Tioman has some spectacular scenery, nice beaches and neat bungalow places (image Creative Commons - yxo)With lofty cloud shrouded mountains, rainforested slopes and a multitude of bays and beaches, Tioman is a pretty attractive island. Add closeness to Singapore, a good range of accommodation from backpacker to high-end, frequent ferry and airplane services and duty free status and you get a pretty nice place to spend some time. Hey, and no dogs as far as I could see!! Lots of cats fer you Sylvester fans. Plus heaps of monkeys in the rainforests, some pretty big monitor lizards, some cute squirrel things and the usual tropical bird and marine life.
The most popular tourist beaches are ABC (most accommodation), Salang (liveliest), Juara (best beach and most laid back), and Tekek (best services ). Then we have the Berjaya high end resort, and smaller gems like Panuba, Paya, Genting and Mukut. Actually, Genting is not so small, seeming to have as much accommodation as Juara and a much bigger village. And Paya is a pretty popular location.
Stone the crows, trendsetters - I can't remember which site has this map. My apologies for not accrediting it. Panuba is just north of Air Batang (ABC)
ABC - (Air Batang)
This 3 km long bay is a bit north of central on the west coast. A good paved path just big enough for motorcycles and bicycles runs the full length, with the pier about midway along. ABC has a good range of budget to flashpacker accommodation, lots of restaurants, a few bars, at least three dive operations and half a dozen small stores.
The beach here looks real nice at higher tide levels most places, but when the tide gets towards lowest, most areas show a big expanse of stoney rock flats. The exception is the area right down the southern end where NAZRIS ONE is located - the beach is good all tides. Nazris has a nice beachside restaurant and was rebuilding accomm following a fire in my April 05 visit - a rather nice new looking wooden block of rooms across the track (but I forgot to look this latest August 08 visit even though we had a nice meal in the restaurant - DUH!)
Two other places that caught my eye are both at the far north end - BAMBOO HILL (a handful of chalets built on the rocks of the northern headland with great views down the bay) and ABC BUNGALOWS which have good looking bungalows starting at 60rm in a very nice garden setting (the better aircon bungalows are now 150 without breakfast), plus a good beachside restaurant. The beach here is not too bad either.
Bamboo Hill chalets at the northern end of ABC. This is shot in front of ABC Bungalows' restaurant.
Back in 1999 (first trip of 3) I stayed in the adjacent NAZRIS 2 (Nazis Beach Cabanas) which has a great elevated restaurant with nice food, plus a wide range of bungalows. However a recent TT post talked of stuff missing from rooms showing all the indications of an inside job. They now have a path-side bar which seemed to be the in-hang for those kewwll longterm travelers and diver types late afternoon.
TEKEK
- is immediately south of ABC across a mid sized headland. The stepped path across the headland prevents the passage of motorcycles and makes it a real effort to carry a bicycle. Tekek is the location of the main village and the path widens enough that 4 wheeled vehicles can move along, although it aint busy. Tekek has a fair bit of accommodation, but most places are not particularly appealing in appearance and the beach here is pretty inferior, suffering erosion in many areas. (UPDATE - my latest August 08 trip showed a sea wall built the entire length of Tekets beach. Along with some groyne construction around the main-pier airport, this has caused a build up of sand in the mid south of the beach).
More appealing may be the small area south of the new harbour which I didn’t check - this area seemed to have some nice looking buildings and good sand from my distant viewpoint at Panuba Inn (see later).
There are a fair few shops and restaurants, particularly in the airport area (the very short strip is just behind the beach roadette and the main pier). This precinct also has a bank with ATM and a couple of duty free shops (although the one selling booze is about 10 minutes walk south of the airport - the airport itself has a small duty free area but it seemed open to outgoing flights only).
Another attraction is the Marine National Park fish pens against the headland to ABC where you can snorkel at fish feeding time, which is a pretty good experience - you are instantly surrounded by hundreds of fish of various sizes when someone throws some bread in. Look for the small pier.
SALANG
- is at the northern end of the west coast and is many travelers’ favourite. I can see why, having spent a few days there in 1999 and revisiting for a day in 2 following Tioman visits. The beach is very nice south of the pier, particularly up against the southern headland (lots of sand all tides here - not too shallow offshore low tide), and if you swim out a hundred meters or so you get some coral for interesting snorkeling.
