Soak Up the Sun at Tioman Beach

The night sky is very clear if compared to any other cities in Malaysia. It is best for star-gazing! Lying down by the beach at night listening to the splashes of the waves below millions of stars that twinkle at you is the best thing to do at night since there is not much of night life in Tioman.

When it is daytime, you can go out to the surrounding islands for snorkeling or just swim in the crystal-clear water. You can also relax by the beach, relax on water, relax under the sun, relax at the balcony of your chalet that resembles a Kampung house. The best thing in life is so simple, yet so memorable.

Quick Tips:

If you are tight on budget, it is not advisable to stay in Berjaya Tioman Beach Resort because everything is so expensive here. There are other chalet-style resorts on other sides of the island that offers cheaper lodging, food and equally breath-taking sea view.

Best Way To Get Around:

By boat to tour around Tioman island and its surrounding islands is definitely the best way to get around.

You can also rent a bike and cycle around Tioman Island to take in the 'Kampung' (village).

Berjaya Tioman Beach Resort is a tropical paradise with its chalets, suites, facilities spreading over 200 acres of land. It has its very own 18 hole golf course too.

I stayed in the standard chalet. The chalet is built in typical Malay Kampung architectural style, just like the ones you see at any small Malay villages in Malaysia, but of course with the luxury of a hotel. If possible, do ask for the one that is on the first floor because it will be quieter and you can have more privacy. I especially enjoy sitting at the balcony in the morning enjoying a cup of coffee while reading a newspaper and breathing in fresh air, with the rolling hills smiling down at you not so far away.

The activities you can do here are plentiful. From going out to the sea for water sports or snorkeling, to swimming at the pool, relaxing in jacuzzi, riding a pony or just simply lying around the many benches by the beach and watching time go by.

As the resort is facing west, waiting for sunset is quite worthwhile.

There are various boat trips, hiking trips, etc. organised by the resort which are priced very reasonbaly.

There is also a nature pond in the vicinity of the resort where you can see big fish and big fat ugly reptiles. No, not crocodiles but monitor lizards swimming in there. Sometimes the monitor lizards might climb to the chalet courtyard for sunbathing. Do not panic, they are harmless.

At night, you can go karaoke, play mahjong or slot games at the entertainment centre, all with a not-so-small fee. There are also pool tables, outdoor giant chess and also a beach bar if you fancy a pint or two with the seabreeze blowing at you while you drink. There is another entertainment centre under construction. There will be more activities to offer after completion of the new entertainment centre.

There is only one down point of the resort. There are just TOO many resort-owned vehicles going around the resort, polluting the place with fumes and noises. The resort is quite large and getting around the resort is a problem for the old or disabled. It is very thoughtful of Berjaya to provide transportation to get around it but too many vehicles that are lacking of maintenance is definitely ruining the resort environment and ambience. Those vans even go around the chalet courtyards to pick up passengers. This totally ruins the peacefulness of the chalet surrounding.

Besides that, this place is just PERFECT for you to soak up the sun and have a nice, relaxing beach holiday.

This coffee house serves buffet breakfast and dinner. For lunch, a la carte menu is available. They serve a mixture of western and local cuisine.

The breakfast buffet is not up to my expectations. If you are not used to Malaysian cuisine,you are going to have a hard time because the western varieties here are not up to standard. However, they do have a good range of pastries though the taste is well, somewhat crappy. If you love Malaysian food, that's fine because they have a wide range of kuih, noodles, roti, etc. Great if you are an culinary adventurer!

For lunch, it is advisable to order dishes that come with rice if you have many people eating together. This is because the portion is big and is enough to serve up to 2 or 3 persons (with average Malaysian appetite). For example, if you have 10 people, just order 6 dishes (that are accompanied by rice) and 4 extra rice. This definitely will help you to save a lot! All the curries in this coffee house are good but beware, they are SPICY!

For dinner buffet, the variety is wide, including seafood. Like the buffet breakfast, the local cuisine served in the buffet tastes much better than western cuisine. So thrill your tastebuds by trying out the local cuisines and you are in for a nice surprise! (hopefully the surprise is not from a chilli padi -a very hot type of chilli!!)

However, the hygiene of this coffee house is horrible. It is full of flies! Flies are flying here and there, even on the buffet table! There is even a stray cat walking around in the coffee house like nobody’s business!!! My friend told me it is normal to have flies beside the beach but surely the coffee house is not doing enough to reduce the population of this nuisance.

There were six of us, so we chartered one boat for our snorkeling trip. We only paid RM50 per person for that, which is quite reasonable since snorkeling equipment and life jackets are inclusive.

Normally the snorkeling trips start from 9 a.m. onwards. If you only have a couple of people, you can join a big group where they go by a bigger boat. However, it is more flexible if we have the whole boat all to ourselves, and of course more fun too!

First, it took us around 20 minutes to get from Berjaya Resort jetty to our destination - Tulai Island. It is a secluded island with sandy beaches along the coast (well not so secluded when boats full of snorkellers come and ruin the tranquility). The sea here is crystal-clear. The turquoise sea is sparkling under the sunlight and I can say it is truly a tropical paradise here.

The corals here are all right, not too impressive but at least it is not all dead corals that we are seeing. The marine life here is plentiful. We also stopped at a few 'no-name' islands and later headed for lunch at Salang Village.

Next, we went to the Marine Park. It was a total disappointment. The water there are murky and there are not many varieties of fish. Not recommended at all. The boatman told us that the murky water is due to high tight.

Our last stop was Renggis Island, an island that looks like a broccoli! It is only two minutes boat ride away from Berjaya Resort. The surrounding coral is quite nice, with an abundance of marine life. However, the other side of the island has strong current and is a little bit too turbulent for snorkelling.

We came back at about 4:30 p.m., tired and sun-burnt! The snorkelling sights here are not really that great, but if you don't hold too high expectations, it is not too bad of an experience.