. All part of the fun!