South Salang beach. Place up on headland is abandoned luxury hotel - 60% built without correct zoning approval. To its left is a budget/flashpacker place called Zaid's which has pretty nice beach views from higher chalets.There is a surprising amount of accommodation for a relatively compact area. I had no trouble getting something walk-in at the height of the season during my first trip (July) and my hike up to Salang next trip coincided with Saturday on a holiday weekend with lots of locals hitting the island, yet there still seemed to be plenty of vacant bungalows in areas like the far north end of town and the area inland across the small creek south of the pier. Look for really big monitors swimming around in this creek like alligators. There is a good selection of restaurants plus a few bars (including a real neat one on the rocks of the southern headland overlooking the beach - they also put a few tables with umbrellas down on the beach - UPDATE - this place was closed down in latest August 08 trip - but still a nice place to take your own drinks for a scenic outlook) so this place gets a more social atmosphere at night. But Long Beach Perhentians it aint.
Tommy from Japan checks beach scene in August 08 from abandoned headland bar. Places in Salang village selling 3 cans of beer fer rm10, so stock up for a pleasant afternoon viewpoint.
View from abandoned barJUARA
- is the the only travelers’ spot on the east coast of the island. This lovely bay is about a 2 km long, and has a 2 great beaches . No problems at different tide levels in most areas. There is a nice range of budget to flashpacker places along here - on "Main Beach" I thought the places north of the pier looked slightly more attractive, but there are some appealing bungalows in the other direction too.
South end of Juara Main Beach - those are the budget bungalows of "Rainbow" behind. People are always asking for a budget bungalow on a laid back white sand beach - this could be their place. There is a very good inexpensive restaurant belonging to Sunrise Divers just to the north.Because Juara is not as easy to access as the west coast beaches (the ferries from Mersing don’t come around here) it has a very laid back atmosphere. Even in the July of my first visit, when things were busy on the other side, Juara seemed uncrowded.
There is a similar sized beach to the south of Juara "Main" with a few bungalow places, easily reached by a narrow roadway or by crossing a small headland and about 200m of rock.
Juara "South" beach - the perfect get-away-from-it-all place.The road across the pass to Tekek has been open since before my 05 visit, although it is still not properly finished. It actually joins the old Tekek-Juara hiking track not too far from the start of the descent down the eastern side. A Juara is doomed!!!! post on TT about a few years back predicted this would lead to multinational hotels being built by the dozen - well hell, the place looked exactly the same April 2005 as it did back in 1999 and was even quieter this latest visit. I did not notice any building activity. Mind you, the road aint busy - I probably spent about 2 hours walking down and up the section shared with the hiking path and about a dozen motorcycles and less than half a dozen 4 wheeled vehicles passed me.
UPDATE AUGUST 08. For my third Tioman visit I had to stay for a few days at Juara. What surprised me was the lack of visitors. August, key European/US holiday period, and yet midweek the place seemed to be running at about 20% occupancy. Quite a few places were shut down, and other places like the popular Muriati and River View were not running their restaurants. Maybe it is the impact of expensive fuel on the price of international airline tickets - but more probably the cost of accessing Juara from the ferry/airplane.
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HIGH TRANSFER COSTS
The "taxis" (4wd utes) will take you over the pass for rm100 to 140 per vehicle - and for just one or two budget travellers this is a real ask. Hell, lovely seaside budget bungalows at places like Rainbow at the south end of "Main Beach" and Mizanis on the even nicer "Second Beach" were going for rm40 per night - a fraction of the access cost to the beach.
I think high local transport costs are holding Tioman back. The sea taxis are also an ask. Prices from Tekek pier/airport in the most recent visit were per person - Panuba rm25, Salang 30, ABC 20, Paya 30. Put a family of 4 into a boat to Panuba and you have blown a century for a 10 minute trip. Sure fuel is expensive, but these prices are way out of whack with those in other parts of Malaysia. The sea taxis were regarded as a rip-off in the days of cheap fuel.
Note that if you are coming in by ferry, it will drop you at most west coast locations, no need for sea taxis - at least on arrival and departure. The ferries will also carry you between major piers for considerably less than the sea taxis. Unfortunately, no ferries run around to Juara.
Anyway, with more time to check Juara I am still impressed. On "Main Beach" the beach is probably nicest at both ends although it aint shabby anywhere - but the swimming at lower tides is better at the north end - there are some rocks in the water south end which makes wading more difficult at lowest tide.
I though the second "South Beach" was even nicer - there was more sand, less tree litter on the beach and only 3 budget accommodation places along this laid back 800m strip (Beach Shack and Mizanis are 2). You can access it by the beach road which goes behind the intervening headland or rock-hop for about 100m in front of the headland.
