Pulau Perhentian

We didn't spend a second longer than was strictly needed in Kuala Terengganu when we woke up the next morning. Our bus tout from the day before who had sent us to the hotel suggested we get a local bus to Kuala Besut, the jumping off point for Pulau Perhentian. Gemma cleverly made up for the lack of air conditioning by positioning us next to the open side door of the bus. Once we were underway the breeze through the door was lovely. At Kuala Besut we were virtually grabbed off the bus by a tout selling boat tickets. It really makes no diference which company you book with as they are all the same price and use the same boats. We booked with the tout's company and also booked a nights accomodation. Pulau Perhentian is actually two islands, Kecil (Little) and Besar (Big). We'd chosen to stay at Mama's Chalets on the big island, which is reportedly a little quieter and more upmarket than the small island.

We had quite high hopes for doing a lot of snorkelling and canoeing round the islands. Unfortunately Gemma's bowel wasn't really up for activity of that sort. She managed to get a tummy bug pretty much as soon as we got there and it lasted pretty much until we left. So unable to stray too far from the safety of our chalet's toilet we made do with reading and walks on the beach. In leiu of snorkelling we did have a super low tide at one point where I was able to point out lots of interesting underwater and intertidal goings on to Gemma.

The island was quite nice although after Kapas it seemed positively packed to the rafters with people. If I had to choose I think I would pick Kapas, jellyfish not withstanding. It was very much more laid back and quiet there. Mind you saying that, I still enjoyed my time in the Perhentians, and I would go back there. The owner of our Chalets was a really nice bloke and was super helpful.