Bintang Chalet Pulau Perhentian Kecil

In the morning I eschewed local cuisine and from the hostel restaurant ordered cornflakes as well as a Full English Breakfast like a complete Dave... duh-duh duh duh knotted-handkerchief on my head I don't want any of your foreign muck Johnny Foreigner! This was to prepare for the bus trip to the Perhentian Islands which I knew would take place over lunch time. No sooner had the bus left at 10.30am, but annoying Dutch girl wouldn't stop banging on about ...

... supply is via generators. Most places only supply electricity between the hours of 7pm and 7am and the water supply is often quite limited. There are 2 islands which make up Perhentian. One is known as the big island and the other.......you guessed it, is known as the small island. The big island is made up of all the larger posher resorts and the smaller island is the backpackers party island with all the budget (****) accommodation. We of course chose the budget island ...

... term "fast." I was one of the last people to get on the boat and didn't even think it was weird that everyone was bunched up at the back of the boat, which left only the front seats available. It was relatively smooth sailing getting out of the harbor but as soon as we got into open waters I experienced the longest and perhaps most painful half hour of my life.

Right when we got out of the harbor the boat driver quickly accelerated despite the 1.5 - 2 meter high waves ...

... was odd eating in the same place for every meal. The snorkelling was incredible – there were a huge number of fish and we took hundreds and hundreds of photos. The water was crystal clear and it was like swimming in a fish tank – you didn’t need to jump on a boat to see the reefs either there was one just in front of the hotel full of parrot fish, sea cucumbers, clown fish and even a 4 foot long Giant Groper! We spent so much time in the water that I ...

... the beach had disappeared under water but was again accessible from noon on.

This island is very accessible from Kuala Besut but is accessed only by speed boat (There are no slow boats) Also taxi from Kota Bharu to Kuala Besut seems to be the way to go. The owner at Zeck's Traveller's Inn is always ready to help you out. Seems honest enough but he gets his share of commissions!!!!

... dark at night is a bit tricky, especially as there aren't any proper roads just tiny tracks overgrown with grass where the dinosaurs live. I lost my faithful flip flops to the tracks one night, gutted.
Snorkeling here is awesome, the water is absolutely crystal clear and the coral is amazing and some of the fish are huge. We pretty much went snorkeling everyday, which has helped the ...

... staff cheered for Charis.

Spending time with Neil and Jay, and also getting to know Neil's girlfriend was great. Not only were Neil and Jay groomsmen at our wedding, but they made the effort to meet up with us on the other side of the world. There are few things in life as valuable as good friendship. "insert every other cliche about friendship here" Jay / Neil - Thanks again, can't wait for the next trip, stay safe on the rest of your Asian Tour!
Pulau Perhentian Kecil, Terengganu, Malaysia arikandcharis

... done 2 already, so there was only 3 to go. I did wreck diving (would have been more interesting if the visibility was above 3m!), navigation (compulsory), and peak performance buoyancy. I was ready to do some normal fun diving after that but started coming down with a ear infection. Bit annoying, as had i had got that i would have stayed on the perhentians a while longer to do some diving. Still at least it saved me money!

... to carry me right out in the sea where there was less rocks for me to enjoy a dip or two in the ocean!

Discovery of the Perhentian Village: On one of the afternoons, after getting some directions from our Resort’s manager, we trekked through a small hill behind our Resort through the jungle to find ourselves at the start of a small fishing village on the island.

We walked through the village, spoke to some children ...