"Mizanis" and adjacent "Beach Shack", central on extra laid back Juara "South Beach"SAND FLIES
Travel forums get a lot of questions about sandflies on Tioman. In the past I have had no problems, but in this August 08 trip Salang definitely had them. I didn't encounter any on the same trip at Panuba, Salang or Paya.
In this latest trip we stayed at Juara Beach Resort. There is a report towards the bottom of this page.
PANUBA
Panuba Inn just on its own little bay just north of ABC (image Panuba Inn)Panuba Bay is immediately to the north of ABC - reached via a ten-minute walk over the steep headland on the path starting at Bamboo Hill.
On a my 1999 trip I visited PANUBA INN click for a meal. On it’s own small bay with a nice beach and great views from the restaurant and accommodation, I marked it as the one for my next trip.
Panuba is really a midrange place, but in 05 I got myself one of their least expensive "A" chalets which is closer to backpacker standard. This cost 50 ringgit per night (about Sus15) which included breakfast for two (in August 08 - rm70). The chalet was spacious, solid, clean and came with towels, soap, shampoo, toilet paper, a nice verandah with good views (but not panoramic like the dearer chalets - virtually all of these not only overlooked Panuba Bay but also southward taking in the bays and mountains for a good 10 km or more, as does the restaurant which is lower down adjacent to the beach). One big demerit was the absence of a mosquito net or window screens in this basic bungalow - reception assured me they had no mosquitoes (hur hur hur**) - I applied liberal repellent each night and admit that I was not awoken by the noise of frustrated insects buzzing my ears.
**Actually the place does spray for mozzies and I have to admit we were not bothered on this latest 08 trip in the restaurant area and saw only a few on the balcony of our beachfront room. Because this room had a very good aircon system, keeping windows shut was no problem. The backpacker chalets are up the back closer to dense jungle vegetation which would be harder to spray.
Food in the restaurant was good, prices very reasonable (around the same as the cheaper bungalow restaurants in Thailand, which is pretty cheap) and the service fast and cheerful.
The restaurant shuts from 1630 to 1900, but the small store stays open.
Panuba’s more expensive accommodation' location is very appealing. As far as I could tell, just about every room has panoramic elevated views not only over Panuba’s bay, but northward following the sweep of the bay past ABC, Tekek and the luxury resort, with their backdrop of dramatic peaks. Sigh. See my review on the August 08 room at the foot of this page for a report on one of these rooms and an update on the restaurant.
Some of the more expensive chalets south of the pier at PanubaPanuba’s beach is fairly small but clean. It shelves fairly steeply and so has no problems with wading close to shore except in the lowest quarter of the tide when you have to pick your way between rocks. The water is pretty clear except after a storm and there are some nice underwater rocks and clumps of coral for reasonable snorkeling by Asian standards. I saw quite a lot of fish and one smallish very colorful ray. Snorkel gear is available at the restaurant and there are also kayaks to hire. The beach has some lie lows and beach chairs and some good shade in sections.
Panuba's small main beach. The beachfront restaurant is hidden in the shaded area between the 2 palms. About 50m directly out from the nearest palm is a rather nice coral bommy with a fair bit of fish life. The coral is more ordinary close to the headland behind the camera but picks up along the adjacent Monkey Beach. Good fish in all areas including around the pier.About three minutes walk to the north is another section of beach Panuba Inn calls Monkey Beach (there are some monkeys in the rainforest directly behind) which appealed to guests wanting seclusion. Don't confuse Monkey Beach with Monkey Bay, which is a bigger beach about 45 minutes north via the rainforest track and 25 minutes south of Salang.
Panuba Inn has its own in house dive operation - Bali Hai Divers, which is maybe stretching the South Pacific thing a bit.
The Bali Hai dive-boat at Panuba's pier. That old 50s movie classic South Pacific was filmed at Tioman - in the South China Sea . Don’t ask me why except the scenery fits. Bali Hai was one of the major hit songs from the movie, sung by Fifty Cent’s granddaddy, Half a Dime. Small change went a lot further in those days. Okay, some of you PhDs in Entertainment know I made that last bit up. The singer was really Snoop Dog’s great-uncle, Pluto PI.
BERJAYA LUXURY RESORT
Part of several km of beach at Berjara Resort. The road over the headland to ABC can be seen in the left background.Berjaya is just a bit over a km south of the airport and pier at Tekek. It actually stretches down the coast for what seems several km. From Panuba I walked over the headland to ABC, down along the beach path to Tekek, hired a bicycle near the Marine NP fish pens and then rode the three km to the southern headland of Tekek. The resort starts immediately over the other side.
