Waking up at 5am in the morning ready to drive to Tanjung Gemok jetty. My first on driving long journey, it took me 5 hours to reach. We eat in the car and chat and joke a little, wasn't too far I supposed. We drive from dark to dawn slightly bright experiencing tiny raindrops and heavy rain which almost blurred the whole front view, I drive accordance with the front lorry tail light. Coming back is worst, pouring rain for almost the whole journey, plus my passenger's napping beside me.
Reaching around 10.30am, have some time hanging around at the jetty, nothing to do actually (you can come later because it's actually very boring but do be punctual). Waiting for another colleague car to arrive. Parking the car at someone's house they offer near the jetty for RM10 a day which I think is worthy of my car safety.
Our ferry departed very punctually, time as stated on the ticket. Cataferry is the one we took. You can book online, it's a lot like booking flight. It requires name and IC they checked while you boarding and you can choose your own seat they have standard and premium. Also you can climb to the top to enjoy the wind. I get a bit dizzy while I'm on top but still I managed to get a few beautiful shots.
This ferry is good. The seats are wide. You can have enough space to move around. With good air conditional and tv to watch. You can book early for a cheaper price. But make sure it's better for you to buy a two-way ticket. Most of the company don't sell one-way ticket, you probably will face the same problem like us where no company wants to offer a return ticket only. Luckily we managed to buy it at the counter. We came back with a different ferry as the timing offer is not valid for us.
After departing, Berjaya's resort does offer a free ride from the jetty to the lobby for check-in. All in all, the resort is somehow deserted from the city so you need to rent a car or bike to drive out. By walking, it probably takes you 20 mins or more, it depends on how active do you sport as you need to cross a small hill where most of my colleagues can't :P So we basically spent our first day in the resort room and swimming pool, having our lunch and dinner also at the nearest restaurant which is located just outside the resort. We tried both.
This is one of the restaurants I prefer over the 2 choices. This is Warong Syahirah located nearest to the gate on your right. Basically, it's more to Malay food. Ordered the Nasi Goreng Pattaya for lunch and the other night Kuey Teow Goreng Pattaya, it was good, not to mention the portion was actually quite big. I love the drinks too, namely lime rose iced. Price wise quite fair as the food quality wasn't bad.
The second restaurant is more to a Chinese seafood restaurant you probably order plain rice and a few dishes to complimentary with it. The food is good but portion wise not big, we ordered in medium. While for drinks, they have not many choices for you to select, mostly can or bottle drinks (alcohol drinks too). And also there's a lot of flying insects where it does attack your food or drinks. I found one insect in my drink :(
On the second day, we opt on renting a jeep RM250 to tour around the island. The road is steep and lots of turns, some are more than 30 degrees I supposed, but still, the driver can ride the jeep at full speed. Imagine our load, I mean my colleagues' weight :P It was very adventurous I can say with the leaves and stem that bend, you need to bend down your body at the same time when passing through.
This is also where I missed by snorkelling :( My colleagues do not favour water, even the driver offer RM90/pax for 5 snorkelling spots, so cheap! Next time, I will! You know, I never actually did snorkelling except the Indonesia unofficial one doesn't count because that's basically near the beach not in deep water, I did not wear a life jacket and was just purely swimming with some beautiful corals. Oh, not to forget swimming halfway water actually enter my mask or snorkel so I need to wear it back at the right position I actually step on a coral to do the adjustment. It was deep for people who don't know how to swim and some swim further but not me because hey when you don't have a life jacket with you, you are not safe. I probably still don't know how to use the snorkel.
Our first stop, Juara waterfall. A 5 minutes track down the main entrance. It's a tiny waterfall at the back, we do not spend much time here. Just a few photos and off we go. For people who don't want to dirty themselves on the beach with sand could probably spend a longer time here because the weather here is quite cooling and fresh as it's all surrounded by trees.
Our second stop, breakfast at the Juara beach. This is very western one where we ordered plain pancake with honey, tomato cheese omelette, tuna omelette and tuna sandwich to share among three of us with our regular coffee black and white and milo. Total bill cost us RM33, not too expensive I supposed. I love the omelette served. And also the staffs are friendly, considering service is good.
Our third stop is the beach! Finally some water at the Paya Beach Resort. The weather is just nice, not too hot for me to enjoy some breeze.
Verdict: I actually spent more time in the resort swimming pool :P Is not that the beach here is no good but no one love water here, I mean my colleague that follow along, weird. As you can see at the photo below, only the one captured their leg touching the water actually touched the water >.<
Fourth stop, the Marine Park. You can see fish here bare eye on top of the water. The only place I can see fish because I did not snorkel. (This whole post is about me rambling how much I did not when for snorkelling, oops). Anyway, the water here is really clear. It's not photo for illusion purpose. It is this way though I did edit the photos a little using the simplest Microsoft. You can buy bread for RM2 to feed the fish so all the fishes actually swim up to the surface. If you are lucky, you can spot colourful highlight fish. We spot one!
It was afternoon already, so we had our lunch here at Babura Seaview restaurant which I highly recommend. Price together with the portion is actually very reasonable. We ordered all in large portion because there's only two option, but it tasted really good. The chicken with almond and their tom yam mixed especially full of ingredients.
Lastly, of course, duty-free shop and some shopping for the souvenir. I bought a bottle of red wine back. They sell also the mini version of lots alcholic drinks including whisky, rum, vodka and etc. But I know nothing about them. My colleague did buy back for decoration purpose anyway, it's really pretty some.
Basically, it was near evening already after the whole jeep journey. We went back for some rest. I and my roommate decided to swim in the swimming pool for a while before dinner, we had not enough fun with the water yet since we are on the island already. Having simple dinner near the Warong again for more rest. Check out as early as 7.30am the other day morning to catch our ferry at 9am. Had instant cup noodles as stalls are not opened yet to serve us. So this is how I spent 3 days 2 nights in Tioman Island (actually 2 days 2 nights).
Basically, it was near evening already after the whole jeep journey. We went back for some rest. I and my roommate decided to swim in the swimming pool for a while before dinner, we had not enough fun with the water yet since we are on the island already. Having simple dinner near the Warong again for more rest. Check out as early as 7.30am the other day morning to catch our ferry at 9am. Had instant cup noodles as stalls are not opened yet to serve us. So this is how I spent 3 days 2 nights in Tioman Island (actually 2 days 2 nights).
