A week in paradise?
The Perhentian Islands are located in the South China Seas about an hour by fast boat from the mainlaind. There are two: Pulau Perhentian Kecil and P. P. Besar (or small and big islands).
But it’s not worth going here, they are absolutely horrible. Much better sticking to the more touristy islands in Thailand…
…Or that’s what we’re telling people.
In reality, Kecil island where we stayed on Long Beach is wonderful. White sand, jungle, coral reefs… beautiful and completely unspoilt. Which is why we don’t want anyone to go there!
This is probably the only place you can go and say you’ve found your Beach (like in the film), and be that annoying guy who says, “ahh but you should have seen it when I first went there, before they had electricity and water from the mainland, and there wasn’t a concrete resort on the island…”
I met a nice bunch of people on the very bumpy speedboat ride over there. The boat was late as it couldn’t go out in the rain. Honestly, that what they told us. We arrived about 7pm, after they GOT LOST enroute (including the conscripted locals drafted in to provide extra balance and weight), soaked through. At dusk the beach was twinkling with the lights from chalets and a few restaurants. We stayed in a dive the first night, but moved next day along the beach to Mohsin chalets (aka Blue Roof), which are on the banks above the beach, and only affordable as it’s the end of the season.
The weather was fantastic, and I’ve now got something approaching a proper tan. The water was warm like a bath, and even the jellyfish are harmless. We swam with huge 100 year old leatherback turtles (and the fish cleaning their shells), them not bothered at all by our presence; and some black tipped reef sharks, stopping off at a turtle hatchery where we watched some turtles fight out of their eggs.
The rest of the time was filled with wandering along the bays, avoiding the huge montior lizards, lying in the tropical sun, and eating wonderful barbequed fresh fish.
This was the best time of year to come, as it was relatively quiet, just enough people to make it seem populated – like a little village- but not too crowed. And when they had their monthly party at our chalets, which everyone on Long Beach went to (still less than a hundred), the next day, everyone on the beach was feeling worse for wear after dancing ’til dawn.
There was an interesting bunch of locals who ran the little snorkelling gear huts on the beach, worked in the restaurants and rented you sun umbrellas. One worthy of mention was a man known simply as “G”. Covered in “bling”, chunky rings and bracelets, he’d randomly spent some time in Solihul (near Birmingham, England), and spoke perfect English though in the style of Ali G.
I’d not been so happy for a long time, with the place and all the great people, locals and travllers alike, making it pretty special. It was hard to leave, though there was a constraint as the last boat left on the 19th and everywhere closed down, and somewhere I’d love to go back to.
So all in all, pretty damn good. Just keep it to yourself, right?
Tags: Travel
Nick