And it looked pretty good to me, impressive looking buildings, a golf course and a nice beach area with great sand and no rocks at lowest tide. There is a small island close offshore, easily reached by a fair swimmer, which I remember had pretty good coral, fish and some turtles on its beachward side back in 1999. If you are in the market for a nice package place you could do a lot worse than this joint.
Swim or golf at Berjaya?
Note locals have set up 3 restaurants just outside the resort gates for more variety and cheaper prices in dining, and it’s a pleasant walk into the airport area of Tekek for maybe half a dozen more choices. The resort runs a shuttle into Tekek too.
Berjaya Resort has a big variety of accommodation - normal hotel blocks, bungalows/chalets in various classes, the Berjaya Suites at the far end of the golf course - high on a headand with views over a deserted bay to the south - and the exclusive Shahzan Villas up on this central promitory, with access via a cable railway. We could see this place from our balcony at Panuba, about 10km north. That's the dive club on the beach. When checking prices for this updated report I noticed Berjaya offers online prices competitive with 2 0f the midrange places I stayed in this latest trip - if you book more than a week or so ahead. I also saw a poster at Sabang airport in KL showing a very attractive 3 day package including flights.
PAYA BEACH
The ferries from the mainland put in at some of the beaches south of ABC and Berjaya, and they have always looked appealing to me. So in the latest August 08 trip I decided to spend some time on one of them. Paya seemed to be most attractive in reviews as far as meeting the requirements of Lady Tezza who likes comfort and short access transfers.
There are about 4 resorts here, the flashest being Paya Beach Resort which takes up about one third of the beachfront. Tioman Paya Resort, situated slightly inland and accessed by taking a walkway just as you are about to enter Paya Beach resort, also has some very nice looking bungalows in spacious grounds and a big airy restaurant with pretty good food around the same price as Paya Beach Resort. The other 2 resorts looked more budget in range. Note all these places seemed to attract a good crowd of local toourists and Singaporeans on weekends.
PAYA BEACH
The ferries from the mainland put in at some of the beaches south of ABC and Berjaya, and they have always looked appealing to me. So in the latest August 08 trip I decided to spend some time on one of them. Paya seemed to be most attractive in reviews as far as meeting the requirements of Lady Tezza who likes comfort and short access transfers.
There are about 4 resorts here, the flashest being Paya Beach Resort which takes up about one third of the beachfront. Tioman Paya Resort, situated slightly inland and accessed by taking a walkway just as you are about to enter Paya Beach resort, also has some very nice looking bungalows in spacious grounds and a big airy restaurant with pretty good food around the same price as Paya Beach Resort. The other 2 resorts looked more budget in range. Note all these places seemed to attract a good crowd of local toourists and Singaporeans on weekends.
Paya beach north of the pier. That's the Paya Beach resort's sundeck and beach-bar area on the right. The bunch of rocks close left have quite good coral and fish, as does the island in the background.There is a small village with a few shops and restaurants at Paya, offering what I considered very good value prices. The Chinese woman running the store nearest the pier is a mini tour guide, giving excellent info about treks to nearby rock-pools and beaches.
Paya’s beach is more attractive than Panuba’s and didn’t have the sandfly problem of Juara. Like Panuba it shelves steeply so wading close to shore is no problem above about quarter tide, but you have to pick your way between rocks at lowest tide. No problems in this respect in the little bays which form each side of the sand-spit which becomes exposed as the tide drops to tie the small island south of the resort to the beach. Nice sandy bottom, heaps of little fish - a good place to spend time.
Snorkelling is good at Paya. There is a section of rocks about 70m out from Paya Beach Resort with pretty good coral and fish. Lady Tezza got as much value snorkelling between the beach and these rocks in regards to fish, although the patches of coral are not so hot. The above mentioned island also has some reasonable patches of coral away from the sandy bays.
One of the low tide bays shot from the land-tied island at the north end of the beach. This deepens slowly and is good for kids. Some nice patches of coral start in deeper water about 40m left of camera. Good patches of dry white sand for sunbathing are right of camera. At high tide our sea taxi from ABC cut straight thru this gap.We stayed at Paya Beach Resort which was a pretty good place - there is a review at the foot of this page.
MELINA BEACH.
