We recently spent a 3 day weekend at the famed Perhintian Islands of Malaysia, a pairing of islands within a larger grouping known for its pristine waters, white sand, and gorgeous snorkeling & diving spots located off the NE coast of peninsular Malaysia. We chose to stay at the Tuna Bay Resort, due to the high remarks it had gotten from fellow travelers as well as its traveler ranking as the “best” on the islands.
So off we went, via Firefly Airlines, who had a screaming deal so how could we say no? That coupled with the great rate at Tuna Bay. I mean, I had heard that the Perhintian Islands are not known for their luxury so I wasn’t expecting total glamour, but maybe only a couple steps down from that.
Anyway, after our super early morning 1 hour flight up to Khota Baru, we then were whisked away into a waiting van by the resort for a “quick” 1 hr ride to the jetty to meet up with the boat. Once at the jetty, we were registered and boarded an old boat for a 45 minute journey to Tuna Bay resort in the Perhintian Islands. Wow, all that with a 14 month old? Let me tell you- super awesome times (insert massive sarcasm here). But in any case, we arrived around noon and we were all pooped so after some lunch and check in, we all crashed for an afternoon nap in our beachside bungalow. What a long and crazy 7 hours including cabs, planes, vans, and boats- LOL!
Anyway, as you can see from the pics we took- the beaches were gorgeous white sand, the waters were warm and clear, and there was a great reef just off the beach that we could take turns snorkeling on while watching after Ava. David also took a 2 hour snorkeling boat ride one day to a few hotspots around the islands while I napped with Ava (benefits of being preggers in paradise- haha).
Unfortunately, thats the best I can say about the resort. We were not impressed with the staff and service at all, even by Malaysian standards. The food wasn’t much better- mostly fried & the breakfasts plain, although they did have a nice BBQ every night that was pretty tasty! The rooms were substandard with the beds being hard and the water pressure pretty much nonexistent and the beach chairs were horrendously uncomfortable- wooden planks. BUT all that aside, we were on a fabulous beach in warm clean waters with each other, our precious girl, and our little bun in the oven. What a joy Ava is and watching her play in the sand and run down to the waters edge and simply enjoy life was such a perfect breakaway from the craziness of city life as well as a nice getaway after a hectic trip stateside to see our families (no offense, we were just pooped from it all!). I will say this though, it would be worth a bit more money (even as cheap as this trip was) to go to neighboring Thailand where the service is always better and the food amazing- with the same, if not better, waters and beaches.
In any case, it was a perfect trifecta of celebrations: our 4 year wedding anniversary, 14 months with our sweet girl, and making it to the halfway point with our little man (!!!)
The Jetty boarding the boat
The boat- all of us packed in with the restaurant’s food supply- crazy random!
Almost there….still smiling even though we were all beat!
View of the resort from the boat
Pretty basic but right on the water’s edge!
Beachside Bungalows!
Beach view from our room
Simply stunning view!
So not a child friendly resort…every bungalow has these wooden steps up to the rooms…which of course was the only place she ever wanted to play, located right next to the water faucet to rinse sand off- LOL!
Daddy and Ava making sand castles!
LIttle sand lover 🙂
Yippee!! Love being with my mommy!
This daddy daughter connection is way too sweet 🙂
View form the resort’s restaurant.
Sunset pics!
She would not take her thumb out of her pretty little mouth!
Beach girl in action! Gotta cover up that white skin- LOL!
Loving playtime with daddy in the water!
Handstands!
Just lounging in the sea….
Love this shot and the background!
Morning playtime!
Morning pull from daddy’s mango lassi!
Hey guys- wait up!
Oh daddy, my hero!
Lets hold hands bubba!
Almost there….
Yea! Walking the beach hand in hand with my girl 🙂
She’s way too sweet for words!! Can’t handle her cuteness!
Crazy old fishing boats off the beach!
LIttle milk break in a massaging chair while waiting for our flight home!
Naber- party of 4 at sunset!
Until next time, enjoy a beach holiday soon…it’s good for the soul, even if the resort doesn’t meet your expectations~
Kimbra
2 Responses to A quick weekend getaway on Malaysia’s Perhintian Islands- A trifecta of celebrations
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Hi Kimbra,
Seems life gets so busy. I hadn’t looked at your site in some time but I’m home today nursing an injured knee (gonna need a replacement…old age happens!!) so I happened to remember our first friends here in Kuala Lumpur.
We too loved the Perhentians…lovely spot. We stayed at BuBu’s on Long Beach on the smaller of the two islands. While not five star (or even 4 or 3 or 2 stars) it was really clean, comfortable and the food was excellent. The beach spectacular. We do hope to go back someday.
I am quite proficient driving now…nothing seems to scare me anymore. I’ve become what I call, “defensive aggressive”, when on the road. As long as my WAZE keeps talking, I just keep driving. Would love to reconnect and visit again.
Your little Ava is soooo cute…quite the beach girl.
Glad I wandered again onto your blog.
All my best,
Bob-
Hello Bob!!
How are you long lost friend! I am so sorry for my extremely tardy reply- this month has been a madhouse between travels and hosting family here in KL plus the toddler business and pregnancy thing :). But all is well here. I am so sorry to hear about your knee- that is no fun, my dad went through that a few years back….take care of yourself!!
So happy to hear you are navigating through KL well…..its an adventure out on those roads but fun to explore nonetheless. WAZE is my lifeline as well :).
Would love to connect again soon….I’ll shoot you an email :).
Kimbra