Tioman Islands, Malaysia

 We started our trip early morning by around 6am from Singapore. Took the bus to Johor, and brought tickets to Mersing from Johor. The bus journey took around 2hrs, and we reached Mersing by around 10:30. However, the next ferry was scheduled only at 2pm.

We roamed around Mersing for some time, near the Mersing river, and had food from there before waiting for the ferry. Finally, by 3pm, the ferry took off from Mersing. 

-> Mersing river.

The sea was calm and the ride was peaceful, and we reached Air Batang by around 5pm. The peace and serenity in the place was visible from the jetty itself. A long stretch of the beach with absolutely no one, and the ocean with green water, so transparent that we could see the colors of the fish from above.

We took accommodation in a room near the jetty, unpacked, and set ourselves for a walk in the beach. The beach was a little rocky one, and is stretched for a kilometer or so. We walked till the end, passing across a few chalets on the beachside and small shops. There were quite a few shells and bleached corals on the shore, and Kirti started collecting those as her souvenir. 

 

It was a nice calm walk, with the ocean also very calm with little waves. We were impressed by the color of the water, and the peacefulness of the area. We had dinner from a small restaurant nearby and called the day off.

Color of the sky during sunset in tioman.

Next day, we rented life jacket, and snorkeling glass from the owner of our place, and we went to Marine Park, which was around 20 minutes walk across the shore from our place. We decided to do snorkeling, it was my second experience and Kirti’s first. 

Initially, we snorkeled near the shore, and there were a huge variety of fishes, including a shoal of small fish, zebra fish, golden fish, a yellow-black fish, dark green, dark blue and almost all colors familiar to mankind. It was an absolutely amazing experience, and we were truly wondered by the underwater colors. 

 Sadly, we had no underwater case for the camera. This pic is taken from the top. ->

We continued shore snorkeling for some more time, until we decided to move away from the shore, to the main place where fish feeding was done, and hence, a large number of fishes would be present. After Kirti gathered her composure, we went on there, and it was another breathtaking experience. The variety of fishes was truly great, and we had a splendid time observing them underwater. Meanwhile, I had cramps, however Sriram, another tourist helped relaxing my muscles, and we took off from there after that. Also, Kirti spent some time swimming on the shores. ;)

Afternoon, we had scheduled a trip to the nearby islands of Tioman with the speed boat owned by the hotel owner. 

 

He took us to an uninhabited island around half an hour in speed boat from our place. It was a bumpy ride, and Kirti was having a slight back pain. The island, an amazing one, featuring a small beach with silky white sand, and a pure green beach nearby. We felt really in paradise, and it was just us in the whole place, later though, a giant monitor lizard joined us. We spent some time there, and later proceeded to Monkey bay.

 

Monitor lizard in the island near Coral Island.

Monkey bay was another small bay in Tioman, which is also famous for snorkeling. However, the sea was a bit rough, and our ride to Monkey bay was enthralling, with the boat hitting the waves, had us swaying from one end to the other. It took us around 20 minutes to reach there, and any roller coaster experience would have easily been a cakewalk for us by then.

 

I decided to jump to the sea for seeing the corals beneath, however spent only a few minutes snorkeling, as the sea was not very calm. We headed to monkey bay, the beach, and spent a few minutes there as well. Again, green water and a small peaceful shore.

                                                
                                                       Monkey bay ->

We decided to call of the trip then, as rains were imminent. We started to ride back to our island, and before we reached there it started raining. The owner who drove the speed boat, however skillfully managed to get us to the shore, while the rain was pouring down, and the sea was at her violent best. It was really an adventurous trip, more than the scenic one, as by the end of the trip, we were talking about the bumpy ride rather than the beauty of the islands visited.

 

We took rest, and by evening, we walked in the beach towards the opposite end, had dinner and called the day off.

Unluckily, we could not get the return ticket for the next day evening ferry, and we had to return to Mersing by the morning ferry

Kirti lazing around before catching the return ferry to Mersing.

and I was involved in clicking :)

In Mersing, we had food from a restaurant, yet again owned by a Keralite, and then spent some time in KFC, and visited a Chinese temple, and a Hindu temple nearby, before starting our return trip to Johor.


-> Chinese temple in Mersing.



The return trip was again very scenic, and we realized it was such a long time since we have seen the blue sky with such a huge expanse. We reached Johor, boarded the bus to Singapore, even if the immigration port was crowded, we managed to reach back in Singapore before midnight, and had a sound sleep.