2003-2016.
*This blog entry is best viewed on a wide monitor.
As-salamu'alaikum.
Famous for its turquoise-blue water, diving sites, white sandy beaches, beautiful coral reefs, the Perhentian Islands located off the coast of Besut in Terengganu consist of 2 main islands: Pulau Perhentian Besar (big island) & Pulau Perhentian Kecil (small island). The open season starts from March to October each year, although few accommodations might operate as early as February and close as late as November. Like all my other entries, this is not a travel or food guide, I'm only sharing my personal experiences. This entry is about my penchant for Perhentian Kecil. All photos and videos of Perhentian islands are from my own personal collection over the years. Enjoy the photos (especially the old ones).
Map of Perhentian Kecil
2003: Long Beach.
Long Beach
May 2003, the first time I set foot on Perhentian Kecil. It was love at first sight. Perhentian Kecil was pristine and stunning. Laid back and leisurely, it was the perfect place for a sojourn. The ideal island for those yearning wanderlust. I've been to this beautiful island 10 times in the past 14 years and it has become my adopted 'kampung'. Every time I come here, it never ceases to amaze me with its true-to-life and pristine beauty.
Perhentian islands are enveloped in lush tropical rainforests. Apart from the fishermen village, there are no road structures for motorised vehicles on both the Perhentian Islands. There are only man-made trails and nature trails through the jungle. So to go from one beach to another, you will either have to take a boat or hike through the jungle trails.
Long Beach is where I've always stayed when in Perhentian Kecil. At the north end of Long Beach just beyond the jetty is where you can go snorkeling nearshore. Next to the coastal ridge of jagged rocks is where you'll find coral reefs and plenty of fish around. My definition of an island vacation is to be in the water and this is where I've spent majority of my time in all of my Perhentian visits.
2003: Long Beach (at the north end in front of Moonlight chalet)
2011: The northern end of Long Beach. This is where you can snorkel off-beach. And if you're lucky, you might even come across a blacktip reef shark here as I did back in 2012.
2016: Long Beach. I always find it calming to be in the sea with the fish.
[VIDEO] 2016: Long Beach. Snorkeling at the jetty.
[VIDEO] 2016: Long Beach (northern end). Off-beach snorkeling.
Back then, the now popular Perhentian Kecil was relatively unfamiliar to Malaysian tourists apart from the natives and diving enthusiasts. Local tourists would normally opt for Perhentian Besar mainly because the resorts on the big island are more suitable for families with small children. The small island on the other hand is a backpackers haven and was frequented mostly by foreign tourists especially European backpackers and solo travelers looking for budget accommodations. I was told by a local beach boy that Perhentian Kecil was only opened to local visitors starting from 1998. Before that it was exclusively for foreign visitors. I don't know how true this is but that was what I was told. What I had experienced back then during my early years of coming to Perhentian Kecil was that, even during peak season, Malaysians only make up 20-25 percent of the island's visitors.
2003: Long Beach (northern end)
2003: Long Beach
2008: Long Beach (northern end)
If memory serves me right, Perhentian Kecil began to attract more Malaysian tourists somewhere around 2005 or 2006. Prior to that one could hardly find local tourists on the small island. I fondly remember one time back in 2003, we were having dinner at Palm Tree Cafe (closed down), a popular restaurant in Long Beach back then. The place was packed with patrons. When we received the bill, instead of writing down our table number on the bill, the cashier jotted down "orang melayu kita", which literally translates as "our Malay people" implying that we were the only locals dining there that night.
2005: In front of Palm Tree Cafe. Once a famous dining spot in Long Beach. Nice food, friendly staff and cosy environment. We would always dine here each time we come to Perhentian until its closure. Now this spot accommodates a diving centre/chalet. There was one night when we dined here and it rained heavily for a couple of hours. Seeing that we couldn't return to our chalet after dinner because of the heavy rain, one of the waiter (a foreigner) came and chatted up with us to kill some time until the rain stops.
2003: Long Beach
2006: View from our balcony (Moonlight chalet). Before there is jetty. We woke up to this view each morning during our stay. The water was only few metres away from our chalet.
2011: View from our balcony (Moonlight chalet). The jetty kind of spoiled the view doesn't it? I was fortunate to get sea-view rooms during my trip back in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2011 and 2012.
2003: Moonlight Chalet & Restaurant, Long Beach. It is sad to see Moonlight Chalets & Restaurant closed down after the 2014 season. I stayed here during 9 of my Perhentian trips from 2003-2014.
2014: Moonlight Chalet & Restaurant, Long Beach. This was its final year of operation before closing down. Its close proximity to the beach and the beachfront sea view are the reasons why I stayed here every time. Currently (at the time of writing) there's a new upcoming concrete building under construction at what used to be Moonlight chalets.
2012: View of Bubu Long Beach from the jetty.
