Tioman Pahang, Malaysia
Page Three

I brought the island map back because here on page three we're going to take a little trip down the west coast. There are two hiking paths that I'm aware of on Tioman: a path that follows the coastline down from Salang, and another that cuts across the island from Tekek to the east coast. I did the hike from Salang to Monkey Beach to the south only, but I took the sea bus, ferry, and a speed boat south, too.

On this last page we'll leave Salang and start with a snorkel, then hike the path to Monkey Bay, and finally end with some shots of the coast from a boat.


I like to snorkel. I was very happy to find out that on the south end of Salang, just under the hotel construction on the hill, the coral starts to get nice, and it gets nicer and nicer as you swim past the little island and toward Monkey Beach. Granted, there are patches where the coral is dying or dead, as is the case in most of the world, but I saw turtles, a big cuttlefish, and even a small shark just off the shore, which I consider pretty cool. Here I've included a picture of a nice coral table that I encountered south of Salang, almost to Monkey Bay.
Salang has a couple of incredible schools of fish that move around from place to place, but you can find them under the jetty at certain times of the day. I saw this guy snorkeling in the middle of a giant school, and decided to go back to the room and get my gear and underwater camera. Soon I was doing the same thing, and snapped the shot you see on the bottom half. If you have never been surrounded by a thousand fish all swimming in the same direction, well, I hope you can experience it sometime.
If you go down past Zaid's and up the hill I showed you on page one, following the power line as you go, you'll eventually get to Monkey Bay to the south. The trail is rugged and takes over an hour one way, but hey, if my 5 year old daughter Kelly can do it, you can too! We started out counting the lizards as we saw them, but soon gave up -- we must have seen 500! Monkey Beach is not a misnomer; I'm offering the picture in the inset as proof that they are indeed in the trees. Just keep your ears and eyes open, and don't be in too much of a hurry to check out what's going on in the jungle around you.
If hiking through the jungle isn't your thing, there is an easier way to get to Monkey Bay. The Philippines has banka boats and Thailand has long tails, but Tioman has fiberglass speedboat water taxis. Not the most romantic conveyance, but they sure get the job done. This picture I took at the end of the Salang jetty. Since there's only a ladder on the south side, all boats pull up there. And if there's already a boat there, they pull up next to it. As a result, you may need to climb over three boats just to disembark. Watch out for those dive tanks!
Monkey Beach has a population of two - a guy who drives a speedboat taxi (not the one pictured) for a living and his elderly father, so there's a grand total of one house on this beach, plus a great number of papaya trees. I know about the papaya trees because I saw them, and I know about the inhabitants because my speedboat driver told me his story when I said I had snorkeled to Monkey Beach. There's a rope swing in one of the trees there, so you can swing out over the water for a splash if you'd like.
If you continue south, you will come to Penuba, just north of ABC. It's only as big as what you see here, but quite scenic, don't you think? Although I only photographed it from the water, the building on the left seems to be a restaurant, so you wouldn't have to climb the head land to the south for every meal.
. Just to the right of the head land you can see starting in the preceding picture are these two chalets, called Bamboo Hill Chalets. The manager, Susan, has been kind enough to email me to say that they have been added to since this picture was taken. If you would like to get in touch with her to ask about her chalets or other aspects of Tioman tourism, click here. As far as I could tell, this was the only stretch of beach on Kampong Air Batang, so this end of the village might be a good place to stay. I was having lunch in a beachfront restaurant when I got the urge to walk out and snap this picture.
Although your guide book probably labels it as "Kampong Air Batang," the locals all refer to this little village as "ABC" after the Air Batang Corner restaurant I just mentioned. ABC is a lovely place with many attractive places to stay. Although its shore is rocky, ABC is covered by lush vegetation, as you can see in this picture of my son, Casey, under the "Welcome to ABC" sign. ABC seems quiet and laid back, a great place to relax and enjoy a natural setting.
A little farther to the south you'll find Nazri's Beach Cabanas. At least I THINK this is Nazri's, but since there's no sign, your guess is as good as mine. Regardless of what the name of this establishment is, I'm sure it will at least give you an idea of the general feeling of ABC. Although this building is perhaps the most obvious thing from the water, it's all something like this.
I hesitate to do include it since I know they certainly don't need a plug from me, but here's a picture of the main building of the Berjaya Resort. I'm sure the hilltop location affords a super view, and that is indeed an escalator you see leading up the hill under the umbrella roof. That escalator might give you an advanced hint that it is not exactly a backpacker's hangout, but if you have the wherewithal to stay there, I'm sure they will make sure that you are more than comfortable.

This is the end of my little tour of Tioman island. If you're really serious about going to Tioman and would like to see a list of Tioman hotels, I've included one here that you can download. This list was originally downloaded from Malaysia On Line, but since has been updated by Sue of Bamboo Hill Chalets. I include it here as the most up-to-date list (as far as I know) on the web. The numbers included should work
Anyway, if you do go to Tioman, with reservations or not, I hope you enjoy your trip. We certainly did.


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