Pulau Tioman : January, 23rd to 27th, 2014
Tioman (Malay: Pulau Tioman) is a small island, 39 km long and 12 km wide.
(all pictures excepted maps were taken by my friends or by myself, all rights included)
Why Tioman ?
Tioman is within the Mersing Marine Park, which contains less commercial islands. In the 1970s, Time magazine selected Tioman as one of the world’s most
beautiful islands. The densely forested island is still sparsely
inhabited. Also it is surrounded by numerous white coral reefs, making
it a haven for scuba divers from around the region. Basically, Tioman could be depicted as a wild island, with mountains and jungle almost reaching the sea, with beautiful beaches and clear water, and not many tourists. So Tioman is a really nice island, but there are not many things to do, so it is a good place to go for a three/four-day-trip !
- The money is the Riggit (€ 1 = Riggit 4)
- There are British plugs
- Food: you can have a chicken fried rice for Riggit 4
Go
We left as a group of twelve students, so we tried to plan the transport early to be sure to travel together. Reaching the island is a bit complicated. First, I thought the cheapest was to go by bus, but if you are travelling with enough friends, taking a big cab might be very interesting to cross the borders. There is an airport on the island but there were no flights until February. We took a public bus at Kranji MRT station, on the right leaving the station. We went through the two borders (Singaporean and Malaysian) to Johor Barhu, where we withdrew Riggits and took a bus to Mersing from a private company. We left Singapore at 6:00 p.m. and arrived at 4:00 a.m. in Mersing.
If you want to travel with a private bus company, you can book the bus to be sure to have seats. We travelled with Transnational Express, and the bus from Johor Barhu to Mersing was the most comfortable I had ever seen. We had to go to the company's agency in Singapore, Plaza Porkroyal (Bugis MRT station and then walk, or bus 107, 107M, 961, 961C, 980). You have to enter what looks like a carpark of an hotel (big building), around 30m after the cross with Orphir road, on Beach Road, going to the North-West, i.e. towards the cross with Arab Street. But when you arrive in Johor Barhu, there are many a bus company to drive you to Mersing. The bus ticket was SGD 15 each. If you want to save money, you can take your return bus ticket in Malaysia, it is SGD 5 less than in Singapore. In the bus, it is often cold because of the ari-con.
We arrived at Mersing early in the morning, and we had booked an hotel for the end of the night. It was the River Side Hotel, No 74, Jalan Sulaiman, 86800 Mersing, cheap hotel, but clean and comfortable rooms. We paid around SGD 10 each for the night. If you travel in low season, as we did, bargain for every hotel room, especially if you are a group.
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| How we reached Tioman island |
We took the ferry tickets in Mersing. There is no way to know the ferry schedules on the internet. Only local people can inform you, depending on the tide. The ferry ticket was Riggits 35, going and coming back. There is no need to book the ferry on the Internet if you arrive early enough. Take a sweat-shirt for the ferry, temperature is low because of the air-con.
You can stop in many villages with the ferry. We decided to stop in Salang, last stop from Mersing.
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| Ferry stops |
The trip !
Thursday : departure at 6:00 p.m. from Singapore.
Friday : Arrival at 4:00 p.m. in Salang. Night in Salang.
Saturday : Trek to Ayer Batang. Night in Ayer Batang.
Sunday : Beach at Ayer Batang. Walk to Tekek and back to ABC. Night at Ayer Batang.
Monday : Departure at 2:00 p.m.
Tuesday : Arrival at midnight in Singapore.
DAY 1 We took the ferry at 1:00 p.m. and then we arrived at 4:00 p.m. in Salang, because of a bad sea. We discovered the island, beaches after beaches seated at the stern, and we were really amazed by the sand and the clearness of the water !
But we were a bit to hungry to think about
other things but food. We ate in a small restaurant at the very South of
Salang village, surrounded by many semi-wild cats we were a bit afraid
of at the beginning (because of rabies), but here were peaceful. Then we looked for an place to sleep, what is really easy to find in low season. We chose Ella's place at the North of the village (which is really small). It was cheap, 10 Riggits each (but none of the Hotel I mention offered breakfast for the price).
We spent most of the afternoon on the Beach. The water was hot but not too much. No other sounds than birds, waves, small wind, ... Actually we were the only tourists on this part of the Island. Even if this beach was really beautiful, it was not the best beach we found on the island.
In the evenning, we ate in a small restaurant embellished with blue tiles, with a large terrace and a nice panorama on the bay. You can easily eat for less than 10 Riggits in every restaurant. Usually, the restaurant is unable to serve some meals. Ask when you take the menu. Otherwise, you can find all Malaysian meals : Nasi Goreng (fried rice), Mie Goreng (Fried noodles), ...
