This month entry...about Tioman. Well, I went with several friends from IIUM Kuantan (Nana, Naha, Onah and Not) and departed from Kuantan around 7.15. We took the ferry to Tioman from Tg. Gemok because it is nearer to Kuantan compared to Mersing jetty, about 1/2 hour difference. We should have boarded on the 9 am ferry but since we arrived a lil bit late, 10-15 minutes, we missed that ferry and boarded on 12 noon ferry. Damn..if I kept my mobile in my pocket, we would have departed earlier. The company which we made the ticket booking, have called me but I didn't answer it. The journey took about 2 hours and I got dizzy due to this long journey. The air-cond was really freezing my skull and that worsen the condition. I think it would be ok if it was a bit warmer.
We embarked at Tekek Village jetty. I had no idea that there was constructions at Tekek. They are building a new and big jetty where many catamarans, boats and ferries can be parked there. But it was such a disappointment because we were unable to stroll along the beach near. I was thinking of escaping from inhaling carbon monoxide and all the unpleasant smells expelled from the heavy vehicles but it seemed that I have to bare with it. We checked-in at Peladang Tioman chalet, good chalet, good facilities (near to shops, dive centre, duty free and of course, the jetty) and very reasonable price. One good thing about this chalet, they don't deal with agents and that was why we got a very cheap rate. Pointer, walk-in bookings are much much encouraged if u r a budget traveller. Do not ever attempt to book through the 3rd party a.k.a internet as you will end-up with disappointment. And make sure if you want to enjoy lots of things, it's better to check the facilities and transports available at the village that you are going to stay at. We were about to stay at Tioman Beauty Beach Resort, at Lanting Village, but luckily I realized that this place does not have proper facilities and it is very difficult to go to other places from here.
After checking-in, we rested for awhile and around 5.00, we went to Marine Park just to wet ourselves. It was quite a distant to walk from Peladang Tioman to Marine Park...1.5 km I guess. Along the way, I was thinking that Marine Park would have a blue, clear water with corals and marine lives but I was totwlly wrong. The water was damn cloudy and there was nothing I could observe. And a bit dirty as well. In my opinion, this place used to be a good place to bath or rilex but due to that major construction at the jetty, everything was gone. And another factor is, it was the interchange of monsoon season and caused the sea to be choppy and caused the particles or sediments to rise to the surface. But it's ok for this time because we went at the wrong time. How bad it was, I shouldn't blame or complaint too much. Realizing that it wasn't our luck to look at the beauty of Marine Park, I just enjoyed myself and have fun with my friends. At least I was able to go away from the crowds and noises and tiring life of KL. That is much much better.
When sun started to hide itself, we made our way back to chalet and bathed. After bathing with clean water, we went to The Zon, a duty free shop which is less than 50 m from our chalets. Not much to shop but I bought several fridge magnets. A few minutes later, we return to our chalet and rest. Around 9 pm, we had our dinner at a restaurant near the chalet. Very simple meal but enough to relieve the hunger after seabathing. Not so pricey either.
The next day, we went snorkeling (Nana, Onah and Not)and diving (me, Naha) at Pulau Rengis and Soyak. Before that, we dropped at East Divers to register and set up our diving equipments. First dive at Pulau Rengis, well..not bad. It was a 'disaster' when my cheap mask kept on fogging and I really hate that. Very uncomfortable and I should have used other mask.And the fu**in shit was that, my digicam got damaged while trying to capture some pictures down there. But whatever bad things happened to me, I was so happy to see friendly batfishes swimming near us. 3 times the size of my palms, each. Naha said one of the batfishes was drunken because it was swimming upside down. Hehehe.I realized that too. I was hoping to see some Moray eels or turtles but nothing. Visibility was not that good...4-5 m only. And not much clownfishes but they have many hardcorals though at some part, a small portion of corals were dead. 40 minutes later, we ascended and back to East Divers. For my other 3 friends, they almost regret because they didn't bring the breads to feed the fishes but at least they fill the time with something fun. The moral of the story, whenever u wanna go snorkeling, bringing some breads is a must. Heheh..
Around 2.30, we went diving and snorkeling at Soyak. Water was rough and a bit tiring for people like me. I love Soyak because they have lot of Nudibranches. This time, I saw the species that I have not seen at Perhentian, Tenggol or Kapas. This was a satisfaction for me. I found some at the rocks and some at the sea floor. If I have my digicam, I would have taken some pictures of those nudes...huwaaaa....sedey...sedey...Forgot one thing, we had more companies joining our 2nd dive..I think they are from CoRal Malaysia...5-6 of them. And after the dive, we went back to the beach and guess what...the water was so rough, bumpy, choppy..whatever...I felt like riding on a roller-coaster or like Nana said, riding a sea-horse...ehehehehe..just imagine that u r riding a while horse...I think more or less the same thing when riding on a boat at a wavy water surface. I thought I would get nausea or something but thank God, I was fine though I could sense body imbalance movement after the ride....ahakkss...
After the water activities, we stop over at the nearby restaurant and had cendol, ABC, banana fritters and keropok lekor...really yummy and made our tummy full too. Chit chatting, quarreling and teasing each other were the activities while having the hi-tea...Later, we went back to the chalet, bathed and rested. I started to feel cramps on my abdoment. Yeahh...lady's time. Thank God it was after the divings. At nite, they went for dinner but I stayed in the chalet as I didn't want the cramp to trouble myself or other people. They came back from dinner and we lepak in front of the chalet, chit chatting until midnite.
3rd day, we went kayaking. 1 hour, RM30 for one kayak. Quite ok..but I thought it would be like RM10. No complaint about that. One kayak, me & Nana, the other kayak, Naha & Not. It was nice to see some corals down there but the Booby Traps dominated that area. Not much fishes but the water clarity ws good enough to make me jump from the kayak into the water...but didn't do it though. After half n hour, we return the kayak and bath...yippie...1/2 hour to 12, we mae a move to our chalet, bath and pack our stuff.
Hoping that the ferry had not arrived yet to the jetty, we walked quickly and 10 minutes after 12 noon, we arrived the jetty and...a boy monitoring the ferry passengers told us the ferry had already boarded. Hampehhh...punctual lh sgt..so we took a 2 pm ferry to Tg. Gemok. while then, we had lunch and chit chatting again. The ferry only arrived at 2.30. Lambatlh pulak...so we lepak at the jetty and fed the fishes with whatever food we had left. Really enjoyed and funny too when looking at the fishes struggling for pieces of food.
Tata Tioman..
