Pulau Perhentian 2D1N (Bad) Agent Experience

Assalamualaikum wbt.

Aku nak sharing pengalaman aku ikut trip 2 hari 1 malam di Pulau Perhentian bulan Mac tahun lepas. ACTUALLY AKU DUK TENGOK DRAFT LIST & TAK PERASAN ENTRI NI BELUM POST. TAHUN LEPAS DAH KOT.  LOL. TAKPELAH POST JELAH WALAUPUN DAH DELAY SETAHUN hihi.

Okey, kali ni aku bawa kawan aku dengan adik dia dari Sarawak. 

Perhentian cantik macam biasa. Air cantik, bersih, cuaca pun bagus. Cuma yang tak bagusnya... travel agent yang aku deal tu. Macam macam halnya... Bila ingat balik, terus sakit hati. 

Aku contact agent sebulan sebelum tarikh nak travel. Aku tanya, dapat tak bilik/ chalet harga below RM100? Since kitorang semua bajet backpackers je. Dia kata, boleh dik nanti akak confirm dengan chalet dulu...  Dan habis sampai dekat situ je. 

Esoknya (or 2-3 hari lepastu) sebab tak ada respon daripada dia... aku Whatsapp balik... Akak, ada tak bilik ni untuk tarikh sekian sekian. Boleh tak nak tahu chalet apa? Lama baru kakak tu balas. Dia cakap, ada dik. Nanti update ye. Update sampai ke sudah. 

Kali ketiga, minggu seterusnya, aku Whatsapp tanya lagi sekali. Aku tanya ada bilik tak, kalau ada chalet apa. Dan sekali lagi (lepas beberapa jam, walaupun mesej dah seen) baru dia reply cakap dia dekat pulau ke macam mana entah, nanti dia nak confirm balik dengan orang chalet.

Lepastu memang takde mesej apa dah. Aku pulak makin busy dengan kerja, aku pun dah lupa.

Beberapa hari sebelum nak cuti baru aku teringat. Aku memang tunggu je nak mengamuk dekat kakak tu sebab tak pandai jaga pelanggan. Kita pulak yang terhegeh hegeh. Kalau ada chalet, bagitahu ada, dengan nama chalet sekali so that aku boleh google picture and decide samada ok ke tak. Kalau tak ada, bagitahu je tak ada. Jangan nak berdalih. 

Masa aku tengah driving ke Airpot Kuching (balik bercuti ke Semananjung). Kakak tu call (eh ingat lagi rupanya dekat aku), dia cakap chalet ada. Masih lagi tak bagitahu nama chalet. Susah sangat nak bagitahu nama chalet. Tapi harga di bawah range yang aku nak. Tak ingat lah RM80 ke RM100. Takpelah, aku pun cool down sikit. Walaupun lama menunggu... tapi rupanya dia masih ingat aku. 

Esoknya... bila aku sampai rumah, aku call office dia tanya... kerani dia jawab dan dia cakap, Chalet X. Tapi harga RM130, dia kata tu harga diskaun dan chalet tu macam chalet yang bagus jugakla. Bila aku google pun nampak macam OK. So... aku tak kisah kena bayar extra from our budget since diorang nak bagi chalet yang OK. Excited aku nak pergi Pulau Perhentian. 

Dah sampai Kuala Besut... Parking kereta dekat private house. Sewa RM12 sehari kot, tak ingat. Tak jauh sangat daripada jeti tu.

Bila pergi dekat office agent tu... tup tup dia kata bilik tak cukup, ada satu je sedangkan masa call aku DAH CONFIRM nak dua bilik. Ya Allah geramnya. Ape benda ni??? Kawan aku pun tercengang-cengang. Dia gantikan dengan chalet lain, masa tu jugak dia call chalet tanya ada kosong tak. 

Lepastu cara dia cakap dengan owner chalet tu... macam chalet tu teruk gila. 

"Takpe kot...... budak budak Melayu semua ni..." 

TAKPE KOT APE???

Aku rasa macam kena tipu. Macam, dia tak booking apa-apa pun untuk kitorang sebelum ni. Bengang tahu tak?! Berapa kali mesej nak confirm tapi tak reply, berapa kali tukar harga, tukar chalet... OMG. Kalau tak ada, cakap tak ada. So kita boleh cari chalet lain, atau agent lain. Jangan main-main kan orang macamni. Masalahnya dia janjikan chalet bagus... kita dah excited last last... NOTHING! Geramnya lahai. Nak kata booking last minute... aku dah tanya sebulan sebelum kot. Setiapkali lepas mesej tanya, ok, akan update, busy bla bla. Lepastu senyap takde update langsung. 

