Situated to the northeast of Malaysia is one of our favourite islands in the country. Famous for its white sandy beaches and beautiful diving spots, Pulau Perhentian is made up of two small islands namely Perhentian Kecil and Perhentian Besar. In English ‘perhentian means ‘stopping point’, where ‘kecil’ means ‘small’ and ‘besar’ means ‘big’. These islands got its name as it was used as a stop over shelter by traders in the early 1900s from storms.

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Having visited Pulau Perhentian many times, this time around we decided to bring along our 4 children for an island adventure. We chose to stay at Perhentian Island Resort on Pulau Perhentian Besar for our family getaway.

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Jetty at Perhentian Island Resort

 

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Perhentian Island Resort has its own jetty as the whole lagoon is occupied by the resort exclusively. The white sandy beach stretches from one end to the other with beach front chalets over looking the clear blue sea.

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Perhentian Island Resort beach front chalet

 

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View of the ocean from Perhentian Island Resort

 

After the usual snorkelling activities, on our second day we decided to bring the kids on a walk along the west coast of the island. A walk that takes us from our hotel Perhentian Island Resort right down to Abdul’s Chalet and to the southern tip of the island called Teluk KK.

The beach of Perhentian Island Resort

The beach of Perhentian Island Resort

 

Neighbouring the Perhentian Island Resort is Coral View Resort. To get there is a 7 minute walk through a concrete walkway.

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Concrete path way cutting through the forest

Concrete path way cutting through the forest

 

The walk will take you up and down a flight of stairs with many breathtaking views along the way.

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Greeting us on the other side is Coral View Resort. Like its name, this chalet has its own coral garden right at its doorstep.

VIew of Coral View Resort from the sea clearly shows the underwater coral garden

View of Coral View Resort from the sea clearly shows the underwater coral garden

 

Coral View Resort

Coral View Resort

 

Coral View Resort

Coral View Resort

 

Coral View Resort

Coral View Resort – Mini Mart

 

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Coral View Resort

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Speed boat drop off point for Coral View Resort guests. Opposite is Pulau Perhentian Kecil.

Speed boat drop off point for Coral View Resort guests. Opposite is Pulau Perhentian Kecil.

 

There are several other chalets along this beach… however Mama’s Chalet was undergoing renovation at the time we were there. Continuing our walk, is a 15 minute jungle trekking. Unlike the previous concrete pathway, this short hike will definitely make you sweat. However, if hiking is not your thing, you can grab any water taxi to get you to the other side.

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The starting point of our hike.

 

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The jungle trail

The jungle trail

 

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Cozy Chalet

Cozy Chalet

 

Cozy Chalet

Cozy Chalet

 

You will know you have reached the end of the jungle trail when you can see rows of orange chalet with green roofs overlooking the blue ocean. This is Cozy Chalet.

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A concrete path leading to the beach.

 

View from the top of Cozy Chalet.

View from the top of Cozy Chalet.

 

Next to Cozy Chalet is Cocohut Chalet. Unlike most of the chalets in Perhentian Kecil, almost all of the chalets in Perhentian Besar provides 24 hours of electricity.

Cocohut Chalet beach front view

Cocohut Chalet beach front view

 

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Walking along the beach there are several eatery spots to chose from. Usually, these restaurants are attached to the chalets but it is open to all.

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One of the sea view restaurants along the beach

 

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Next chalet along the beach is the Tuna Bay Island Resort.

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Beach view from Tuna Bay Island Resort

 

Tuna Bay Island Resort beach front view

Tuna Bay Island Resort beach front chalet

 

Our walkabout brings us to the next chalet called Abdul’s Chalet. Like most of the chalets along the coastline, they too offers beach front chalet and a restaurant overlooking the ocean.

Abdul's Chalet

Abdul’s Chalet

 

Abdul's Chalet

Abdul’s Chalet

 

Having a break at Abdul Chalet restaurant

Having a break at Abdul Chalet restaurant

 

If you refer to the first map picture of Pulau Perhentian Besar, moving further down will get us to Teluk KK or KK Lagoon. A location usually used as a camping ground. From Abdul’s Chalet, to get to Teluk KK we need to cross another two lagoon which is accessible via concrete path way.

Concrete walkway leading to Teluk KK from Abdul's Chalet

Concrete walkway leading to Teluk KK from Abdul’s Chalet

 

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On the other side of the walkway is private lagoon.

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Climbing up another concrete walkway, we found ourselves at Teluk KK. On this beach there is a fishermen jetty used by the locals and we found an abandon chalet.

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From the walkway, we could see Teluk KK up ahead.

 

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The beach of Teluk KK

 

The fisherman jetty at Teluk KK

The fisherman jetty at Teluk KK

 

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The fishermen jetty at Teluk KK

 

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Teluk KK

 

The journey from Perhentian Island Resort right down to Teluk KK should not take you more than 2 hours… without stopping that is or in our case having 4 kids slowing you down. To those looking for activities other than snorkelling, we do recommend you to try the route. Maybe in our next trip to Pulau Perhentian, we will try the hiking trail across Pulau Perhentian Besar from Perhentian Island Resort to Arwana Eco Resort in Teluk Dalam.

6 Comments

  1. Do u know if December is too wet to be there?

  2. danontheroad says:

    I’ve been to quite a number of islands and beaches in South East Asia but I’ll always long for Perhentian!

  3. Dara says:

    Perhentians is so beautiful ! Your post reminds me of the good times 🙂

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