Berjaya Tioman Beach Resort |
Tioman
is the biggest and most impressive island at the east coast. There is
a brisk jungle covers a ridge on the west section of the island, which
ends at the idyllic location of a beautiful palm fringed beach. Tioman
offers a wide range of activities for visitors: snorkeling in crystal
clear water, discover the beautiful underwater world when you go
diving, or just laze on the beach while you work on that tan. Also,
there is a jungle on the island that is just begging to be explored.
The dense forest is a habitat for many kinds of flora and fauna.
Tioman was discovered as a holiday destination quite some time ago. It
was the setting for the supposedly mythical magical island of Bali Hai
from the 1958 Hollywood movie 'South Pacific'. In the 70s the Time
magazine selected Tioman as one of the world's most beautiful
islands.Tioman is still rated as one of the world's most beautiful
islands. It presents itself as a paradise island in the tropics. But
sometimes you have to search for this paradise off the beaten track.
Places of Interest Marine PARK, Monkey
Bay, Tulai Island, Renggis IslandA
Marine Park is an area of the sea zoned as a sanctuary for the coral
reef community. The coral reef community is considered as the most
productive eco-system in the world containing a diverse amount of
aquatic flora and fauna. Coral reefs are also important breeding and
nursery grounds for many commercially important species of marine
organisms and fish. Marine Park Tioman is located at Tanjung Mesoh
(about 15 min from Tekek jetty)
Monkey bay located
in between Salang and ABC village (about 10 minutes with speed boat fr
the 2 villages). You can also go to Monkey bay by jungle trekking.
Monkey bay has a long stretch of white sandy beach.Charming
Island. A must
destination for skin divers and snorkelers. Offer a perfect escape for
Snorkellers and divers. The best time for diving is between March to
November as the water is calm and the weather is beautiful.Renggis
Island is located infront of Berjaya Tioman Resort. Only a few hundred
meters from Berjaya jetty (lalang village). Average depth is 9m and
max depth is 12m. This site is ideal for training and night dives.
Teeming underwater marine life encircles the tiny island. Common fish
species includes Barracuda, yellow tail, stingray, Angel, Buffalo fish
and Famed moray eels. Harmless black tip sharks are often sighted.Pulau
Tioman is the largest in a group of 64 volcanic islands which includes
Pulau Seri Bulat, Pulau Sembilang, Pulau Tulai, Chebeh, Pulau Labas
and Pulau Renggis. Blessed with miles and miles of soft white sand,
swaying palms and cool waterfalls it is located about
80 km northwest off Peninsular Malaysia's east
coast. Tioman
is a relatively small island measuring only about 12 x 7.3 miles. It
is approximately half the size of Singapore. Culminating at 1040
meters, it is surrounded by reefs, but no roads: with the exception of
2km at the airport. Noted
for crystal clear water as far down as 35 metres, Pulau Tioman is a
veritable garden of colourful marine life, offering underwater
sportsmen some of the best site in the world. Said to be the final
resting place of a fabled dragon princess who had turned herself into
an island in the South China Sea, Pulau Tioman is truly one of the
most beautiful islands in the region.Climate
The climate is a typical tropical
climate, it's hot and humid all year round. The temperature rarely
drops below 20C even at night, and usually reaches 30C or more during
the day. Humidity is generally about 90%.The Monsoon Season is between
December and early February. During this time there is a lot of
rainfall and the seas tend to have huge waves and swells making Tioman
inaccessible during this timeThe
waters around the island also offer visitors many fun filled water
sports facilities, water skiing, jet skiing, snorkeling, scuba diving,
underwater photography and many
more.
On the
northeast is the Tulai Island, which look just like a bat with
outstretched wings. The waters around this island are unbelievably
clear and like Tioman, it is a beautiful marine park. Snorkeling,
Scuba diving and underwater photography are the only activities
allowed here. All these islands are uninhabited and within an hours
boat ride from Pulau Tioman.
The shallow
reefs of Pulau Tulai and Renggis are popular spots for scuba diving
and snorkeling. Divers can explore the underwater caves around Pulau
Chebeh and the incredible beauty of Pulau Sepoi and Pulau Labas reefs.
Beaches to head for include the Air Batang Beach and Salang Beach (for
dives and snorkel), Juara Beach (perfect hideaway).
The
10-minute jungle trek to Rockfalls awards you with glimpses of monitor
lizards and exotic butterflies in their natural environment.
Golfers can hit the
greens at the Tioman Golf Club, and get in 18 holes of relaxing golf.
Pulau Tioman
has accommodation ranging from air - conditioned chalets, A-frame
huts, condominiums, condotels, resorts, bungalows and much more.With
extensive coral reefs teeming with a wide variety of tropical fish
large and small, Tioman also has over a dozen wrecks (mainly scuttled
wooden hulled fishing trawlers) offering something for every level of
divers.
The shallow, calm waters of dive sites near Tioman, such as Pirate
Reef and Renggis Island, are ideal for training and less experienced
divers, as well as photography. A little further, sites such as Chebeh
and Tiger Reef provide deeper waters, sometimes with challenging
currents, plus the chance to see larger species...
House Reef - Depth: 2-10 m; travel time: 1 minute!
In the sheltered waters off Tekek Beach, the
house reef is an ideal training ground. The calm shallow water,
combined with a variety of corals on the reef in slightly deeper
water, serve to give students an exciting introduction to the
underwater world. Boulder, staghorn and brain corals, colourful
tropical fish and our very own school of small yellow tail barracuda
combine to make this a great introduction to diving. Also used for
night dives Tom Yam Wreck -
Depth: 18m; travel time: 3 minutes
A little further from the beach is our closest
wreck, the "Tom Yam". Settled on a sandy bottom, the wreck is dotted
with soft corals. Barracuda and reef fish call it home.
