Perhentian Basar or Perhentian Kecil?
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Good questions, my wife and I are also planning to visit the Perhentian islands in July. After reading through some reviews we are thinking of staying on the Besar island at the Coral View Resort and dive with the Watercolours folks. But unfortunately they haven't gotten back to us so maybe I should just call them. Given the time of the year they might be closed atm.
But maybe any locals can correct me/enlighten us?
But maybe any locals can correct me/enlighten us?
Hey there,
it wont really matter where your stay since shops form kecil (small) as well as besa (a little less small
go to all dive sites. The distances are very short (which i really enjoyed) and most operate with small boats and go back to the shop in between dives.
Where to stay depends of course on your budget and if you want to have some nighlife or not. On the small island there are some resorts in secluded bays, Long beach has some nightlife and coral bay is quiet after 8 pm.
On coral bay are 2 middle to high end resorts. One calles sharila the other ones name i forgot.
For diving, especially if you are advanced and/ or bring your own gear you might want to consider a small operator. I dove with angel divers (coral bay, kecil) a very relaxed and extremely friendly shop with unbeatable prices ( was around 50 ringit for dive if i remember it right). the nice thing was you could really say where you wanna go and they organized it.
Maybe other/ bigger shops are that flexible as well, but i doubt it. Only 'downside' is that the shop is really basic, There is not really anything to sit on inside but than again, all we really did there was pack the gear, have a very good briefing and hop on a boat.
Regarding watercolors, i did not dove with them but heard very good things about them, they should be open by now since season is slowly starting over there.
Hope i could help out and maybe see you on the islands
it wont really matter where your stay since shops form kecil (small) as well as besa (a little less small
go to all dive sites. The distances are very short (which i really enjoyed) and most operate with small boats and go back to the shop in between dives. Where to stay depends of course on your budget and if you want to have some nighlife or not. On the small island there are some resorts in secluded bays, Long beach has some nightlife and coral bay is quiet after 8 pm.
On coral bay are 2 middle to high end resorts. One calles sharila the other ones name i forgot.
For diving, especially if you are advanced and/ or bring your own gear you might want to consider a small operator. I dove with angel divers (coral bay, kecil) a very relaxed and extremely friendly shop with unbeatable prices ( was around 50 ringit for dive if i remember it right). the nice thing was you could really say where you wanna go and they organized it.
Maybe other/ bigger shops are that flexible as well, but i doubt it. Only 'downside' is that the shop is really basic, There is not really anything to sit on inside but than again, all we really did there was pack the gear, have a very good briefing and hop on a boat.
Regarding watercolors, i did not dove with them but heard very good things about them, they should be open by now since season is slowly starting over there.
Hope i could help out and maybe see you on the islands
MALAYSIANNARCO
Registered
Hello, i was in Perhentian in 2010. Dived with Alu Alu Divers and stayed with them. They have this lodge named 'Bayu Dive Lodge'. Nothing extravaganza, but i'm comfortable with it. Perhentian is blessed with good dive sites and among other is the Temple of the Sea or locally known as Tokong Laut. There are many other places to stay and most are budget stay that i think will not burn our budget. 
What a coincidence - I've also dived with Alu Alu Divers in Perhentian Besar, but that was about five years ago when I got my open water certification from them.
There is practically no difference in dive sites, since both islands are in close proximity: everything's within a boat ride. However, for life above sea level, you need to decide whether you want a white, powdery beach that stretches for what can seem like miles that also has plenty of food and drink options (Perhentian Kecil) or a grungier, rockier beach that doesn't have much in the way of alcohol but is wonderfully quiet (Perhentian Besar).
Of course, my experiences are five years old at the very least, so you know what they say about your mileage.
There is practically no difference in dive sites, since both islands are in close proximity: everything's within a boat ride. However, for life above sea level, you need to decide whether you want a white, powdery beach that stretches for what can seem like miles that also has plenty of food and drink options (Perhentian Kecil) or a grungier, rockier beach that doesn't have much in the way of alcohol but is wonderfully quiet (Perhentian Besar).
Of course, my experiences are five years old at the very least, so you know what they say about your mileage.
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