Travel Guide to Tioman Island Malaysia: 9 Hidden Gems
This is a typical sight of a tropical island that has dense mountains, abutting the South China Sea.
This means Tioman Island is located on the east coast of Malaysia.
Tioman Island is a marvellous place with terrific attractions, great beaches, diverse marine life. It is one of the ultimate islands for holidays.
Just look towards the east of Kuala Lumpur to locate the Tioman Island.
How to reach Tioman Island?
Mersing is a coastal city in Malaysia. It is 6 hours bus ride away from Kuala Lumpur. From Mersing, ferries ply up to Tioman Island. The journey involves two hours.
Day trip from Singapore
Singapore receives more visitors than Malaysia. When you go to Singapore, you can plan a day trip to Tioman Island which is 165 km up north.
The ferry ride between these islands takes a maximum of 2 hours.
When is the right time to visit Tioman Island?
If you want to avoid the rains, plan your trip anytime between March, and November.
Is Tioman Island, very big?
I would not say so. Its length is 39 km and the width is just 12 km.
Travel Guide to Tioman Island Malaysia
What to see on Tioman Island?
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Marine Park
The entire islands and some of its neighboring islets are declared as a protected marine park.
The main tourism interest on this Malaysian island is seeing the coral reefs, and diverse marine creatures.
As such, scuba diving, and snorkelling are widely pursued by the visitors.
If you don’t know scuba diving but always wanted to, you can learn it on this island. You are awarded a certificate too. It is a sort of licence for scuba diving, anywhere in the world.
Duty Free status
In spite of being a duty free island, there are not many tourists. Nonetheless, wildlife enthusiasts arrive regularly to dive during the day and relax in the night in one of the many resorts facing the South China Sea.
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Wildlife viewing
This iand is an ideal place to view rare wildlife that thrives only in dense tropical rainforests.
Here are some of the animals that you can spot with the help of a tourist guide from Malaysia.
- Slow Loris
- Binturong
- Macaques that eat crabs. It is a strange fact because monkeys generally do not eat meat.
- Giant flying Red Squirrels
- Giant Black Squirrel
I have seen these giant Black Squirrels in Canada.
- Civet
- Porcupine
Plenty of avifaunas can also be spotted nesting in the trees. However, there is no mention of any aquatic birds in spite of being an island.
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Pier
There is a pier on the island that serves as a boat jetty. It is where the ferry passengers alight.
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Beaches
Being a small island, you can easily visit any beach located around the island.
Enjoy both sunrise and sunset. Swim or just play with the gentle waves.
Visit Paya Beach, and Nipah Beach where you can see other tourists lingering around.
Juara Beach is for loners who just like to sit and gaze at the horizon.
Nipah Beach is a bioluminescent beach. The blue micro-organisms’ glitter is very attractive.
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Asah Waterfall
You can expect to see a hidden waterfall in a such a dense forest on the island.
The gentle cascade is friendly for the kids too to play with the water. The thick vegetation surrounding the waterfall is very picturesque.
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Trekking
The forest has a couple of trekking trails and both of them lead you to the Monkey Bay.
Look at the video below showing the Monkey Bay and the dense forest through which you walk, to enter the Monkey Bay.
You would feel like walking through the Amazon Rainforest. You can notice numerous insects of all shapes and colors.
Watch out for exotic snakes too.
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Visiting other small islands
Tourists, especially scuba divers and snorkelers are taken to nearby islands, and islets mainly to explore the underwater creatures and coral reefs.
You will be taken to the following islands:
- Renggis Island
- Labas Island
- Coral Island
- Chebeh Island
Here, take a look at what you can expect to see off the shores of the islands.
The reefs and the fish species are amazing here.
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Kayaking
If you are not afraid to row a kayak in the South China Sea, kayaks are available for rent. The water is ideal, not too wavy.
Remember, in kayaks, the paddle has two blades at its ends. Canoeing paddle has a single bade.
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What is the special food on Tioman Island?
Well, the cuisine is Malay, and Chinese. An instant noodle variety known as “Maggi Goreng” is served both at the resorts’ restaurants, and street food cafes.
- Popoiah points to vegetables and meat filled spring rolls.
- Nasi Goerng on the menu card means fried rice. It is very popular all over Malaysia, and quite tasty. It is served with a few sauces.
I think Tioman Island is worth a day trip either from Phuket, or from Phi Phi Islands.
