Our island adventure

Source: http://www.tripadvisor.com

We spent our 12 day honeymoon at Tuna Bay where we rented a seaview chalet.

The resort: Food is good, but not great. They have a lot of dishes to choose from though, and serve alcohol. Their mangoshake was absolutely fantastic. We tried eating at other places on the island, but quickly came back to eat at the Tuna Bay restaurant for the rest of our trip.

They have wireless Internet, although you have to pay 2$/1,75 euro for half an hour, but nice if you want to keep in touch with family and friends. The staff is very friendly, know english and is always willing to help. You aren't spoonfed with service though, so don't expect the 5 star luxury treatment - you won't find it anywhere on the island.

The seaview chalet, which is placed litteraly on the beach, is clean, airconditioned, has a safe deposit box, 24 hour electricity and hot shower (you don't need it). A small fridge would have been nice though. After spending 12 days there and after having visited every single spot on the west side of the island, we found that Tuna Bay was the right and best choice for us. The corals and variety of fishes you experience when walking 5 meters/15 feet into the crystalclear water are amongst the best on the island. Not as vivid as fx the Red Sea in Egypt though, but highly satisfactory.

The island: We went on basically every snorkling trip there is. A guy who called himself "Dollar" took us around (contrary to his name he is not greedy - one day he took us for free to Shark Point). Besides the corals at Tuna Bay we recommend the Rawa Island trip and the snorkeling trip to the lighthouse located at the west side of Kecil. The beach at Perhentian Island Resort has turtles (small and big) which come there to feed. You need to put on your snorkling gear and swim out about 30 meters/90 feet. The are usually found at the bottom (3-4 meters), but they swim up to breathe every 10 minutes or so, so they are easily spotted from the beach. Swimming amongst them and touching them (gently) was an amazing experience.

Jungle trekking was also fun. There are two main paths on the island. One from the southtip of the island (a 10 minute walk from Tuna Bay) leading to Flora Bay. And one leadning from Flora Bay to Perhentian Island Resort (20 minute walk back to Tuna Bay). We saw monkeys climbing and eating in the trees, giant lizards and other animals. You don't have to be athletic to follow the paths, but do mind your step, and dont forget mosquito repellant.We also rented a kayak and sailed to Turtle Beach where we saw baby turtles being taken care of by the locals. Right next to Turtle Beach we found our own private beach (the island has lots of them) where we spent a day sunbathing with no one around.We were a bit worried about the weather before we took of to the Perhentians. The forecast promised rain, rain and nothing but (over the mainlands). But not to worry. Since the Perhentians are islands localted in the very humid tropics near the equator, it never rains for long periods of time during high/dry season, and usually only at night. We experienced the first rain after about a week - a minor tropical storm with thunder and lightning raging over the sea (not the island itself) which lasted a couple of hours. It was a sight to behold.

We loved our stay at the Perhentians and especially at Tuna Bay. We had a hasslefree honeymoon . The weather was mostly fantastic, people were friendly, the local prices were low (about 3$/2,5 euro for main dishes; 0,75 cent/0,5 euro for a can of soda) and the snorkeling was great. If the place isn't infected with massturism during the next decade or so, we would definitely like to come back.