Situated midway between Paya and Genting, this seems to be the perfect get-away-from it all place with a lovely little beach and a neat resort. Most rooms seemed to be in a nice garden setting behind the beachfront restaurant, but they do have a Penthouse, a Tree House and one aircon room right on the beach. Check ‘em out here http://www.tioman-melinabeach.com/Airconrooms.html. The pictures on the website suggest the coral and wildlife are not too bad here too.
Situated midway between Paya and Genting, this seems to be the perfect get-away-from it all place with a lovely little beach and a neat resort. Most rooms seemed to be in a nice garden setting behind the beachfront restaurant, but they do have a Penthouse, a Tree House and one aircon room right on the beach. Check ‘em out here http://www.tioman-melinabeach.com/Airconrooms.html. The pictures on the website suggest the coral and wildlife are not too bad here too.
Sweet beach ar MelinaPrices seem to range from flash-packer upwards.
The downside for some could be a pretty good 25 minute walk to Paya or Genting if they want some variety in dining etc - but for people who are content to laze their whole holiday in one spot, this might be just the place. I’m the type who gets restless in long stays but I’m definitely going to do 2 or 3 days here next trip.
There is no pier, so less agile people might baulk at landing on the beach after the resort’s speed-boat transfer from Genting.
Sweet rig at Melina. The platform is pretty neat too.GENTING
South of Paya is Genting, a much bigger village and bay with what seemed to be a dozen or so accommodation places spread along the 3km or so of beach.
South of Paya is Genting, a much bigger village and bay with what seemed to be a dozen or so accommodation places spread along the 3km or so of beach.
Genting village area from the pier. The beaches stretch for a km or more each side of the pier.These places appeared mainly budget/flash-packer in style with maybe a few bungalows more lower-midrange. I particularly liked the look of Bayu Chalet a fair distance north of the village, although it doesn’t range up the hillside with panoramic views which apparently some of the other places have. The Tioman website says the beach is not rocky close to shore at low tide south of the pier.
Bayu Chalets' beachside bar/cafe. There is a bigger restaurant on the camera's side of the path.TREKKING
I did 4 pretty decent walks on Tioman.
TEKEK TO JUARA is a good walk. The turnoff is well signposted on the beach roadette north of Tekek's pier. I only takes 5 minutes to reach the start of the climb over the divide, 45 minutes uphill, another 10 minutes across the saddle, 40 minutes downhill and 10 minutes along the flat into Juara. The uphill section is a good walking track thru great rainforest, steps cut in places, steep in parts but not a killer. There is a small waterfall on the way up. Not far past the start of the downhill the track becomes paved and is shared by vehicles, but as I said before, not many. Actually this section is a good workout on the return, because it is pretty steep in parts and more open to the hot sun. I met some girls carrying big packs up here in 1999, changing beaches. Jeez, better them than me.
ABC TO SALANG is more difficult, but has a couple of nice bays along the way, and is a good way of seeing the other end without paying the rip-off sea taxi fares. The trip took me about 90 minutes of actual walking time each way. From ABC past Panuba to the afore-mentioned Monkey Beach takes less than 12 minutes. From here it’s a matter of following the power lines as the locals told me. The newly laid lines more or less follow the track rather than vice versa. They are never far apart for any great distance. So in most places finding the way is fairly easy, the track is pretty clear and where it parts compay with the power lines is often marked with plastic bottles upended on sticks or colored ribbons. When you come to both fairly big bays (which are great for a cooling swim and some sun - btw the bay closer to Salang is called Monkey Bay not to confuse with Panuba’s Monkey Beach), head for the far end of the beach to pick up the track again just past the small concrete bridge(look for the power lines). Slopes along here are pretty easy except for the 20 minutes on each side of Salang’s southern headland where the uphill is a real good workout.
I met quite a few people walking between Salang and Monkey Bay , but no-one on the Panuba side of this.
When leaving Salang, the track starts just on the western side of the water tanks for the western most operating bungalow place on the headland slopes (not the 60% finished but abandoned super luxury resort to its west. I actually walked up and checked this joint in my latest trip - it is looking pretty sad up close - wooden joints usually deteriorate very quickly in the tropics).
Actually, on the way back in 05 I lost the track in two places - but if this happens you will soon know as the way becomes super difficult real quick. I back-tracked and found the right way easily both times. UPDATE - the track seemed much more defined in August 08. National Park had tape up to block several false leads, quite a lot of signs identifying tree species, and it looked like more people were using the path. It only took my 70 minutes from Panuba walking at a fair clip. The climb into and out of Salang hasn't got any easier though.
There are lots of monkeys along this track. There didn’t seem to be any aggressive dominant males like one I once met in Sumatra , but I always carry a really big bush stick anyway.
