Tioman Island

Tioman Island

So the GF and I went to Tioman Island over the past Obon holidays here in Japan. We booked the Juara Beach Resort which is on Juara Beach/Village (the only village on the East side of the island). The resort itself was ok, the staff is run by Chinese Malaysians with locals doing the menial tasks. In typical Chinese style, they do what their required to do, but no more. When we checked in, the manager gave us our key and pointed in the direction of our sea front room. No directions, information, welcoming, etc. The room was clean and nice enough. But the shower was weak, we had no water for a while on two separate nights and we had to ask to have our rooms refreshed everyday. Also the walls are thin so you can hear your neighbors and since it's popular with Chinese, it can b loud. The beer and food are cheap and quite good in the restaurant. The location is acceptable, but the beach in front of the resort and on the north side of the pier isnt that nice and we found the beach on the south side of the pier (over the rocks) to be nicer and free of any seaweed, rocks, and other debris.

We relaxed two days on our side of the island, there are enough restaurants, shops, and nice beachage to while away time reading, drinking, and just doing nothing. The 3rd day we did a snorkeling tour of coral island and a few other places. It's pretty standard, they all do the same places and it runs about 120ringgit. It was decent, not incredible. Some fish, clear water, and nice coral. A worthwhile endeavor but nothing to get too excited about. The last two days we rented a nice 150cc scooter for 80rinngit a day and took the hairy road up over the middle of the island and to ABC and Tekek. Theres little to nothing in Tekek except some restaurants, cheap accommodation, and duty free shops! The road ends before you hit ABC, so you need to park and hike a few mins to get to ABC. ABC is primarily a budget area with a so so beach, very rocky. However theres more going on there in terms of restaurants, shops, and people in general. We rented snorkel gear and swam out of the beaches in a few different locations. Worthwhile, but again nothing to write home about. Perhaps the best part of ABC is the bar/pizza place that serves cheap pizza and tiger beers happy hour and serves as a good place to sit in the sand while watching the sunset. We also hiked over to Monkey Bay but its a solid 1 hr hike and requires something more significant than sandals. The little beach was nice, very private, and we saw a few monkeys but nothing else. There are no shops, so bring whatever you need. We took the 6am ferry off the island, which of course was delayed but an hour.

Logistics;
We booked the ferry when we arrived in Mersing, 35rinngit one way, and there were 3 ferries the day we arrived so we were able to get on the next one fairly quickly. Check the schedule online, they release it one month in advance. The ferry will stop in a few places, just make sure to get off at the right pier. For Juara you need to get off at Tekek and then take a taxi/4x4 which will run about 35ringgit. There are a lot of places to stay no matter where you go on the island, so unless you arrive in high season you should be able to find something to fit your needs once you make landfall. The island is duty free, so alcohol and ciggies are cheap, much cheaper than mainland Malaysia. The best way to explore the minimal road system is by scooter, cheaper and more convenient than taxis or boat taxis. Otherwise you need to hike a bit to get from ABC to Monkey Bay to Salang. Juara to Tekek is a haul and a waste of time if you only have few days on the island. You can buy almost anything you need on the island and there is an ATM in Tekek in case you run low on cash.