Perhentian
Getting to the Port: It was a 3.5 hour ride from Kuantan to the tiny backwater town of Besut at the border of Terrenganu and Kelantan. So it would take around 7 hours to get there if one were coming from KL I guess. *shudders* The Eastcoast Highway (LPT) ends at Kuala Terrenganu, so after that it's all single lane country roads (i.e. you're screwed if there's a heavy vehicle in front of you). The good thing about Malaysian country roads is that there are lots of mini stalls by the roadside selling kuih, fruits, drinks etc. On the way back from Besut we stopped to get some akok and the seller was kind enough to give us a few free samples.
The Port Town - Besut: Small seaside town, a lot of the Perhentian hotels and travel agencies set up their offices in shophouses here. The port is quite small with minimal seating available. Along the way to the docking area there are lots of souvenir shops. What I didn't like was how there was a huge sign asking tourists to be mindful of their dressing and "cover up". I know Terrenganu is conservative, but they should really cut tourists some slack. You ain't being inviting at all trying to control what people wear, and also don't impose your belief of covering up on others.
The Island - Perhentian Besar: Beautiful clear turqoise waters and in the case of Perhentian Island Resort, a nice long strench of sandy beach. We walked to nearby resorts and their beaches were disappointing in comparison. They were either really narrow or could barely be called beaches, more like gravelly outcroppings. I heard that PIR is one of the oldest resorts, which is probably why they had dibs on the best strech of beach.
We went snorkelling on the morning of the second day to nearby areas, and it broke my heart to see that there was a noticeable amount of trash in the waters. I picked up at least 5 floating plastic bottle and threw them back into the boat during the few hours of snorkelling time. The boat captain didn't even bat an eyelid, he probably doesn't care or has already given up. I really hope there will be more enforcement and action taken soon or Perhentian's going to end up like Langkawi. Towards the end of the snorkelling session when we were reaching PIR's dock, the boat captain told us to spot the sea turtle and WE ACTUALLY SAW IT! It was my first time seeing a sea turtle in real life so this was really a highlight for me.
We decided not to go to the neighbouring Perhentian Kecil island because the water taxi was kinda pricey (IIRC it was about RM30 one way). To be honest, we just spent most of our time lounging around the beach on the hotel's deck chairs, listening to the sound of the waves, falling asleep from time to time and even chatting with a friendly hotel staff who was chilling on the chair next to us. He told us he drove boats but was taking the day off because he had a stomach upset. Rats, I can't remember his name anymore. It was interesting listening to him talk about being an islander and the visitors from all over the world who came here.
The Hotel: The room we got was old, crummy and poorly maintained. It wasn't horrible, but I didn't have much expectations in the first place since I was just there for the sand and sea. If they gave the entire place a facelift it would instantly become one of the best resorts on Perhentian considering it already has a beach that is hard to beat. Then again I've yet to try Alunan or Mimpi Perhentian heh. Clealiness wise it's kinda hard to say, beach resorts don't give me a sense of clealiness because there's always so much sand around (cue Anakin moment). The food is buffet style with taste and variety on the dismal side, mostly Malay food but they also had pasta, just in case the foreigners don't dig Malay food I suppose. I booked the package that included all meals cause I was afraid that searching for food on the island might prove difficult, but on the last day when we walked around the area it turns out there were a few other eateries around belonging to the other hotels/motels. Also, I'm not sure if this is just a PIR things, but most of the hotel guests were foreign, mainly European. Honestly, the beach is the best thing about this place.
The Cost: The package cost us RM 700 each, the price inclusive of hotel room and meals for 2 nights, 2 snorkelling sessions and return speedboat trip. I spent quite a number of hours researching and found out that most of the 3-star resorts in Perhentian charged around this price point. In the end I just picked the resort which visually looked the most decent and had availability on my dates.
Tioman
Getting to the Port: Duration wise similar to Kuantan-Besut, about 3.5 hours along the coastal road. There is actually a jetty that is nearer called Tanjong Gemuk, but we didn't managed to get ferry tickets there cause we dallied. Road conditions were not as bad as feared, but since it also single laned, we got stuck behind slower vehicles a couple of times. Overtaking was extremely difficult because we were travelling in the night after work and there were barely any streetlights along the way. After passing through Pekan, there weren't many places to eat either, so we stopped by the first roadside stall that looked halfway decent, whic happened to be in a place called Nenasi (I do actually think they have pineapples there). The wait staff were nice enough but unfortunately the wait time was not and the tomyum I ordered was bland.