This is where the track leaves Salang. Look for the signs just past Zaid bungalows' water tanks (front right).PAYA-BERJAYA-TEKEK.
About 100 m south of Paya Beach Resort, there is a side-track heading inland across a bridge. This veers to the left within sight of Tioman Paya Resort and soon begins a reasonably steep (but not heartbreaking) rainforest climb over the southern headland. After about 300m this dumps you onto a really nice deserted beach south of Berjaya resort. The track improves here to one wide enough for small 4wheeled vehicles and climbs over the less steep headland on which the exotic looking Berjaya Suites are located. Berjaya is a spacious place and it takes about 20m to walk thru to the front gates. I’ve only cycled the rest of the way into Tekek, but I reckon the walk to the airport/pier area would be another 30 minutes - so in total you would be looking at about 90 minutes+ from Paya - less for fit types.
Nice deserted beach about 20 minutes out of Paya - the Berjaya Suites, with lovely views back south (this way) along the island, are partly hidden from this angle, on top of the far headland.PAYA-GENTING.
The first 3 minutes of this is a reasonably steep rugged rainforest track up the southern headland of Paya, but a short distance later it turns into a reasonable concrete track with no daunting sections, about 30% thru very nice rainforest.
After 25 minutes or so there is a T junction within sight of a local’s chalet - turning left uphill gets you to Genting in another 25-30 minutes, right downhill to the lovely Melina Beach after about 200m.
If unfit people took a few rests on the initial short climb out of Paya, they would find few problems on this nice walk.
My map showed the coastal track continued south of Genting to Nipah, but I didn’t have time for this. Next trip.
90% of Paya-Genting is paved - with bridges over creeks.GETTING TO TIOMAN
- Berjaya Air seems to have half a dozen flights per day, shared between KL and Singapore. We used it this latest trip and it sure is painless - one hour in total.
The fast ferry service from Mersing on the mainland is really good - there always seemed to be one passing Panuba and Paya. August 08 fare was about 80rm return and in the past you could use your return on either of the two ferry companies. I assume this is still the case. Trip takes about 2 hours. The ferries stop at Tekek, ABC and Salang, and will stop at most other west coast piers if informed beforehand.
There is also a faster speedboat service at slightly higher cost.
There is also a less frequent ferry service from Tanjung Gemok about 30km north of Mersing.
The fast ferry from Singapore had not run for some time when I compiled and updated this page, but in Feb 09 I saw this info:
As of early March, ferry to Tioman runs once a day. Check ahead with the ferry operator, Bluewater Express 07-7995696
"It can also be reached by a 4-hour ferry ride from the Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal in Singapore. (Address: 50 Tanah Merah Ferry Rd #01-04, 498833, Singapore Tel: 67859275,67859122)"
"It can also be reached by a 4-hour ferry ride from the Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal in Singapore. (Address: 50 Tanah Merah Ferry Rd #01-04, 498833, Singapore Tel: 67859275,67859122)"
I used this service on my first trip to Tioman way back - and it is a nice way to access the island. Emigration/immigration are done at the piers. The Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal is close to Changi Airport - maybe 5km to the south east.
Look for the heading HIGH TRANSFER COSTS about 25% from the top of the page (in the Juara section) for relatively expensive transport once on the island.
EXCURSIONS
- the Around Island Trip is great, but at 150rm, expensive. It calls in at Juara for some beach time, a compact bay on the southern tip of the island for a trek up to a small waterfall in the rainforest, some good snorkeling at that small island near the luxury resort and a visit to the MNP fish pens for a snorkel at feeding time. Any bungalow, restaurant etc can book you in.
- the Around Island Trip is great, but at 150rm, expensive. It calls in at Juara for some beach time, a compact bay on the southern tip of the island for a trek up to a small waterfall in the rainforest, some good snorkeling at that small island near the luxury resort and a visit to the MNP fish pens for a snorkel at feeding time. Any bungalow, restaurant etc can book you in.
The Coral Island snorkeling trip is pretty good. Coral Isand is a few km off the nw corner of Tioman and has good coral and marine life by Asian standards in a big bay on the Tioman side. My trip also took in some beach time on a gorgeous deserted beach on the other side - sand so white it hurt the eyes. We also spent some time at Salang. Cost 84rm on the latest trip.
Note that most resorts offer a package deal - 2 or 3 nights with some exta meals, ferry transfers and one or more of these trips, often for little more than the normal 2 or 3 x daily tariff - an excellent way of affording these rather over the top priced excursions fer we fiscally disadvantaged types.