So this is our chalet, meh aku bagitahu. Harga dia RM80/ night. (Kalau korang walk in terus dengan owner chalet, maybe boleh dapat RM50-RM60/night). Chalet ni OK je. Ada double bed, kipas angin, bilik air dekat dalam. Cadar semua bersih. Sesuai dengan harganya. Backpackers style. 

Mula-mula masuk dalam, ada katak lembik dalam bilik air. Nasib baik member aku ambik dan buangkan (dia tak geli sebab dia cikgu Biologi kot haha). 

Pagi esoknya... ada cicak gecko pulak dalam bilik air. CICAK GECKO OK. Cicak yang mata timbul tu. Aku syak dia masuk ikut lubang udara dekat atas dinding. Sepatutnya ditutup dengan kasa dawai barulah binatang tak boleh masuk. Aku saje mesej kakak tu bagitau, kak ada cicak gecko lah dalam bilik... Dia reply, Ohhh biasa la tu dik.  HAHAHAH sakit hati tak? 

Aku tak bengang dengan chalet... Sebab itu memang standard backpackers. Sesuai dengan harganya. Tapi aku bengang sebab dari awal kakak agent tu banyak berdalih, kemudian janjikan chalet bagus last -last bila sampai dia kata bilik tak cukup, and we ends up here. Macam, dia tipu supaya kitorang tak ada peluang untuk cari agent lain. 

Dulu... masa aku ambik day trip bawah kakak ni, dah nampak servis dia macam tak berapa nak bagus. Masa tu aku walk in je. Lama aku masuk tunggu dalam office dia... Tak ada nak tegur apa OR at least, cakap adik duduk dulu  ke apa. So aku keluar, dan ronda ronda survey tempat lain dulu dengan member aku. 

Kali kedua aku masuk, baru nak tegur. Masa tu sebab day-trip je. Jadi takde banyak cekadak sangat. Aku dah blog pasal snorkeling trip tu dekat SINI. Traffic untuk post tu dah sampai 10K. Memang tiap tiap hari ada je orang google pasal perhentian snorkeling day trip, which akan direct kepada entri tu. 

Dulu aku share no fon dia tau (kakak agent). Lepas servis terbaru ni yang tak berapa nak bagus... aku edit balik dan delete no fon dia daripada post tu. Promote free buat apa. Daripada orang lain pun dapat servis tak bagus kan. Aku harap korang tak kena dengan kakak ni lah. 

Tapi... Abang Rahmat yang bawa snorkeling tu memang terbaik. Korang jangan salah faham pulak, agent dan servis snorkeling lain-lain tau. Kali ni, untuk trip snorkeling aku masih lagi ikut dengan team Sunset Shop Snorkeling. Bukan dengan Abang Rahmat, dengan orang lain (lupa nama). Tapi dia pun bagus jugak. Siap ambikkan video lagi. 

Gambar daripada video ikan nemo yang abang bot tu ambikkan...

Pulau Perhentian sentiasa di hatiku. 

Dekat Romantic Beach. Air tak dalam, ombak tak kuat, dasar pasir je bukan terumbu/batu tajam (jadi tak bahaya) ikan biasa-biasa ada la. Nemo jarang-jarang. 

Dekat sini kalau nak selfie dalam air, paling senang. Hahahah. 

Lepasni kalau datang Pulau Perhentian lagi... (kalau datangla) aku akan booking direct kepada chalet, takmau pakai agent dah. Masa aku round round pulau ni... aku tengok Shari-La Chalet ni agak ok la. Terutama kalau datang dengan family. Sebab chalet dia, tersusun dan kawasan pun bagus.

Siap ada private beach lagi. Ni aku menyelinap kejap hehehe. Jalan jalan sebelum balik. 

Kalau ada kesempatan, pergilah Pulau Perhentian sebab setakat ni... Pulau Perhentian yang paling ekonomikal aku rasa, tapi... masih menjanjikan pemandangan yang cantik. Heee

Nak baca post Day-Trip Pulau Perhentian KLIK SINI

Nak baca post Pulau Perhentian Underwater Photos KLIK SINI

Bye!