The Port Town - Mersing: We arrived in Mersing about 10:30 pm and our ferry was the next morning so we stayed in a little motel for the night. Not like Mersing is that well developed, but it was definitely an improvement from Besut. Mersing even has a Zus! There's also a fairly modern looking building next to the port where hotels, diving companies and ferry services set up stores. The jetty is considerably bigger with more seats and a digital screen showing ferry boarding times. I guess Mersing gets more traffic than Besut. No big dumbass sign asking people to cover up here, thank goodness. Johor's not really liberal either but they aren't as bad as Terrenganu and Kelantan.
Getting to/fro the Island: I never knew Tioman was so far out to sea (2 hours from Mersing) until this trip. I was kinda worried because the ferry company, Bluewater Ferry, that Farah booked had quite a number of bad reviews on Google, mostly about the ferry being old and seemingly un-seaworthy. It was definitely an old ferry and not well maintained, but our experience was generally pretty alright though, nothing much to complain about except for this noisy big family sitting in the same area. Honestly, after Perhentian I was just extremely thankful we didn't have to take a speedboat to get to Tioman. Then again, a 2 hour journey on speedboat sounds ridiculously dangerous not to mention uncomfortable.
The Island - Tioman (Salang Beach specifically): Beautiful clear turqoise waters as well, but after PIR, Salang Beach left me wanting a little more, it just didn't feel as sprawling and open as PIR's stretch. What I did like was how there was a RAMLY BURGER STALL OMG (there were some other small stores too but they were uninteresting), I immediately decided after laying eyes upon it that I was going to have an Island Ramly Burger no matter what.
Aunt Flo decided to pay me a visit the very moment I got off the ferry so I didn't go snorkelling at all this time. I wasn't too disappointed, to be honest, since I had just come back from snorkelling at Perhentian not all that long ago. I did however have a lot of alone time to kill when the other girls went snorkelling and most of it was just spent reading at our overwater villa's balcony. I also read somewhere that the nearby resort Ella's Place knew where to find baby sea turtles so I took a walk over. When I greeted the Malay family there, one the kakaks went "Sure, I can show you while I feed them" and took me a little way out to sea in a little sampan where they had tied a little covered floating box to a buoy. Inside were some of the cutest things I have ever seen in my life, tiny little baby tutles swimming around with their tiny fippers. I picked one up and coo-ed over it while it flippered around on my palm. My motherly instints were on fire and every fibre of my being wanted to protect this tiny vulnerable life. The entire experience was incredibly magical. I am sort of disappointed I didn't manage to take a picture since I left my phone on land when I went out in the sampan, but then again maybe some moments don't have to be captured digitally. I am pretty sure this will end up being a core memory for me even if the details fade over time. I am incredibly thankful to the family at Ella's Place for the experience, I wasn't even a paying guest but they were kind enough to take the effort to show me the baby turtles. The kakak said they keep the baby turtles until they're about a month old to give them a better fighting chance in the wild, but at a risk to themselves since it's punishable by law to keep protected wildlife like that. May the Gods bless these kind souls.
The Hotel - Salang Indah: I had no part in deciding where to stay since Farah did all the arrangements for us. Salang Indah is one of those resorts consisting of a jumble of different styles of seaside chalets, definitely far from tasteful. To be honest I would probably not have chosen this place to stay in if I had been the one in charge, but that being said I had a pleasant time and the proprietess and her husband were pretty friendly (Farah said she is the daughter of a local Malay celebrity). I would argue that the room was comparable to PIR's, since it made up what it lacked in tastefulness by being newer and in much better condition. Actually now that I think of it I have to give the room here the upper hand since the balcony was on water, that's a clear enough win there. Funnily enough, in contrast to PIR, this resort's occupants were mostly Malay families, I only saw a few groups that were non-Malay. Again, all our meals were covered since we took the package, but in addition to the aforementioned Ramly Burger store there were quite a number of other dining options too, slightly more than when I visited Perhentian.
The Cost: We paid about RM500 each in total for hotel, meals, snorkelling (which I burned) and return ferry, but our room was a quad sharing. I guess even if we had gone for a double room the price would still have been cheaper than Perhentian, since PIR felt a bit more exclusive. I have zero idea how the other resorts on Tioman compare, since I didn't do much research and left it all to Farah.
Conclusion? Both islands were beautiful (a bit of pollution here and there sadly but I hope there's more awareness nowadays) and I wouldn't say one was better than the other. I mean, I got to see sea turtles at both, even that alone would have made those trips worthwhile. Bring on the next island vacay!
