We visited Tioman Island from Singapore. First we traveled from Singapore to MERSING in a 10 seater van and from there in a ferry.
The ferry journey will be around 3 hours to our SALANG beach resort. As we sat on the top of the ferry some of us had giddiness, may be due to sea sickness and due to the movements of the ferry. While returning we had chosen not to go on deck. So didn't experience much giddiness. Coming to Tioman island, it's a beautiful island I say.
There are around 5-6 beaches around the island. We stayed in SALANG beach. This was the last beach in the ferry journey.
You can spend hours just languishing on the white pearly beach, looking up the sun for the perfect tan. Popular beaches include the ones around the villages of Tekek, Genting, and Salang. A walk on one of these beaches at sunset is truly enchanting and will simply take your breath away.
First we rented snorkels and life jackets and went into the sea. The first thing about TIOMAN is south china sea''s crystal clear water. As water is clear we can sea the underwater world clearly with snorkels.
Best Way to Get Around:
Take a round island tour. Costs about 25 RM per person and they will bring you to other beaches, a waterfall, and other places to snorkel and swim with the fishes.
Snorkeling:
I will confess that I am a timid snorkeler. I have my own mask and snorkel, but have always felt safer to float in very shallow water and would rush ashore more often .
Finally, with my friends, we gathered courage to go snorkeling. It's like a live aquarium under the sea.
You can attract the fish to you by bringing down a piece of bread and rubbing it with your hands to create a "cloud" of bread . You will soon find yourself swimming in a pool of colourful fish!
Scuba diving:
There is also a chance to go scuba diving if you have got license, if not, you can do a course there with a duration of four days. (If you have time, otherwise just enjoy snorkeling.) Tioman is all about the pleasures like snorkeling, watching the crystal clear water and scuba diving.
We observed that sea has gone back, to almost 100 mts back at night and when we woke up in the morning it came almost near to our resort. That transition must be seen by staying awake all the night, enjoying BBQ food and night shopping (not much I can say).
The food they serve is apt for non vegetarians. You can order pure veggies also.
Watch out for giant lizards in the island. They are almost 3-4 feet long. We found them near our resort also. Be watchful when you are walking in the island.
Beyond the resorts you can see many 2 metre long monitor lizards scurrying about their daily business. These lizards can be found all over the island. We came across almost 5ft lizard when we are having a walk in the island.
Don't forget to carry emergency medicines and antiseptics as there is no doctor available on the island. If you are travelling with kids, carry some food like cornflakes and biscuits with you and insect repellent creams too. Salang beach is having 1-2 mini marts selling bread, biscuits, and souvenirs. It is having 2-3 scuba diving centres and one e-mail centre too.
We really had a perfect pleasure trip in TIOMAN. We enjoyed snorkeling and pearly white beaches. If you don't know swimming also (just like me) you can go into the water with life jackets.
So pack your bags for your next holiday.