At night, we found a duty free shop in the center of the village where we bought beers. The shop is impressive : full of alcoholic drinks from all around the world. You could even buy old whisky or French champaign if you want !
DAY 2 After a good breakfast at the restaurant where we had had dinner the day before. The aim of that day was to reach ABC village, also called Ayer Batang, walking through the jungle ! We had heard about a beautiful beach on the way to ABC where we could enjoy great snorkelling : Monkey Beach. The path through the jungle begins at the very South of the beach. At the beginning you have to climb a great slope, nad then, all the way, you alternatively go up and down. This trek was one hour long to reach Monkey Beach, and an other hour long from Monkey Beach to ABC. It was not an easy trek but not so difficult though. Even children can do it.
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The forest really looks like a jungle you would see in a movie. It was really new for me and I found it handsome. Something really important : if you do not want to get lost, always follow the electric cables above your head ! There is no other way to make sure you go in the correct direction ! After one hour walking, we arrived at Monkey beach around 11:30 a.m. You cannot miss it: at one moment you reach a small concrete bridge (see picture on the right). Leave the pass to the right and you are on the beach. We walked 100 m on the right to find a comfortable shaded place to stay. Maybe the beach is wilder over there. We let all our stuff on the sand, took our diving masks and tubas (you can buy some on the island), and went for a great moment of snorkelling ! Coral, limpid water, fishes, sea stars, ... Unforgettable for my first snorkeling experience ! We spent nearly two hours there (sunburns !), and left with the tide to finish the trek. The second part of the trek looks like the first one, but you see the sea better. You can even stop on small beaches in some places. If you are lucky, you can see monkeys in the trees.
We arrived at 3:00 p.m. in Ayer Batang. Ayer Batang is a bigger village, with plenty of monkeys, freely going everywhere ! To eat, we went to the only restaurant we found in the village, at the very south of the village, a small place embellished with yellow tiles. This is the place where we ate each time after this lunch.
In ABC, the best beach is the one at the very South. At the North, there are lots of stones on the beaches, and sometimes rubbish. We spent the afternoon. There is a small bar you can go to in the middle of the Village that sells acoholic drinks, and for example cheap cocktail bukets if you bargain a bit. The food is a bit expensive though, and not so good. It is better to eat in the restaurant I just mentioned. We went there, drank some bukets, met friendly foreigners, listened to a weird mix of Reggae music, Avril Lavigne and Jason Mraz !
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We slept in small bungalows, still for an average 10 Riggit each, at the North of the village, in a place called ABC Chalet. It was nice and cheap. Myfriends' place, at the South, is also a good cheap place to sleep.
DAY 3 My room-mates and I woke up with some monkeys around our bungalow, and decided to give them some pieces of dry mango to take great pictures. Bad idea !!! We actually took good pictures, because they came so close, and because in 5 minutes, we were surrounded by two dozens of monkeys. But as soon as we had nothing left to feed them, one that looked to be the dominant male started to be aggressive. He shouted at us, came dangerously close and finally climbed the stairs of our small bungalow ! We just had time to take refuge inside and lock the door ! Do not carry food when you meet monkeys, they will try to steal it !
Some friends and I needed some cash to finish the trip, and went from Ayer Batang to Tekek by foot. It is 45 min long to go there, on the only road of the island. Tekek is the city in which the airport is located. It is not handsome, so do not feel obligated to go there. We were told there were two ATMs there. There actually are, but most of the time out of work. Though, walking 5 min, we found a market at the first floor of a building where we could change Singaporean dollars. We had lunch there, checked the time when the ferry would pick us up the day after (there is an office of the company in charge of the ferries in Tekek).
We spent the afternoon on the beach, getting tanned and playing cards. It was so relaxing to lay down on the sand with nobody to disturb us !
DAY 4 After a huge breakfast in our favorite restaurant, with many banana pancakes, we chilled on the beach and on the terrace of the restaurant before going to the pier to get our ferry. It came late because of the low tide. Coming back the sea was really calm. We left this wonderful island, under a blazing sun highlighting the clearness of the water and the beauty of the beaches.
We arrived in Mersing at 5:00 p.m., and went to the bus station to buy the bus tickets to go back to Singapore. Then we went back to the centre to eat before leaving. We were a bit tired, but our trip had really been like a small part of paradise. Everyone was really happy to have come in this island.
We arrived at Queenstown by bus at 11:00 p.m. and took the last train to come back to the campus of the University.
Usefullinks:
http://wikitravel.org/en/Tiomanhttp://tezzasthaiinfo.blogspot.sg/2007/07/gorgeous-tioman-island.html
If you have any question, leave a comment!
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