Marine Park
- Depth: 8-25m; travel time: less than 10 minutes
This site,
located off the beach at the Marine Park headquarters, has 8 wrecks at
varying depths. Inquisitive batfish follow divers on their exploration
- starting just below the surface as you descend. The wrecks are all
connected, so finding your way around is not difficult. Soft corals
abound and shoals of fusiliers and trevallys can often be seen at the
wrecks.Pirate
Wreck - Depth: 18 m; travel time: 5 minutes
The wreck is
a few minutes swim from Pirate Reef, and the dives are usually
combined. Seldom visited, the wreck is in good condition, with a
variety of soft corals and sea fans. Home to a large puffer fish and
shoals of common reef fish.
Sawadee -
Depth: 30 m; travel time: less than 10 minutes
The deepest
dive site close to the main island, Sawadee is often used for deep
dive training as part of the Advanced Open Water course, as well as
for leisure dives. The two wrecks have many soft and hard corals, and
large shoals of fusiliers and kingfish are also found here. Small
boxfish hover around the lines of the wrecks, and one wreck is home to
a stone fish and a small (shy!) octopus.Renggis
Island Reef - Depth: 6-14 m; travel time: less than 10 minutes
A
truly wonderful dive site surrounding Renggis island, and always with
a surprise. This beautiful reef has many coral varieties - hard and
soft - and teems with marine life - puffer fish, angelfish, butterfly
fish, sting rays, moray eels, trigger fish, giant grouper and more.
Renggis is one of the best sites for seeing turtles, and harmless
black tip reef sharks are often spotted. This site is often used for
training dives and night dives - when Boris the giant barracuda likes
to keep an eye on proceedings - at a distance, of course.
Renggis
Wreck - Depth: 20 m; travel time: less than 10 minutes
A short swim
from the island itself lies another Tioman wreck. The wreck has
colourful soft corals and small barracuda are often sighted. A moray
eel lives in the wreck. This site is usually combined with a dive to
Renggis island or Hidden Reef.
Hidden
Reef - Depth: 10-12 m; travel time: less than 10 minutes
Accessible only from the wreck at Renggis (with the right compass
bearing!), this little visited site is covered in hard corals,
including blue corals and pavona cactus. Many varieties of tropical
reef fish abound at the reef.
Soyak Island - Depth: 5-15 m; travel time: 15 minutes
A small island surrounded by large underwater
rocks, with many soft corals. In addition to many tropical reef fish,
common sightings include a giant grouper, lion fish, large bump head
parrot fish, nudibranchs, a large napoleon fish and turtles
Soyak Wrecks
- Depth: 20-26 m; travel time: 15 minutes
These two
wrecks are covered with a wide variety of soft corals. A giant grouper
is often sighted at the wreck (or nearby Soyak island), as are schools
of fusiliers, yellow tail kingfish and trevally. Lyre tailed wrasse
follow you around and a black tip reef shark is sometimes seen.
Usually combined with a dive to Soyak island.Genting
Bay - Depth: 5-30 m; travel time: 25-30 minutes
Genting Bay slopes away from Tulai island to
depths greater than 30 metres. The site is characterised by large
rocks, covered by a variety of corals, including many gorgonian fans,
other sea fans, soft corals, whip corals and some black coral. Common
marine life include a giant grouper, bump head parrot fish and lion
fish. Gador Bay - Depth: 5-18 m;
travel time: 25-30 minutes On the
north side of the island, this sheltered bay has a variety of hard
corals. Many common reef fish are found here in addition to turtles
and blue spotted sting rays. Malang
Rocks - Depth: 6-14 m; travel time: 25-30 minutes
Sheltered on one side by Tulai Island and with
deeper water on the other, Malang Rock provides two contrasting
environments. On the sheltered side is a coral reef with extensive
potato corals and pavona cactus. A school of small barracuda is often
found here. On the other side, there are large rocks (an underwater
continuation of the above-water island) with a variety of soft and
hard corals. Sharks are sometimes seen in the deeper water channel.
Other marine life includes turtles, trigger fish, lion fish and
nudibranchs.Golden
Reef - Depth: 10-25 m; travel time: 30 minutes
Large rocks covered with a wide variety of soft
corals. Numerous reef fish inhabit the site, including angel fish,
butterfly fish and coral groupers.
Tiger Reef - Depth: 10-25 m; travel time: 30 minutes
In the channel between Sepoi and Labas islands
lies Tiger Reef. A deep, open area with spectacular huge rocks, there
are both soft and hard corals including sponges, gorgonian fans, fire
corals and plate and table corals. The site has a variety of fish,
including trevally, tuna and shoals of yellow tail snapper. Often a
strong current makes for a challenging dive!
Labas Island - Depth: 5-25 m; travel time: 25
minutes Similar to Malang Rock,
Labas is essentially a group of large rocks. Tunnels running through
the rocks create tunnels to swim through, popular with many divers.
Turtles, puffer fish and blue spotted sting rays can be seen here in
addition to many common reef fish.
Chebeh Island - Depth: 10-30 m; travel time: 30 minutes
Surrounded by enormous volcanic rocks and
boulders, Chebeh Island can be dived at different places, depending on
conditions. The site is famous for its occasional sightings of whale
shark and manta rays during the annual migration (around April and
October). Schools of large trevallys and snappers can be found. The
rocks create tunnels and passages, making this a challenging site to
explore. The site is also known for its trigger fish. |
