A Weekend in the Perhentian Islands: A Photo Blog
I'll try to keep quiet and let the photos speak for themselves, but I'll either be updating this one or writing a full blog post after we've been a few more times! The islands are only an hour drive away from my house in KB, and are absolutely worth the (reasonable) cost to go as often as we can!!
The Perhentians are close to both KB and KT, and are often on travel itineraries from people even visiting KL--they're worth going out of the way for a weekend or longer! The bluest sea and whitest sand I've ever seen.
You have to take a fast boat the the islands, so book ahead or at one of the many booths at the ferry terminal for the 30min-hour boat ride over. You also have to pay an entrance fee (30RM for foreigners) so expect to pay $15-20 total to go roundtrip. The ride is pretty exciting if there have been any storms lately!
We also went on shoulder season, so we'll have to report back on how the islands are at peak season later this year. They were pretty quiet and relaxing in March! We also had frequent run-ins with sea lice, little baby jellies that chill here in shoulder season.
But from there, we stayed on the "little" island, home to the backpacker crowd. The prices are great! There are two main beaches, Coral Beach and Long Beach, with a steep but short 10 min walk across the island in between. We stayed on Long Beach since it has more nightlife, and found a cheap dorm for $4 without booking in advance!
From there we could leave our things at the desk and roam right out onto the beach and into that beautiful blue water!
We also went on a snorkeling trip from Coral Beach for just $6 including gear for 3 hours, where we rode in a fast boat to 3 different spots.
You can see so much Coral and marine life just snorkeling because the water is so clear!!! Just stop by one of the many stands right on the beach and they'll set you up.
Again we'll have to report back more later, but we had the best dinner at Amelia's on Coral Beach (we chose this beach to watch the sunset at dinner) where you can choose your fish and watch them BBQ it plus a whole dinner set for $5! It was amazing!
We did hit up the nightlife on Long Beach after that: very relaxed with little tables set out the beach at night and mats to sit on. The music was wild but don't expect too much dancing: instead sit back and watch the fire dancers that twirl fire!
We brought our own wine which was nice, since tequila shots and beer are about RM10 (again, still cheaper than at home).
The next day we watched the sunrise on Long Beach and indulged in brunch--way more expensive than mainland prices, but cheap if you're thinking in USD.
Hammocking and more beach time had us leaving very satisfied with a weekend getaway!!
You could certainly stay longer--I know we can't wait to go again!!! (And hopefully dive next time!)
Up next on our trips around the world.. Vietnam all next week! Be on the lookout for more blog posts as well--it's exam week here at school :)