Tioman Island June 2007

In the early of June 2007 we spontaneously decided to go to Tioman Island with 2 friends. It would be our first visit to the island and we were all very excited about it. 
Tioman Island is located in the South China Sea about 32 km off the east coast of peninsular Malaysia. The densely forested island is 39 km long and 12 km wide and is still sparsely inhabited. It is surrounded by numerous coral reefs which makes it a perfect destination for scuba diving.

The 4 of us got on a bus in KL very early in the morning and headed towards the seaport town of Mersing where the jetty to Tioman Island located. The bus journey took about 5 hours.

In Mersing we bought the ferry tickets to Tioman Island and there were many travelers waiting to get on the ferry. The journey took about 1 1/2 hour and was quite comfortable. On the way you'll pass many smaller island and some of them is where Surviver and the Scandinavian program Robinson Ekpeditionen have been filmed.

Most of the visitors to Tioman Island choose to stay in one of the several beaches on the west coast of the Island, since this is where most of the accommodations are. The good thing about Tioman Island is that there are many low budget accommodation to choose from.

We did a bit of research before we went to the island. We decided to stay in the east coast of the island, it is called Juara beach. At that time there were only 2 ways to get there: 1) put on your trekking shoes and find the way through the jungle across the island yourself. 2) hire a 4 wheel car (with a driver) that can take you through the jungle and muddy "road".
We choose the 2nd option and what a crazy ride (felt like a verryyy long roller coaster ride!!). It was quit pricey but what a fun experience:-)

We rented Mr. Bushman's chalet and each cost only RM50 a day! What a place and bargain! Aren't they charming?

Just having a bit of fun at Bushman's cafe hehe:-)

Enjoying the sunset from our chalets every night. Fantastic!

Besides our 2 chalets there were only very few chalets further down the beach. I think nobody rented them because we never saw any other people on this beach except for Mr. Bushman and his family.

No people yeah! This is all ours!!

And crystal clear water to play around like a seal. We are in heaven!

More pictures from our beach. A river debouches from the jungle.

This is the Bushman cafe where we had all of our fabulous home cooked meals.