Pulau Tioman is an island in the South China Sea off the east coast of Malaysia and is a nature reserve, ringed by beaches. The area is known for its dive sites, which have corals, sea fans, sharks, turtles and sea sponges, as well as shipwrecks. The island is covered in tropical rainforests, home to butterflies, lizards and monkeys. There is also an active turtle sanctuary and hatchery which protects and studies turtles. After a one night stay in Mersing on the east coast of mainland Malaysia we took the catamaran ferry from the pier over to Pulau Tioman.
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The Station
We stayed at a simple but comfortable resort called The Station which was situated on the beach just south of the town of Tekek. The beach huts were right on the beach so it was only a few steps away to get into the sea where we could enjoy snorkelling and see all the wonderful undersea life.
One wonderful aspect of Tioman is it is a duty free location so we took the opportunity to take advantage of this for our routine early evening cocktails by the beach while we were there as well as stocking up for our return to mainland Malaysia.
Tekek
Tekek is the largest village of Pulau Tioman, located along a 3km coastal stretch at the island’s central west between Paya and Ayer Batang. Essentially its capital and progressively being developed into a proper town, Tekek has basic modern infrastructure, including a bank, clinic, air strip, marina and jetty complex. It is also the gateway to Juara by overland transfer and a hub for duty-free shopping.
Visitors staying at Tekek have a wide range of hotels to choose from, including the largest Berjaya Tioman Resort that occupies the southern portion of the village. Tekek also has the largest concentration of dive centers, with most offering full board accommodation. Tourist attractions in the area include the Marine Park while restaurants and hawker stalls are widely available.
The local restaurants in Tekek were somewhat limited but we found one restaurant close to our accommodation where we got a variety of good fresh seafood.
TAT Turtle Sanctuary
TAT (Tengku Arif Temenggung) Turtle Sanctuary is a turtle hatchery and conservation center at Tekek Village, located along the gravel trail to Paya Village after Berjaya Tioman Resort. Hidden on a beautiful secluded beachfront at Teluk Sri Intan Bay, the sanctuary comes under royal patronage of Pahang together with Department of Fisheries Malaysia.
Currently, volunteers from Juara Turtle Project collect the eggs laid during nesting season between March and October, transporting them to their incubation site at Juara, then releasing them back here once hatched.
Coral Island Snorkelling Excursion
We took a short half-day excursion to snorkel at the nearby Coral Island where we had the chance to snorkel at a few locations seeing some beautiful sea turtles, fish, squid and corals. After the visit to Coral Island we sailed back to the mainland to visit the small village of Salang Indah where we got some lunch.
Salang Indah
Salang Indah is a small village resort on the west coast of Tioman Island offering a variety of accommodation as well as restaurants, beach sports, snorkelling trips and diving excursions.
Passionate Photographer …. Lost in Asia
Stuart Taylor of HighlanderImages Photography has been making images for over 40 years focusing on Asia with a documentary/photojournalistic style.
Stuart is available for a variety of assignments in subject areas of photojournalism, commercial, architectural, real estate, industrial, interior design, corporate, urbex, adventure, wilderness, and travel.
E-Mail : staylor@highlanderimages.com