Malaysia: Peninsula and Borneo - July 2006
Dear English-speaking readers, this page is an automatic translation of an article originally written in French. I apologise for any strange sentences and funny mistakes that may have resulted. If you read French, click on the French flag below to access the original, correct text:Â
Français I leave Kota Bahruand its women buried and concrete for the Perhentian Islands. Perhentian Besar the great, and Perhentian Kecil the small, renowned for their crystal-clear waters and coral reefs .
I share the cab to Kuala Besut, from where the boats leave for the islands, with two young English girls. Afterwards, everything is very easy. The driver drops us off in front of the small agency he works for, which collects the tickets for the crossing.
The Perhentian Islands will be my first island stop, during this trip in Malaysia. I plan to spend five to seven days there, alternating days of laze and dives. You can also dive at Redanganother island famous for its seabed, located not far from there, from the Perhentian. Then, I intend to discover the island of Tiomanand I plan to end this trip to Malaysia on a high note: Sipadan...in Borneo...
(Small addition, years after the publication of this post: I don't know yet, during this July 2006 trip to Malaysia, that this first passage in Sipadan will be followed by two others, because I won't resist the pleasure to go back diving on this really exceptional spot, in 2009 and in 2013.)
But for now, I'm at the beginning, in the Perhentian Islands, so...
Transparent water and white sand
We are a dozen young people backpackers (backpackers) to cram us into a large boat, equipped with two powerful engines: 45 minutes of jumping in the waves and we are there!
We all go down to Perhentian Kecil, the Little Perhentian (pronounced "ké-tchil"). It is typically the island of the young travelers with a small budget and backpacks... The accommodation is more rustic and a little less expensive than in the neighboring island of Perhentian Besar (the Big one), and a lot of bars are aligned along the beach.
My first impression of the islands is in any case consistent with the information gleaned here and there on the internet : transparent water, white sand, coconut trees, deep green forest behind. Really a very nice scenery, very postcard. The sun is banging, it's terribly hot.
Just deposited on the beach, I head for the big red sign of Coral Sky DiversIt is clearly visible. This is the diving club I contacted by e-mail before leaving.
WARNING: This trip dates back to 2006, and Coral Sky Divers has not existed for several years. But there are a lot of other dive centers on the Perhentian Islands, which can be easily found via a small Google search.
Cottages in Malaysia
Perhentian Kecil being crowded in July-August, it is a bit difficult to find a place to stay without having booked anything, especially when you arrive for the weekend, like me.
So the club arranged for me to stay in a bungalow with their neighbors. Here in Malaysia, the tourism industry uses the term chalets (sic!) for the bungalows.
I am therefore housed in Matahari Chalets, which adjoin the diving club (mata-hari means "sun" in Malay, literally "the eye of the day"). Very practical.
I won't have much to do in the morning, when I get out of bed, to get equipped before the first dive of the day. My only concern will be the difficult choice of the swimsuit to put on. This beginning of vacation looks pretty good...
😎