Pulau Perhentian Underwater Photos (SJCAM4000)

Nah. Nak kongsi gambar.

Some underwater photos taken using SJCAM 4000 during my trip to Pulau Perhentian.

Aku rasa, kualiti video lagi cantik berbanding gambar (still image). 

Semua gambar original ok, tak edit. 

Gambar ikan nemo ni semua aku screen shot daripada video. Memang cantik videonya mak nemo dengan anak-anak dia bergerak keluar masuk dekat anemon tu. 

Yang atas ni pun semua screen shot daripada video jugak.

Yang ini pun gambar screenshot daripada video. Gambar lagi clear sebab air tak dalam sangat. Cecah cecah permukaan je, jadi lighting bagus. 

Pelik tak. Tiba tiba kosong kat tengah tengah tu tak ada terumbu. Kekuasaan Allah. Dari atas nampak cerah dan air setompok warna biru muda. 

Nampak tak ikan yu dekat bawah tu? Ada seekor. Yang ini gambar, bukan screenshot daripada video tau. 

Guide yang bawak bot. Untungla pandai berenang. 

Ni ikan dekat Romantic Beach. Air cetek, pasir cantik tapi ikan tak variasi. 

Okey bye! 

Pulau Perhentian Snorkeling Day Trip

I have been to a few places before, and appreciate my experience at each of them. But Perhentian Island is something special. It is the only place I wanted to go over and over again after every trip.


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Disclaimer:
To maintain the originality, I did nothing with the exposure or color composition of the pictures. Everything published is as what I captured from my camera. I just cropped and changed the size, so it is easier and faster to be uploaded into blogger.

Not long ago, my campus best friend Nadia and I planned a snorkeling trip to Pulau Perhentian. Nadia is someone who loves the sea as much as I do... so I recommend her to visit Pulau Perhentian since my experience here was good and the island is undeniably beautiful. 

Day passed, finally Nadia arrived Tanah Merah my hometown, all way from KL. She stayed in my house and the next morning we drove to Kuala Besut Jetty for about 45 minutes. For safety I park the car in a gated parking for RM10/day fee. 

From Kuala Besut Jetty we took Snorkeling Day Trip for RM110/person. Its ok to go and find snorkeling package from the island later, but we were afraid that snorkeling trips might be full since its school holidays. Plus, we have just one day in the island that nobody would risk to loose anything. So we took the package which included return boat from jetty to island and full day snorkeling trip. 

The speedboat depart at 9 am. Before going we have to pay for the Marine Park Conservation Fee for RM5 each person.

The boat ride was crazy. The ocean is so wide - like a moving carpet. I lost my thought enjoying the endless ocean... when suddenly the motor hit something and the boat stop. All of us stranded  for like 5 minutes until another boat came and we were moved, right at the middle of the ocean. 

The journey continued and we arrived at Coral Bay Jetty, Pulau Perhentian Kecil around 9.50 am. Just tell the boat man the name of your chalet and he will stop at the nearest jetty. We stopped here since we need to find Encik Rahmat and Encik Kasman, our snorkeling guide. 

Here's Coral Bay. The last time I came in 2012 on a family trip and we stayed here. Not much has changed though. The water is crystal clear as ever. Yay!

En Rahmat (or later on we called Abe Mat), is somewhere at Sunset Shop. He gave us each a goggle mask, safety jacket and fin.

The first time we met Abe Mat, he's a bit like a discipline teacher. Strict and steady. (He's at the back of the picture wearing blue and army-print bandana). But the thing is, he's very cool. Abe Mat and En Kasman guide us throughout the trip very well. The kid in the picture is his son, who wanted to go along and climbed into the boat by himself. 

Leaving Coral Bay. 

This time Nadia and I were the only guest on Abe Mat's boat, minus himself, his kid and another snorkeling guide who's having an underwater cam on his hand. We went to Fisherman Village to fetch a big family going on the same snorkeling trip with us. Well, basically its me and Nadia who joined them. 

Later at Fisherman Village jetty, our guides did some arrangements. We were told to move into En. Kasman boat, but both boats went to the snorkeling checkpoint together. 