Out of all the beaches on Perhentian Islands, I would say Long Beach has the best beach with its crystal clear water and softest white sandy beach. And due to its geographic location, this crescent-shaped beach is protected by the big island from direct hit of the monsoon winds & tides which resulted in lesser debris coming in from the open ocean compared to other beaches and other parts of the island.
[VIDEO] 2014: Long Beach. The soft white sandy beach is clean, the water is crystal clear. The water is so tempting.
2012: Long Beach jetty
2003: Long Beach.
2014: Long Beach. This was Faree'ah's first time in Perhentian Kecil.
2011: The turquoise water of Perhentian Kecil
2016: Sunrise at Long Beach.
Long Beach being the biggest (and longest) beach has always been the focal point of the island. It attracts more crowd compared to the other beaches. Night-life at Long Beach is alive and can be quite hectic especially on weekends, but is restricted to the central part of Long Beach. Those who want peace and quiet would normally opt for other beaches. But from my own experience you can always find secluded accommodations/spots either in the northern end or southern end of Long Beach.
Everything is relatively expensive on the island, but since Long Beach is the focal attraction you'll find most things to be slightly expensive here. Whether it be snacks, restaurant foods, mineral water, beverages, groceries, toiletries, clothing, snorkeling and island hopping trip.
[VIDEO] 2016: Turtle Point. In between the 2 islands, not far from the beach of Perhentian Besar.
2005: Long Beach, in front of Moonlight chalet
2005: Southern end of Long Beach
2006: Long Beach pre-jetty. The boat location is where the jetty now stood.
2008: Long Beach
2014: Long Beach, view from Rock garden restaurant (southern end)
There was one particular incident that happened back in 2007. I came to Perhentian with a friend. After 4 days on the island, it was time to return back to Kuala Lumpur. As usual we took the last boat scheduled at 4:00 pm. When the boat began to fill up with passengers, we looked at the sky and saw that the weather wasn't looking good. Dark clouds started to hover above the island. The boatman asked the passengers if they still want to go back to the mainland and almost everyone on-board somehow agreed to it, despite the dark clouds above us. Most probably everyone was hopeful about returning to the mainland.
As we depart Perhentian Kecil for Kuala Besut jetty, everything seemed to appear fine during the early part of the journey. The wind was blowing mildly and the waves were mild. But fifteen minutes into the journey, the waves started to get rough and choppy. At first, the boat could handle the rough waves, but then bigger waves started hitting our boat hard. The boat was rocking vigorously a number of times and at one point, the boat went vertical and almost capsized. Some of the passengers were screaming in fear of their lives. The boatman stopped the engine while waiting for the waves to calm down. After what had taken place, the boatman decided not to continue and we returned back to the island.
Back on the island, being the budget traveler that we are, we had used up almost all of our money. Thus, we couldn't afford a night's room. After much inquiries for a free stay, one of the chalet operators was kind enough to offer us a room, but we'd have to share it with their staff. We tried sleeping but the place was too noisy with loud music & partying at nearby restaurants and bars. We knew we wouldn't get any sleep with all the loud noises going on. We decided to leave and headed towards Moonlight chalet where it was much quieter there. Moonlight didn't have any free room for us, but the management was kind enough to allow us to sleep at the restaurant after they have closed for the night. We didn't think much of it at that time, but we were about to sleep in a gazebo type restaurant (open air with only roof). That fateful night (I'm just being dramatic here), we were feasted upon by uninvited guests. The island's merciless mosquitoes or sandflies. Next morning with bite marks all over our body we took the first boat back to the mainland. It was quite an experience.
2012: Long Beach
2014: Long Beach. View of Rock Garden Chalet on the hill (southern end)
2016: Long Beach (southern end)
Currently Perhentian Kecil is going through some re-development with constructions of new resort/chalets underway. But back in the day it was more pristine in regards to lesser touristic developments. I remembered the first time I was in Long Beach, majority of the chalets were constructed using natural resources such as wood planks and timber. The island had a more natural pristine feel to it. Back then the usage of concrete was limited to building toilets and used as building foundation. Nowadays half of the accommodations at Long Beach are concrete-made. Those were the days.
The concrete jetties on the islands only began construction in 2007 and were completed in 2008. The construction of the jetties was met with opposition from the island's taxi-boatmen as they felt that, with the existence of the jetty, their livelihood would be much affected. In theory, it does affect their livelihoods. If you haven't been to Perhentian, you might not understand the situation. For years, speedboats carrying passengers from the mainland (Kuala Besut) on a daily basis will arrive on the islands and harbour just off the shore from the beach. That's where the taxi-boats come in. Taxi-boats will then fetch the passengers from the speedboats and transfer them to the beach. Each passenger is charged a couple of Ringgits for the taxi service. That is how the taxi-boatmen earn their living. The idea that the taxi-boatmen had in mind was that, once the jetties are built, the speedboats could just drop-off the passengers on to the jetties, thus making the taxi-boat service unutilised. However, after the construction of the jetties were completed, everyone decided to continue business as it was before. The speedboats rarely uses the jetties and the taxi-boatmen continue their livelihood the way it was until now. The jetties are still being used but to a limited extent.
