Thursday, July 19, 2012

Paradise in the Perhentians

Paradise!
Over the 4th of July, Aunt Jo, Alasdair and I made the 5 1/2 hour drive across Malaysia to the East Coast Paradise of the Perhentian Islands.  We planned this trip last minute, meaning we found a hotel two days before we left, packed up the car and left Penang and Eric behind for a wonderful 4 day adventure.  I had heard from our Penang friends that Perhentians is amazing.  That the water is so clean and snorkeling and diving is fantastic.  Admittedly, I was skeptical of how great it could really be, as I have a love affair with Langkawi, but the Perhentians is truly paradise.  It isn't overran with tourists, pollution or highrise developments.  The Perhentians are simple and quiet.  A place where you can go to really get away from it all. 

We stayed at Coral View Resort on the big island and highly recommend staying there!  The snorkeling was so good right off the beach that you could stick your face in the water and see dozens of fish, sharks and different corals.  One morning we saw three reef sharks and a school or about a million neon tetras swimming in mandalas.  Awesome!!
The clear blue water!
I also decided that it was time to get over my bad diving experience in Phuket, so I signed up for two dives at the dive shop next to our resort.  The company was amazing and took great care of me!  These were the best two dives of my life.  We spent an hour on each dive surrounded by thousands of fish, beautiful coral and warm water.  I am so glad I strapped on a tank again.

All geared up and headed for the boat!
The Perhentians is also home to a lot of wildlife.  We had a pack of monkeys that called our resort home. Also, each night at dusk, we would lay on our patio and watch the large fruit bats wake from their sleep and start their evening feast.  It was pretty incredible.
Each night after the bat display, we wondered over to the restaurant at our resort to watch the sunset, eat a nice meal and recap the perfect day we had.
Sunset with my beautiful Aunt!
Before we left the island we had one last snorkel and swim. Next year we will stay for at least a week and bring Eric with us.
Goodbye Perhentians, see you next year!

2 comments:

  1. So happy to hear you liked it! Personally, I think the Perhentians are way better. Langkawi is great for a quick trip to drink and eat. Can't beat the water at the Perhentians. Stunning!

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