Perhentian Islands

 

The Perhentians offer some great diving and excellent snorkeling. In addition to coral and fish, the Perhentians are home to sea turtles and many species of shark -- none of them dangerous unless provoked though. Visibility is usually in the 10-20 meter range although it will temporarily go down after storms, as well as during the end-of-year monsoon seasons and no wet suit is required, although you may wish to use a dive skin for protection from coral and the occasional jellyfish. Popular dive sites include the Pinnacle aka Tokong Laut, "Temple of the Sea", a pinnacle jutting out from the sea bed, and the Sugar Wreck, an easily accessible 3500-ton sugar hauler. The more expensive single-day trip to Redang Island, where the water visibility is considerably better, offers diving a notch above the local options, well worth every dime - but be prepared for a rough ride in a small speedboat.

Competition for divers is fierce and consequently diving is quite cheap, averaging out to RM60-80 per dive depending on how many dives you do and whether you bring your own gear. All dive shops also arrange introductory dives no training required and PADI training. If you want to try Diving for the first time, ask your Dive Center where did they do introductory dives and escape the 'jetti' trap.

Take care when choosing your dive center. Look closely at the state of the scuba equipment. Its not only about price, it's also about safety.

There are multiple dive centers on Kecil's Long Beach and Coral Bay from North to South: Sunlight Divers, Quiver Dive Team, Turtle Bay Divers, Seadragon Divers, Matahari formerly Coral Sky Divers, Spice Divers, Steffen Sea Sports and Angel Divers.

Sunlight Divers

tel. +60178603185, (http://www.sunlightdivers.com/) english,french,german,italian,spanish. a dive centre which has earned its reputation from having friendly,professional members of staff, well maintained equipment and its frequent eco work. one of the smaller shops on the beach so dive groups are kept small. located right next to the jetty on long beach.

 

On the big island Besar are a number of dive centres, placed on different beaches:

Activities on the Perhentians are basically limited to scuba diving, snorkeling, sea-kayaking, sunbathing and turtle conservation volunteering. Those with excess energy may attempt the jungle trails crisscrossing both islands.

snorkeling

Most resorts and a few restaurants rent out snorkeling gear typically RM10 a day for mask, snorkel and fins and arrange snorkeling tours around the islands. Popular snorkeling spots on Besar include Teluk Pauh to the left of the beach in front of the PI Resort, Shark Point and Tanjung Basi. The best place to see sharks black tip is in front of an extremely small "beach", only accessible by boat, between Shark Point and the Teluk Dalam large beach, or the rocks off the Coral View and PI Resort. They are usually seen cruising the bottom of the reef but be careful in low tide, otherwise you could end up swimming right along side them mostly babies though. For turtles, best place is the middle of the beach in front of Perhentian Island Resort, where the sandy bottom is covered with algae.

On Pulau Besar, if you are planning to do snorkeling just in front of your chalet, then stay on the northern and east side of the island where the water is clearer then the south side. Of course, the chalet and food is more expensive.

The best spot for family snorkeling would be the south-west of the island. The water is shallow and it is not fronting any chalet so the corals are more abundant and colorful. Between Pulau Besar and Redang, the corals are much better in Pulau Besar.

Snorkeling and Camping at Rawa Island. The small, uninhabited island lie off Kecil.Feel like prison in paradise! From Rm70 per person included boat transfer from Perhentian Island, Snorkeling gear and camping equipment. the only company organise this trip: MD Travelers Holiday,at the Kuala Besut Jetty.Phone no +60199608716 or to get more detail just email to [email protected] Reservation is a must.

jungle trekking

The islands are crisscrossed by small paths connecting one beach to another, but be prepared to sweat and swat off bugs if you tackle any of these. There is a good chance to see big monitor lizards and large spiders between Long Beach and Coral Bay Kecil, and if you are walking off the main trails, you are likely to spot some wild monkeys if you are lucky.

There is a wide trail 30 mins between Watercolours Paradise and Arwana on Besar, you can see large termite trails, monitor lizards, big fruit bats and sometimes monkeys.

There is a paved walking trail from Coral Bay to Mira Beach 30 minutes and on to Impiani beach 20 mins and to the main fishing village on Kecil 20 mins. This is a great trail to see monitor lizards.

turtle conservation volunteering

The Perhentian Islands are home to a significant green turtle nesting population. The island was once home to hundreds of nesting Green and Hawksbill turtles but now the islands only receives 300 nestings per year partly due to frequent oil spills from oil production platforms and oil tankers owned by Petronas located not too far away. The Department of Fisheries (http://www.dof.gov.my), are running a turtle hatchery on the islands to help readdress the declining turtle populations. Help Our Penyu are complimenting the work done by the Department of Fisheries by protecting two beaches on Perhentian Besar and educating visiting tourists around the islands. [Help Our Penyu (http://www.helpourpenyu.com)] also run their weekly Turtles Need Trees after-school marine club which is educating the local school children about turtle and marine conservation. If you want to help the turtle conservation efforts whilst visiting the Perhentian islands you can join Help Our Penyu's volunteer program which accepts new volunteers every Monday.