2003: Long Beach. At the backdrop is Pulau Perhentian Besar.
2005: Long Beach. Scenic
2011: Photo taken at almost the same spot as the photo above, 6 years apart.
[VIDEO] 2016: Shark Point. At the southern part of Perhentian Besar island. Water was murky due to heavy rain the night before.
Coral Bay
From Long Beach you can get to Coral Bay on the other side of the island (on foot) via a trail through the jungle. The hike takes approximately 10-15 minutes from the access pathway (next to Bubu Villa) depending on how fast you walk. Coral Bay is the second largest beach on Perhentian Kecil after Long Beach. It is much quieter here and more relaxed. I've never stayed at Coral Bay (*update: stayed at Coral Bay in 2019) but I do come here from time to time mainly to catch the sunset whenever I'm in Perhentian. The water at Coral Bay is not as stunning as Long Beach but it is still nice. The beach sands are coarser here and are filled with debris made up of dead coral fragments and dead seashells that were washed up on the beach. The beach area is not that spacious so it could be a tad congested here during peak season. Coral Bay is the place to catch the sunset on Perhentian Kecil. Restaurant foods and snorkeling trip packages are slightly cheaper here too.
2005: Coral Bay before there was a jetty.
2014: Coral Bay
2005: Coral Bay. Before there was a jetty, we had to climb up the rocks to get the best view to watch/take photo of the sunset. There's also a small platform next to the rocks but it was always crowded.
2005: Sunset at Coral Bay
2014: Water of Coral Bay
2006: Beachfront chalets (Sonja Bay) at Coral Bay.
Wind Turbines
This forlorn project was launched in 2007 in hope to supply sustainable energy to the island's inhabitants but the project died soon after, supplying only solar harvested electricity to the fishing village. From Long Beach there's a hiking trail few hundred metres leading up to the hill where the wind turbines are located. You can also take a boat to the jetty at the foot of the wind turbines hill and climb up the stairs to get to the top. Nowadays the wind turbines hill is frequented by hikers or those who wanted to get a picturesque view of the island,
2014: View from the sea. The concrete jetty leading up to the hill has been damaged for quite some time now. But you can still climb up the stairs from the jetty if you want some adventure. Do it at your own risk.
2014: As you climb up you get to see magnificent views of the surrounding landscape
2014: The stairs leading up to the wind turbines
2014: View overlooking the island from the hill just before reaching the top.
2014: View overlooking the island from the hill
Fisherman Village (Kampung Nelayan)
There's not much to write about the fisherman village. Basically it's a small village where the township on the island is. There's a school, a mosque, a police station, small administrative offices, village houses, shops and eateries. This is where the boatman will bring you for lunch if you're on a snorkeling trip since there are varieties of local eateries here. There are few accommodations available here as well if you prefer to experience staying in the village or if accommodations on other beaches are full. This is a place for you if you're the type that likes to observe everyday life in a village, experience local cultures or snapping photos of locals.
2003: Kampung Nelayan (Fisherman Village)
2003: Kampung Nelayan (Fisherman Village)
2014: The new mosque at the village still under construction at this time.
Banana Plantation (Defunct)
This erstwhile banana plantation was once a famous lookout point overlooking the islands. For those who have been to Long Beach prior to 2006, they would've probably been up here or were informed of this spot. The banana plantation was the place to go for scenic breathtaking view of Perhentian Islands before the wind turbine hill took over. Located at the south end of Long Beach you could spot it from the ground back in the day by its light green patch up on the hill. You can get here via Rock Garden chalet and continue hiking up the trail until you reach the plantation which was on a slope surrounded by tall jungle trees. I've been up here a few times. Back in 2008 I attempted to hike up the hill but the trail to the plantation was blocked by bushes and thickets. You need to use a machete to clear up the trail. By then the banana plantation had been reclaimed and overrun by nature. The plantation itself was almost covered with clump of shrubs. The plantation had been totally abandoned at this point in time. Since then I could hardly find anyone blogged about it or saw new photos taken from the banana plantation.
LEFT: The visible light green patch on the hill is where the banana plantation once was. RIGHT: By 2012 the plantation was completely overrun by nature and covered with thickets and bushes, rendering the plantation inaccessible.
2008: The trail leading up to the plantation.
2006: View of Long Beach from the banana plantation lookout point.
2006: View from the lookout point.
2006: View from the lookout point.
2006: View of Perhentian Besar
2006: View from the lookout point.
2016: Turquoise Water of Long Beach, Perhentian Kecil.
Perhentian Kecil had gone through some changes over the years both from the environmental and tourism aspects. I had seen the negative and positive outcomes, and my hope for Perhentian Kecil is that it would not be as overdeveloped as other developed islands because its charm and pristine beauty is what makes Perhentian Kecil different from the rest.