There are two Perhentian islands. We stayed on the "small" island, though there isn't a huge difference between the two in size. Our original intention was to stay on Coral Bay, but we found there was no availability at anywhere that wasn't a filthy hole. The weekend was approaching (it was a Thursday) so lots of places could offer us just one night's accommodation, which wouldn't do for us. We headed over to Long Beach (not that one) and found a place that was basic but not too rough, and had availability. It was true what the proprietors were saying about the Perhentians getting fully booked at weekends, though - on Sunday morning we saw a few people had been sleeping on the beach.
The Perhentians are well worth this high level of visitation, too. White sand, turquoise water, a perfect sea to swim in - the only down sides are the relatively crappy and expensive accommodation and the poor food options, but neither of these are really seriously bad. It's really a marvellous place - I even managed to find a couple of books that aren't pulp thrillers or romances to read.
The main draw (apart from the idyllic beaches themselves) is the opportunity to do some wonderful snorkelling, an opportunity we took. We did a half day tour (a full day is a bit knackering), and visited three aptly-named locations: Fish Point, Shark Point, and Turtle Point. Fish point was full of, um, fish. Tropical ones, to be precise - huge schools of them swam all around us. The highlight was a cuttlefish that Katie spotted and we then followed for a bit.
Shark point was deeper. We diligently followed our guide around the area, and kept our eyes trained ahead to spot the elusive eponymous fish. Sure enough, occasionally ahead in the gloom you could spot a black-tip reef shark patrolling the coral. By not swimming in the middle of the group I managed to see one on 4 or 5 occasions. By swimming off by myself to have a pee I saw one on 3 occasions, and close enough that I saw the black tip on the dorsal fin. It was pretty cool.
Turtle point was our last stop. The guide drove the boat around for a bit looking for the reptile in question before someone spotted one. Then our boat, and the two other boats in the area, emptied out and everyone leaped into the water to take a peek at the turtle. It was beautiful - slow and graceful. The only shame was how much it was mobbed by tourists. This was bad enough when they all started diving down to have their photos taken with it while it was feeding on the bottom (in the process of diving down they also kicked Katie and I on several occasions, which I am sorry to say provoked some bad language from me (which probably fortunately wasn't heard by the offending individual due to being an underwater swear)). When it went to surface to get some air, however, the turtle was absolutely mobbed.
Actually sustainability is an issue here in the Perhentians as much as all the other idyllic desert islands we've been to recently. Refreshingly, though, in terms of having waaaay more guesthouses, travel agents, restaurants and tour operators than feasible, the Perhentians aren't down with Ko Phi Phi and other Thai islands - the island we visited only had stuff along the beaches, and even there it was really only the two main beaches. The jungle in the middle of the island is untouched. So that's good.
Right, that's enough tangential musical entertainment. And enough about our lovely beach paradise. Ta ta for now. Coming soon: The Cameron Highlands by Katie, plus exciting travel schedule changes, with diversions to parts previously unplanned... watch this space.
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