Perhentian Island is home to plenty of snorkeling and diving spots. In fact I think we can snorkel even anywhere in Perhentian. Clear water. Lots of fish. 

But if we take Full Day Snorkeling Trip, usually we'll be taken to 5 different checkpoint which is Coral Point, Turtle Point, Shark Point, Lighthouse and Romantic Beach. 

1) Coral Point

Coral Point, if I am not mistaken is in Perhentian Besar. Before taken to the deep ocean, we we brought to a small beach so the kids could practice with the snorkeling equipment and feel confident when they float in the water. Abe Mat and En. Kasman guided us on safety and how to use the equipment. I tried to apply the fin here, but I don't feel comfortable having my feet inside it when I snorkel, I think it's because I don't know how to swim. So I just took the fin off. 

After 30 minutes or so. We were taken to Coral Point where beautiful coral of all shape lies. Coral Point is 5 to 6 meters deep, there were plenty of coral at the bottom of the sea, the round ones- big and small, the flower shaped, flat-shaped, yellow-striped fish, black fish and the swordfish (ikan todak). The most beautiful fish spotted was the rainbow-colored fish. It's body is yellow-greenish while the fin is purple and blue colored. 

2) Tutle Point

Around 11.50 am we were taken to Turtle Point, somewhere near Teluk Pauh at Perhentian Besar. At first we saw people snorkel in a straight row, which we found quite funny I mean, what on earth they're doing? Then we realised that they were actually catching sight of a turtle. Luckily, the turtle swims towards our bot, closer to the surface. 

......AND THAT WAS THE BIGGEST LIVE TURTLE I HAD EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE. Its body is shimmering yellow, might be the reflection of the sunshine and the clear blue ocean. The moment it appeared, everyone on the boat clapped their hands in joy. Hahahaahah.

The turtle must be like, i was struggling to have some air and you think this is some kind of circus show huh?

Then we got out of the boat to snorkel here. There's no coral here at all. There's just fishes. Not long after, En Kasman called us and made a sign to follow him. He said there's another turtle. Yes, there was. I could see him at the bottom of the sea, not moving. But this one is black turtle. Must be different kind of species.

Next, we were taken to the Fisherman Village's  Jetty. It was Friday so every Muslim men will have to perform Friday's prayer.

Personally I think that this kind of hijab (syria of lycra material) is the best hijab to wear when you snorkel. It sticks well to our head and we dont have to adjust anything when we put on the goggle mask. Its very light, too.

We have our light lunch at a cafe near the jetty. It served drinks and simple foods like fried banana and keropok lekor. I ordered RM3 keropok lekor and we got a full plate of it. 

A wefie would not kill, right? My friend Nadia is an iron lady, she would go here and there doing stuffs, so when she finally came so we could spend time together, its a pure bless. The last time I met her was... during our convocation in 2012. 

Beautiful calming scenery by Fisherman Village beach. 

Beautiful.

I did not edit this photo at all. Where on earth could we find a beautiful mosque by the beautiful blue sea like this? Imagine a small island without even road connection, would have a mosque as big and grand like this. 

We walked further to the primary school. I am OK if  were given chance to work here. I mean, village life is always the best. I could read books by the beach every evening, went snorkeling every weekend till I get tanned and maybe I could learn how to dive. What a heaven!

This is where the villagers lives. 

Going home after the Friday prayer's.

The weather is very hot. Thus, make good pictures. Look at the color. 

Majority of villagers here is Muslim, in fact Islam is the official religion in Malaysia. Thus please be respectful to the locals. Cover your skin and be modest. 

I believe that anyone regardless their age, have the inner-youth-side in them hehe

All of us gathered back at the jetty around 2.30 pm, so we could continue the snorkeling trip.

3) Shark Point

The third checkpoint is the shark point, sounds scary? No? I don't know exactly the place is. But it is somewhere with the large rocks that looks as if they were floating on the water. I don't believe that we could see even a shark,  I thought it was just a myth. Maybe... it's because I never seen a live shark in my life. haha. 

Right after we get inside the water, we could see that the corals was nothing fancy, its just the branch-shape type, scattered at the floor of the ocean. Which at first, I found it very boring and creepy. I mean if anyone sink and fall into the coral, it must be really hurt. 

