Its been quite a long time since i went for a beach vacay, and for the first time I headed over to Perhentian Island located at the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia! Reason for this trip? Its the annual high school classmates trip where we go cray cray together!
Ok for RM633 all in, its actually not that cheap as I didn't really plan this as a budget vacay and since it was a big group of us, I just followed this time :)
Here's the breakdown on how much i spent for this trip
Flight: RM150
Van to jetty (return) : RM50
Boat to island (return): RM70
Resort: RM160
Snorkeling: RM40
Food & Drinks: RM163
Transport
Starting up with the trip, we boarded an early flight to Kota Bharu at 8am. separating into 2 groups as I was flying Mas with Tim while the rest flew with Airasia. Honestly the price diff was only RM15, so I decided Mas since i could hitch a ride with Tim (he has staff parking LOL)
Tim & I at KLIA
upon arriving at Kota Bharu, its a 1 hour van ride to the jetty (RM25 per way), and about a 30 min speedboat ride (RM35 per way) to the island. We got our transport packages from Seven Seas Holidays where you can locate them easily at the airport itself
Do bring your motion sickness pills, as honestly the Van ride was super fast and curvy
At the jetty
Price:
Flight: RM150
Van & Boat: RM120
Accommodation:
We stayed at Senja Bay, which is located at Coral Bay, Perhentian Small Island. One of the reasons why we chose this place is because it is located at the quieter side of the island and if you snorkel out you can see more marine life compared to Long Beach. But of course if you wanna head to Long Beach, its only a 15 minute walk away, so it ain't that far
Coral Bay
Senja Bay
*Pic credit to Tripadvisor
The room we got was a family room which fits 6 + an extra bed. It comes with 2 bathrooms and has quite a large living area, so all in all it was pretty worth it for a big group
if you're adventurous enough, you can pitch a tent for RM20 per night at a nearby area alongside Coral Bay
Price:
RM160 per pax (3D/2N)
Food:
There are plenty of restaurants around the island, so you wouldn't need to go for a full board package actually. Our hotel does provide free breakfast (which is so so as they use a lot of margarine), but still alright if you live the simple life
One of the local beach cafe's
Tip: Bring as much snacks as possible, as the food can get a little pricey at about RM10-15 per rice dish onwards
In terms of food breakdown, my diet consisted a lot on the different types of Fried Rice LOL
1st Day
Lunch:
Amelia's Cafe
Pattaya Fried Rice + Teh Ais (RM18)
Dinner:
Fatimah's Cafe
BBQ Tuna, Pizza + Teh Ais (RM35)
Supper:
Maggi Cup + Oreos & Whiskey (Brought from home)
2nd Day
Breakfast:
Hotel buffet (included)
Lunch:
Seafood Fried Rice + Teh Ais (RM20)
Dinner:
Ewan Cafe
Carbonara + Coconut Shake (RM30)
Drinks:
Beach Bar
3 Tiger Beer (RM27)
1 Shisha (RM8)
Supper:
Maggi cup + snacks
3rd Day
Breakfast
(Hotel Buffet)
Lunch:
Ombak Cafe
Kampung Fried Rice + Root Beer (RM25)
Total Food Expenditure: RM163
What to do at the island? Its an island! all you need to do is sit back, relax, enjoy the beach and sea. My own personal opinion is to swim is at Coral Bay, as there's more fishes over there and there's less crowd compared to Long Beach
King of the rock
One of the nice chillax platforms at Coral Bay
Just keep swimming
Long Beach
Manliness overload
It was pretty amazing, as we got to swim close up to turtles and sharks, which was soooo magical!!!
Cues Music: *Under the sea...Under the seaaa*
6 locations:
- Turtle Bay
- Shark Bay
- Perhentian Besar (Lunch Time)
- Lighthouse
- Coral Reef Spot
- Romantic Beach
Swimming upclose with turtles
Getting bromantic at the romantic beach
Wei wen doing her thang
And of course to end the night, Long beach is the place to go as it is truly happening there! Nimesh, Chris & I headed over to Beach Bar, where we watched Ewern and her troupe perform Fire Dancing! Beers are relatively cheap at RM9 per can and a Shisha will cost RM24
Chris & Nim
Fire Dancing
If you're here for the dancing, come around 11pm as the dancing starts around that time when the DJ opens up the floor! You'll be able to meet loads of new faces and have a bit of fun there :)
Price: RM35
I hope this post brought you some insights of how to travel to Perhentian Island and to end this post, Grab your mates for a heck good time! Live as if there is no tomorrow!
If you're wondering how i take those 360 photos, you can do so with a Ricoh Theta S camera:)
Check out my other budget travel posts here:
Seoul - www.seraphsam.com/2016/07/7d-budget-seoul-trip-with-rm2k.html
Melbourne - www.seraphsam.com/2015/11/melbourne-on-budget.html
Sydney - www.seraphsam.com/2016/02/sydney-on-budget.html
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