Tioman or Perhentians?

[davidlkh]

If you are really into diving and want a good sampling of sites, why not try a LOB that goes through east coast peninsular Malaysia. Go check with Penetration Divers in Tanglin Singapore and see what the schedules are. You can just call them up.

If you can afford the extra time and flight, I would recommend Mabul, Kapalai, Sipadan, Mataking... off Sabah. Once in Sabah, there are other things to do besides diving.

 

[lanun]

Also, any recommended dive shops?

if you do go to Tioman, for me i'd say B&J Diving. clean work area, decent and knowledgeable DM's, and a fellow Canadian on staff too if that's important. and as Zippsy said, Tioman not that commercial - my last trip was march. saw pics from last week - water conditions looked fabulous (and i am stuck babysitting this coming 3 day weekend :-( ).

activities - aside from diving there's snorkeling (Salang House Reef visited by a small school of meter long bumphead parrotfish ~ 50 meters from shore) and hiking, and eating of course - baked fish ... yummm ! oh, and gargantuan monitor lizard watching

if you stay at salang beach - there's a fishing trawler wreck accessible from shore - decent night dive site. plenty of variety too. some resources ... tioman.com.my, perhentian.com.my, islands.com.my, journeymalaysia.com .

another option - very rustic, is Pulau Aur - i think it's maybe 3 hours from Singapore to the jumpoff point ... search this board for a review (Sepukang Bay). let me repeat ... very rustic (at least where i stayed).

have fun

 

[kywash]

Ohhh, I loved diving East Coast Malaysia - Redang, Perhentians and Lang Tengah haven't done Tioman and everyone I know who has prefers the other islands, but then I guess that all depends on the time of year the areas are dived and personal preference.

Found the diving in Perhentians to be the best, used Watercolours and thought they were excellent. I wouldn't really say that Perhentian Besar is a 'party island', Kecil maybe more so but I didn't visit there.

If you like a drink and DC - make sure you take it with you, very limited choice available.

 

[YCW]

Hi all,

I am wondering whether it would be better to go to Tioman or Perhentians for a week of diving at the beginning of May? I've heard the Perhentians are a bit more of a "party island" and Tioman is quieter?

Thoughts and advice?

Also, any recommended dive shops?

Thanks!

Overall Perhentian Besar (Big) and Kecil (small) are really quiet in general. Whoever gives you the impression the islands are "party island" might have only been to one of the beaches, Long Beach, in the small island. The "party island" basically only applies to that beach. If you like queitness, you can avoid that beach all together, as there are a few other nice beaches that are really quiet.

As for dive operators, I have used Watercolours, ProDiver's World, Flora Bay and most recently, Bubbles , all of them located at the big island and capable.

I have only made one dive trip to Tioman before and dived with Berjaya Tioman Resort.

Personally, Perhentian is my favorite among the east coast islands, but I think you wouldn't go wrong with either destination.

Enjoy you dives .

 

[hallboy]

Overall Perhentian Besar (Big) and Kecil (small) are really quiet in general. Whoever gives you the impression the islands are "party island" might have only been to one of the beaches, Long Beach, in the small island. The "party island" basically only applies to that beach. If you like queitness, you can avoid that beach all together, as there are a few other nice beaches that are really quiet.

As for dive operators, I have used Watercolours, ProDiver's World, Flora Bay and most recently, Bubbles , all of them located at the big island and capable.

I have only made one dive trip to Tioman before and dived with Berjaya Tioman Resort.

Personally, Perhentian is my favorite among the east coast islands, but I think you wouldn't go wrong with either destination.

Enjoy you dives .

If its for diving and rest i would go to bunaken ( Manado ) : 3 hours flight by silk air and i would dive with Celebes divers: 2 extremely nice resorts one on mainland lovable garden + pool one on siladen ( mini dream island ) Great italo indnesian food ; and so much better diving than tioman.

 

[underwater daphne]

since i live in tioman, i definitely recommend it. it is commercial in the sense that it is duty free and it's easy to reach (many boats and planes). you will still find many quiet spots to relax, local restaurants, etc.
i recommend tioman-dive-centre.com for diving. good boats, good instructors and good atmospere.

 

[JaX NeMo]

Tioman and Perhentian have different things to offer. As they always say, each place is different, every dive is unique.

Anyway, all my dives (7 of em) are done in Pulau Perhentian. And everytime I go there, I stay in Bubbles Resort. The resort is a very nice place, they got a new cook recently who dished out fabulous dishes! Plus, they got a house reef featuring lots of fishes... some of them I always saw are Titan triggerfish, clownfish, black tip shark (big ones and small ones), bumphead parrot fish (went snorkeling and a dozen swam pass me, scared the hell out of me noob), turtle (yeah, they lay eggs on the beach too!), and once I went shore diving, a lone barracuda. The people there are very friendly and experience too!

As mentioned by YCQ, Perhentian is a quiet place, party place is at Long Beach.

Check out some photos of the place.
http://jaxnemo.multiply.com/photos/album/20
http://jaxnemo.multiply.com/photos/album/15