En Kasman, who's guiding a young boy with him (to see the shark) guide us to go deeper into the bay surrounded by rocks. The view here is different. There is no more branch-shaped corals, but hemisphere, round, and flat shaped corals instead. Those rocks is another matter. On the surface it looks like simple, usual boring rocks. But deep down under, the rock is eroded, forming beautiful carved-like-surface that words could not describe. 

There are small beautiful fishes swimming around the corals sticking to the walls of the stone. At the bottom of the rocks, there is a dark hole, something like a small cave where the fishes swimming in and out. At some point you can see the sun rays penetrating into the ocean floor and it was just magnificent. 

Not long after that, I saw it. The shark. It appeared, swimming at the bottom of the ocean floor (this species prefer shallow water) It is grey-colored, around 1.3 meter in length and have black color on its fin. Its black tip reef shark. At that moment I cant believe that I just saw a shark, and we were swimming in the same sea. Like wow, thank God I am still alive right now to write this. 

The nearest it could be from me was when it swim just 3 meters below my body, that I could see the shark clearly. There were 2 smaller fish on both side of his body, following him. I guess this is what I learnt during Biology class about symbiotic relationship. Nadia and I both enjoying the sight, we were mesmerized and lost in another kind of world. 

Not long after that, I spotted 2 sharks swimming nearby at one time. And when I turn back, I saw another one. So there's 3 all together. They kinda... swimming in circular around us. OMG. We get up for air and realized that its just us. Others are quite a distance away. We looked at each other and was like, lets go closer to everyone else!!! Hahahha. But don't worry, they're all at the ocean floor while we were up at the surface. Hopefully the sharks didn't go crazy and get up here.

(credit picture: google)

This is the exact thing that I saw. Black tip shark and the branch-shaped creepy coral.

Shark point is too interesting that I feel like I don't want to stop snorkeling here. But still... we need to move to the next checkpoint... which is, the lighthouse. 

4) The Lighthouse

This is the fourth checkpoint, the lighthouse at the middle of the ocean. I was wondering what's so special about this lighthouse? That you could jump off it? 

There are groups of small fishes here, the one that moves in a direction. When you blocked their way they wouldn't harm you, they'll be scattered and get into their group again. Whereas under the lighthouse, there's another group of small fishes, swimming in spiral formation between the pillars. The sight is just magical. 

But we're not long here. En Kasman guided us to get back to the boat, he said the current is quite strong. He handed Nadia a stick, so she could held onto it (while I was holding to Nadia's other hand) and he pulled us to the boat. The good thing about our guide Abe Mat and En Kasman is that, they care for their guests' safety. They just not transported us from point A to point B, but they snorkel with us, so they could show where's the best thing, what we should avoid and everything. Recommended! ^_^

5) Romantic Beach

The last snorkeling point is in Romantic Beach, a secluded beautiful white beach in Perhentian Kecil. The water is very clear yet shallow, I guess around 2 - 3 meters deep.  There's not much corals here, but you can see orange nemo fish, sticky black sea cucumbers and a few round yellow corals.

At one time I misjudged and I thought the yellow coral is soft as jellyfish or something. Hence I 'accidentally' touched it with my bare feet to feel it - causing my middle toe to cut and bleed. The coral is actually badass sharp! Obviously. Thank god I brought some plaster with me even though I had to use 2 strips to stop the bleeding. So the lesson is, be careful when your feet is down there, you might randomly hit a coral. 

So most of the time after the incident, I stayed in this position. 

We realized that we still have some bread with us so we finished them all by feeding the fish. I intentionally hold the bread in front of my google, so the colorful fish would come very close to me. I can see them swimming in front of my goggle! It feels really good.

The trip ends at 5 pm, where we were taken to the main jetty in Coral Bay. We give our gratitude to En Kasman our guide and changed to another boat that brought us (and other day-trip guests) to mainland. Aaaaa. I wish we could have more time to spend here. 

I am glad that Nadia is very satisfied with the trip, and she was planning to bring her mother here. We get to the parking area, paid the fee and leave Kuala Besut. We stop at a big mosque somewhere nearby to clean ourselves and perform prayers. 

And... stop again at this traditional wooden-built mosque to perform Maghrib prayer...

...and then having our last dine together (RM19 for all this, quite cheap) before I send Nadia off to Tanah Merah bus terminal to catch her bus to Kuala Lumpur. 

Perhentian Island surely brings good memories to both of us, and I would say that I'll come back here - soon!