WEATHER
- the wet season usually ends some time in Feb or early March and kicks in again in October, although I once saw a post by a regular visitor saying Oct was great because rain is in short bursts and you still get lots of really nice days. Nov Dec and Jan tend to be real wet, sometimes with days where budget travellers can’t access or get off the island because the ferries don’t run. BTW, I reckon this is the real reason for the new harbour at Tekek. TT’s anti-development lobby was carrying on about cruise liners and the US 6th Fleet! Fact is Tioman locals deserve an all weather anchorage so that they can exit or return without sometimes having to wait several days. The ferries mostly stop running not because of big seas when crossing, but because of potential damage when docking at the unsheltered piers on rough days.
SOME LINKS
tioman.com.my/ - has lots of info on the island and accommodation and a very good section on how to access the ferry departure point, Mersing, from KL, Singapore etc.
tioman.com.my/ - has lots of info on the island and accommodation and a very good section on how to access the ferry departure point, Mersing, from KL, Singapore etc.
Berjaya Air - berjaya-air.com
Phone 603-7847 6828
REVIEW OF MIDRANGE ACCOMMODATION PLACES - AUGUST 08
PANUBA INN
Lady Tezza isn’t too whelmed by backpacker-standard rooms, so this trip, her first to Malaysia, I found myself in a sample of Panuba’s most expensive room, the Superior Deluxe - elevated over the beachfront thank you very much, and pretty nice too. Not to mention pretty good value at rm140 per night (160 at weekends) including breakfast - discounted 10% because we stayed 5 nights which makes the non-weekend daily rate rm126, by far the best value of our 3 Tioman places this trip.
What we had was a spacious tiled-floored cement-walled room with two double beds, heaps of room for 2 people and their gear (but would be a bit squeezy with 4 adults). The beds/pillows were very comfy, the aircon and hot water efficient and this was the only place we got with a refrigerator (small). There was a small TV and tea and coffee making facilities . Towels, soap, toilet paper provided.
The bathroom was reasonably spacious, the veranda a great place to sit with a glass of wine and watch the sun set or earlier activity on the beach. There were lines to hang drying beachwear etc.
The place was showing a small amount of wear and tear - the door light, one reading light and the bathroom exhaust fan were not working and there was no plug for the bathroom sink. The room was serviced once during out 5 day stay and the tea and coffee were not replaced.
Beach view from Chez Tezza at Panuba Inn. In the other direction is about 10km of coastline and mountains down to the Berjaya Suites perched high on a headland north of Paya.Panuba’s beachside restaurant continues to be great value, with prices matching the budget restaurants over on adjacent ABC. The food seemed pretty tasty to me, although I‘m no gourmet. However the free buffet breakfast was a bit basic - usually a choice of a couple of sliced fruits, a noodle or pasta dish or baked-beans, toast/butter/ jam and tea/coffee/juice all in unlimited quantities fer you guys worrying about weight loss. Bad luck for egg lovers, but these are available at very low prices from the menu.
Service in the restaurant was usually good, excellent if you happened to be looked after by the young guy who seemed to be head waiter/organiser.
Beer and wine are available at an adjacent beachside bar - the owners pretend this is a separate operation run by some heathen. Beers were not quite as cheap as at our 2 other resorts, but at rm5 a can, not bad value. They also had one (Argentinian) brand of red and white wine at rm50 - Lady Tezza who knows about these things said the red was pretty nice. I drink Chateau Cardboard-Box cheap Aussie red normally, so it’s ALL good to me.
Note the restaurant closes from 4.30pm to 7pm, but the small shop stays open for snacks etc. The covers on the beer bar are down at these times, but I could usually find one of the guys to open the side door and sell me a beer or six.
Panuba will send their sea taxi to Tekek to pick you up for rm20 per person, and return you for the same price. This resort had the best wild life to delight children, the small monkeys (one with a baby) come around for crusts each breakfast time(though they stay on the roof and don’t annoy the guests), a big monitor lizard wanders the beach late afternoon, sea eagles patrol the sky and the kittens and tiny bats are very cheeky.
JUARA BEACH RESORT
This place is situated on the section of "Main Beach", north of its pier. The big restaurant is beachfront with a nice terrace for checking the passing bikini babes or hunks but most of the bungalows are in a little landscaped compound across the other side of the narrow and little trafficked beach road.
