Throwback Vacation 2012 : Tioman Island

Salam & Hi,

I can't sleep and kept on thinking about my unfinished posts for 2011 /2012!

To cut the story short, here it goes on my family vacation last year to Tioman Island, Pahang..

My dad used to worked there for quite some time when I was in high school.So, he kept on telling us how nice is the ocean and how cheap the foods were... With God's willing, we all 5 of us (minus my younger sis,she had to work!) arrived there within a week planning! (Sometimes impromptu plans could work)

There's car park provided with a cost

Checked air fares via Berjaya Airlines and the fares were CRAZY!! It wouldn't be much of a deal if i)you're rich ii) you're traveling alone/with couple but with 5 of us, it was cheaper to travel by car. Left home after midnight and arrived Mersing Jetty Point just before Subuh prayer.Had our rest & breakfast in Mersing town, bought the ferry tickets and waited for our scheduled ferry.

Noticed our sleepiness? Makan pon pejam mata..

A lil' note on the ferry schedules, we didn't do any survey on it but divers there did mentioned you can actually call the ferry's company before arriving jetty to check on their schedules coz it's all depends on tide forecast / situation. 

Reliable map and entrance of jetty

Had a lil chats with a lady who're regular there visiting her husband, on how expensive items can be in Tioman compared to Mersing, specially when it comes to tourists. So, if you guys planning to stay Tioman Island on budget, do pack extra amenities before going there.

As far as I can remember, the journey from Mersing Jetty to Tioman Island was around 1.5 hours. Make sure you know where to stop as there are about more than 4 stops in Tioman Island itself. We picked to stop and stay at Tekek Village, where the main town is.

Subhana Allah ! The water : clean & clear!

Tekek Village is a small town where you can actually walk from one end to end, maybe like less than 10 km all together,maybe.. not sure on the exact km but what I know is you can walk. From this town too, the connector to Juara Village which is on the other side of the Island, facing the South China Sea (gonna review about it later)

Owh, did I mentioned, we walked to our chalet?? It was a torturing walk under hot sun!

Lets go onto the accommodation : unless you're willing to splurge on the accommodation, please look no other than Berjaya Resort (located at the very right end of the town, you can't walk from jetty unless you're training for marathon). My dad picked on "Sofia by the beach" which had a big sign of "East Divers Tioman" infront or maybe back of the chalet.

Very basic chalet, a queen size & single bed in a room, private toilet, air-conditioner and mosquito repellent provided. The best part is this chalet is one of the chalet that are facing the beach.. fit our requirement,perfectly! I believed the breakfast buffet were provided through out our stay but dad made add-ons for first day lunch & dinner. We're too tired to seek another option on our day 1.

We noticed that this chalet are manage by an old lady with his husband only, their not the owner, btw. So, anything from receptionist, housekeeping and cooking plus laundry, these two will be handling it. Not sure on how they did it, but they managed to pull it off. Maybe you can expect less on their speed, but they did just fine for us.

Basically this trip were all about relaxing and enjoying each other, add on the beautiful beaches. Hence, repetition of activities did occurred for our 4 Days 3 Nights' trip.

If Berjaya Resort is at the very right of the town, Tioman Marine Park is on the very left of the town. This is where we walked each day we were there to have free dive with views! It took us around 15-20 minutes to arrive and it such a fun way to actually reconnect with your sibs & parents. The best that you can do with your gadgets were just snapping pictures, I don't think I can surf the net while walking..do u?

We walked 3km in total each days and don't think we ever lose any weight since we stopped at this one stall that served keropok lekor, abc, coconut rice, waffles and moreeee.... Can you imagine, going back and forth times 2 stops?Hahaha...nothing get burn! Maybe our skin did get burned?!Hehehe..

Owh, you'll be amaze with the airport and the only ATM Machine they have it there..

It's a small designated area for landing/depart and airport's lobby. There's mini post office sharing the same building with BSN, the only local bank there. At least you can make emergency withdrawal there..

I think I'm gonna continue on Juara Village in the next post cause I'm still awake from 2pm yesterday and I need to sleep!

To be continue..

Till then,