Crystal Clear Waters of the Perhentian Islands
Trip Start
Jan 16, 2008
1
48
84
Trip End
Nov 2008
Where I stayed
Shari La Hotel
Panorama Chalets
Perhentian Islands, Malaysia
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
All was forgotten when we jumped on the fast ferry to the Perhentian islands taking in the incredibly clear aquamarine waters of this exquisite part of Malaysia. The boat trip was like a rollercoaster as our young captain tried to break the sound barrier.
We stayed one night on the famous long beach where the hut was very basic with no electricity or hot water. As long beach is so popular the prices here were completely inflated. The next afternoon we trekked with our backpacks through the intense heat and jungle across the islands interior to Coral Bay where we made a deal to stay the remainder of our time in the newly opened Shari La Hotel. All for the same price including A/C, 24hr electricity and cable tv showing the Euro 2008 championships...result!!
The reason we came to the Perhentians was to do more diving and we were not disappointed. The visibity here is so much better that in Ko Tao. Many times on the boat en-route to our dive site we could see the bottom clearly.
Over the course of the next seven days here we took the opportunity to complete our advanced PADI dive certificate. We did a Deep Dive where the instructor checks to make sure you dont get high at a depth of 30 metres (Nitrogen Narcosis) and the Navigation dive where you have to find your way around using a compass.
We were so lucky, on each dive we got to swim with turtles, bamboo sharks, stingrays, the amazing lion fish, cute nemo's and huge shoals of fish which completely surround you. Our favourite dive was to a Vietnamese shipwreck where we got to examine the ship and experience a really strong current which blasts you along underwater.
Our time here was wonderful; we had the best of both worlds, dives in the mornings and in the afternoons as I watched the football in our lovely room, Salud enjoyed the sun in the hotels private beach .
The rest of our time was spent playing volleyball, enjoying snorkeling , taking in the amazing sunsets, tasting the nightly beach barbeques and trying out the local and really strong monkey juice (a type of rum).
Honestly you could spend the rest of your life here and all for the princely sum of fifteen euro a day!
