“Ombak yang kecil jangan diabaikan.”
(Small waves are not to be ignored.) – Malayan Proverb
When I got my Open –Water PADI Certification in Pulau Dayang Malaysia, I thought we were in Pulau Tioman the whole time, I thought Dayang is just the name of our resort, lol! So I told myself, I have to see Tioman for real. Tioman is also another island of Malaysia that is very close from Singapore, so I waited again for another long weekend where I can visit it with friends.
So come Easter in 2010, my friends and I had the chance to go to Tioman finally. It was a last minute planning because each of us were having other holiday trip plans already but then we ended up having nowhere else to go for the long weekend. Long story short, it was only 3 days before the weekend that we still managed to get rooms on one of the resorts with the help of one of my friends, Martin, who was already in the island taking his PADI Certification.
From Singapore we took a bus going directly to Mersing (around 3hrs travel), and from Mersing Ferry Terminal we took a ferry going to Pulau Tioman for another 1 hour. Our resort, Salang Beach Resort, is at Salang area of Tioman.
My expectations for Tioman was not that high. So I was really surprised to see clear turquoise water as soon aa our ferry docked the island! I thought it’s not that fabulous because it’s quite cheap going there, haha! But we were all at awe seeing how beautiful the water in Tioman is. As someone from Philippines, I am not easily impressed with beaches if I’ve seen better in my country, but in Tioman, I was really impressed!
I chose to book our resort at Salang area because this is where the Tioman night life is they say, I was expecting beach parties but at this island, night life is only until 12mn haha! Well, except for one bar where I think most of the the tourists go to which gets too crowded after 12 midnight. We stayed there and actually met more familiar faces from Singapore, I think it wasn’t just us whose Easter holiday plans got messed up, lol!
We did some island hopping also that took us to Monkey Bay, Tioman Marine Park, and Coral Island. We did lots of snorkelling, frolicking and feeding fishes, and lots of fun just playing and sunbathing by the beach shore.
I’m glad we chose to go here instead as it was one of my best weekend spent when I was still living in Singapore. Pulau Tioman is indeed a beautiful paradise and I’m wondering why it is not as popular as the other beaches there like Bali or Phuket. It is as underrated as our beaches in Philippines.
Note to self: Sometimes places that are often ignored by travel books or travel websites are usually the ones that are truly beautiful! Small waves are not to be ignored.