Once again we went for the top choice - the Deluxe at rm160 weekdays with breakfast. This is a very spacious room abt 6mx6m - polished wooden floors, two double beds (comfy firm mattresses, very firm pillows - too firm for The Lady). Quiet aircon, good lighting, big TV, tea and coffee making facilities, towels, soap, toilet paper, no refrigerator. The place was clean and in good condition, although approaching the time for an interior repaint. The room wasn’t serviced in our 3 day stay.
The bathroom was big and in good condition, with a good supply of hot water and a big mirror. No plug for the sink.
Out front was a nice veranda and a wooden picnic-type table/seat combo. There were lines for beachwear etc and a tap for sandy feet. A couple of hammocks were strung between trees at front near the road.
We also got a chance to check the rm120 standard chalets, but these were considerably smaller with one double and one single bed, a tiny bathroom and seemed a bit claustrophobic to The Lady.
Food in the restaurant was about 50% more expensive than Panuba** (no problems - there are some nice budget restaurants along the beach), although beers and wine were a bit cheaper (and friendly host Mr Stiven Cheng had a selection of wines). Taste seemed pretty good to me, but service was a bit chaotic at times. The free breakfast was pretty basic, not a buffet - eggs/toast-butter-jam/pancakes/tea coffee.
Which still makes it very good value by western standards.
Slow internet available. Stiven picks up and drops his guests back at Tekek for a cheaper rate than the taxis, giving a commentary on the jungle, rubber trees, road building and politics along the way.
Garden setting for most bungalows at Juara Beach resort. These are the Duluxe versions.PAYA BEACH RESORT
This place is a step up from Panuba and Juara beach resort - we are definitely talking mid-midrange here.
But then, the tariff is a step or two up too - at rm260 for a Superior Chalet + rm40 weekend loading.
This wasn't for the top room they had, but the room was very, very nice - ours a biggish upstairs place in a block of 4 - tile and slate floor, one comfy queen sized bed and a convertible sofa which was very comfy for one but would be super squeezy for 2 above small-child size. Storage space was good for two occupants. Our room had a connecting door with the next room, great for families, but not so good for sound-proofing. Towels and toiletries were provided and beach towels were available from reception. We had a TV, tea and coffee facilities, though no refrigerator (available for hire rm 20/day.) The room was serviced daily, though the tea and coffee were not replaced.
The place was in good condition except for the toilet cistern which managed to leak on the floor. The aircon was quiet but the downstairs compressor had to be changed when residents there complained it was noisy for them.
The balcony had nice views of the landscaped garden (the most expensive Deluxe Chalets and 2 of the cheaper Standards are sea-front) and a handy drying rack - although the wooden floor allowed drips to go down onto the balcony below. Hint - try to book an upstairs room.
Nice garden outlook from Chateau-Tezza at Paya Beach Resort. Beach is behind far trees.The very spacious restaurant was a pretty classy looking place with very good service and nice food at prices similar to Juara Beach Resort’s (you can eat at budget prices in nearby restaurants along the beach track in the small village). Booze was the cheapest of the 3 places we stayed despite the added 10% service fee and 5% tax and the Duty Free Store had a really good selection of general stuff and a fairly wide selection of wine. The included buffet breakfast was the best of the resorts, lots of hot dishes, a chef to make your omelette or fried eggs to order, fresh fruit, coffee/tea/juice, cereal and toast. Internetting was reasonably priced and there was a small pool, day beauty spa, karaoke bar and plans for a gym.
There was also an activities desk and dive shop, and safe deposit boxes.
We arrived early, shortly after 10am, and were given the key to ours room by 10.30, even though check in is officially 2 pm.
SUM UP.
Best value - Panuba, both rooms and restaurant.
Best value - Panuba, both rooms and restaurant.
Best views from our bungalow - Panuba.
Most class - Paya Beach Resort.
Best Food - probably Paya Beach Resort, although the other 2 weren’t shabby and I’d rank Panuba a close
Beast Beach - Juara, although Paya is not too far behind and had no sandfly problem as far as we could see. Lady Tezza reckons Paya was best.
Best coral/fish/snorkelling - Paya.
Most laid back - Juara, although you could easily find seclusion at Panuba, particularly if you beached at Monkey Beach. Paya was more lively - even on a weekday the place seemed to be running at 50% and on weekends the whole area seems super popular with Asian visitors and expats. This is kinda good - I like to see Asians in holiday mode. They know how to enjoy themselves.
If you have any questions, please ask them in THE FORUM rather than below. I don't get a chance to check all threads daily, but unless I'm travelling I'll try to monitor THE FORUM regularly.
