Tioman Reloaded

Paya Beach Resort is strategically located on the western coast of Tioman Island, approximately halfway between both ends of the island. It is a nice and homely resort with a nice stretch of beach in front, and mangroves and rainforests at the back. The prices for accommodation are reasonably cheap but the services and facilities are definitely not lousy. The staff working there are nice and friendly and most of them speak good English. They understand what visitors want and would gladly try to help, even if the requests are sometimes extraordinary.

The resort has three different types of accommodation – deluxe, superior, and standard. The deluxe type is a double-storey bungalow which can easily house an entire family. The superior type is more like an apartment, where a big bungalow is divided into 4 big rooms, two above and two below. The standard room is like a semi-detached bungalow which is by no means small, and it really gives a big bang for the buck. Although we stayed in the superior room during our previous trips, we chose to stay in the standard room this time round. Fact is, we don’t really find much difference in terms of comfort or space, and the standard room is actually better because it is less likely to get a noisy neighbor. We were actually very happy to see that the quality of service had been maintained even in the standard room – the room is clean and well-maintained just like the superior room.

Other than the basic facilities like a swimming pool, spa, beach bar, and restaurant, Paya Beach resort also has a dive shop to cater for divers. Snorkeling equipment could be rented here as well. On some nights, there is even a live band performing at the beach bar. Special activities like jungle trekking, snorkeling trips or visiting other places like the Mukut Waterfall, could be arranged with the receptionist.

There are plenty of activities that could be done in the immediate vicinity around Paya Beach Resort. These include snorkeling, mangrove exploring, jungle trekking, and taking a dip in the ice cold mountain stream.

In conclusion, Paya Beach Resort is one of the best places on Tioman to spend your holiday. It is clean and well-maintained with excellent service, is within close reach to the other resorts and attractions, is value for money and provides plenty of activities at low or no cost. Definitely worth considering, else I won’t be staying here every time I go to Tioman!

Tourists staying at Paya village has few options when it comes to dining. There are only three eateries along the whole beach. Of the three, the restaurant operated by Paya Beach Resort. is the best and also the most costly. Next in line is the D. Sinar Beach Restaurant which is located just 20m away to the left of Paya Jetty. The last in line is a cafe right at the landward end of the Paya Jetty. I wouldn't recommend this because it doesn't look very clean and it is closed most of the time.

D. Sinar Beach Restaurant is located right next to the beach, which makes it a great place to relax and enjoy the local cuisine while taking in the sea view and listening to the sounds of the waves lapping the shore. Apparently, this restaurant seems to be quite popular among the locals, who gathered here at night for a drink and catch up with each other. The restaurant serves nice, simple and cheap local food (mainly seafood, with some poultry and vegetables) that is a result of the fusion of Chinese and Malay cooking. Some Thai and Western dishes are available as well upon request. (See photo for menu). We dined here a few times and we find that the food is rather nice, although the portions might be a bit small. The restaurant, although simple, is quite clean and well-maintained. The owner is friendly and speaks reasonably good English, so communication is not a problem. One can choose to dine within the restaurant or dine alfresco style beside the beach.

The restaurant serves a variety of drinks including tea, coffee, chocolate and soft drinks. However, no alcoholic drinks are sold here, possibly because the owner is a Muslim. If one desires to have some cold beer, it is possible to get some at the Chinese provisional shop next door. It is recommended to dine here before 9pm as the restaurant tend to close early. Overall, this is a good place to get a decent meal at a low price and should be the place of choice for budget travellers.

The Tekek-Juara trail used to be a jungle-track that connects Tekek, the main town of Tioman on the west, to Juara, a small sleepy village on the east of Tioman. With the increasing influx of tourists to Tioman Island, the trail had became "more developed", possibly as a result of increasing tourist traffic along this trail. Half of the original mud trail had been converted to a concrete path passable by 4-Wheel-Drive (4WD) vehicles. In fact, a 4WD track had recently been made that connects Tekek to the concretized part of the Tekek-Juara trail, thus linking both places by road. Because the resort we are staying in is located outside Tekek town, we have to take a sea taxi to the Tekek Jetty in order to get to the trail. We were charged RM20(USD $5.5) for a boat trip from Paya Beach to Tekek Jetty. Upon reaching the landward side of the jetty, we turned left and headed for the concrete footpath near the edge of the sea. We then passed by some small eateries and were surprised to see hundreds of fruit bats hanging upside down on the casuarinas trees growing along the footpath! We always have the idea that bats live in dark damp places but somehow this isn't true here. We really wonder why. We continued along the footpath and reached a vehicle road. We continued along this road until we reach a small Malay village and turned right into a tar road that cuts through the village. Near the end of the road, it starts to slope upwards. At the top of the slope is a sign that says "TO KPG JUARA". We followed the small trail that the sign indicate and we were on our way to Juara! At the beginning of the trail, we saw some trees with plastic bags filled with white stuff hanging on their trunks. Upon examination, we found out that these are rubber trees planted by the locals and the white stuff was actually the latex of these trees. Once passed the rubber trees, the trail starts to become steeper and we really start to wonder when we will reach the top. After some time, we reached good primary rainforest with huge trees with diameters 7 feet or more! This is a good place to take in the sights and sounds of the rainforest, and if you keep quiet, you might even see some forest animals scurrying around on their daily activities! About 1.5 hour into the track, we reached the top of the trail, and the trail starts to slope downwards. Before long, we reached the concretized part of the trail and things start to get boring from here. It’s a good hour plus of walking down slope along this path before we reached Juara. While walking on this part, do be careful of the occasional 4WD that try to share the same road as you. The path is only about 5 feet wide.

At the other side of the Tekek-Juara trail is the Juara Village. This is possibly the only village on the east coast of Tioman (as shown on the map). Upon entering the village, the first impression is that life here seems to be incredibly slow and quiet. Nothing seem to faze the villagers as they slowly go about their activities, be it chit-chatting with friends, watching the TV or taking a nap. There are a few resorts here but we hardly see any tourist around save for the occasional trekker(s) that came over from Tekek. Accommodation is much cheaper here (RM30-80) than other places in Tioman, but expect minimal facilities. Most rooms here are only fan-ventilated. This place is ideal for people seeking peace and quiet as well as for divers (because of the cheap accommodation).

Juara has a long stretch of nice white sandy beach, but owing to the fact that it faces the South China Sea, the waves here can be quite strong at times. Swimming in the sea is a bit of a challenge here and it can become rather irritating when the sand particles churned up by the waves get into your hair, ears and pockets. Ridding yourself of these fine sand particles is going to take quite a bit of washing.

Juara beach is sandwiched by two rivers, one in the north and one in the south. During high tide, it is possible to swim in these rivers. Being much calmer, they are good alternatives to the sea when it comes to swimming. During low tides, it is possible to trek upstream where the water is cooler and cleaner. There are a few ways of exiting Juara Village. The cheapest way is to walk back along the Tekek-Juara trail. However, it’s going to take quite a bit of effort moving yourself up the sloping concertized part of the trail. Reaching the top may easily take 1.5-2 hours. Throw in another hour of walking along the mud trail and it will easily take 3 hours of trekking to reach Tekek. A slightly more expensive way is to take a 4WD to the top of the concertized trail and continue from foot there. This will cost RM15 per person. Taking the 4WD directly to Tekek will set you back by RM35 per person. One important thing to take note is that the rainforest that the trail went through will get dark at around 16:30pm. This is because when the sun is low, sunlight is prevented from reaching the forest floor by the thick forest canopy and the tall trees there. Although we made our way through the forest at around 15pm, it had already looked as if it’s around late evening. It would really not be a nice experience to be trapped in a dark rainforest.

If your tour package includes a snorkeling trip, then you need not fork out extras, otherwise a snorkeling trip is cheaply available at around RM35 (about $9). Snorkeling equipment can be easily rented at RM8 for a mask and RM7 for a life vest, for the entire day. One of the favorite snorkeling spots along the west coast of Tioman is Renggis Island, a small rocky island within a calm bay. Here, the water is crystal clear and the reef floor is only about 30 feet from the water surface at high tide. The reef floor is simply covered with corals of all shapes and sizes, and the whole place is teeming with colorful fish of all sorts. Being no marine experts, we could only identify the butterfly fishes and the parrot fishes. A parrot fish can be easily identified by its thick "lips." Those "lips" are actually heavily-reinforced jaws that they used to gnaw on corals. Occasionally, we saw these parrot fishes defecate, giving out a white bloom of "dust" that are actually coral bits. Giant clams and numerous sea urchins can be found along the reef floor, and we also saw the occasional sea cucumber. The sea cucumbers here are really huge—some can grow to 3-feet long and 3-inches wide! For some unknown reasons, the reef fishes here can’t seem to resist bread crumbs. Knowing this, we brought along a few pieces of bread (leftovers from breakfast) and while in the water, we rubbed the wet bread using both hands, creating a cloud of bread bits. Within seconds, we found ourselves surrounded by reef fishes of all shapes and sizes, all frantically trying to get at the bread bits. For the adventurous, you can try to hold some bread in your hand and the fish will feed directly off your hand without any fear. Some of them may miss and nibble your hand instead, but they lacking sharp teeth, the bite will not be painful at all. The marine park is usually the next stop for a regular snorkeling trip. Well, there is really nothing great about this place at all. It is essentially a lagoon with white sand at the bottom and nothing much else. The authorities had tried to introduce corals into this lagoon by placing concrete structures on the sea bed to act as substrates for coral attachment. At the point of writing, there are signs of corals growing on these concrete structures but the numbers are few. Fish diversity here is rather low, with only one or two dominant species. The condition near the edge of the lagoon is slightly better, where natural rock formations had allowed better coral growth, supporting a higher diversity of fishes.