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Perhentian Islands |
 Posted: Tue Aug 25, 2009 9:00 pm |
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| i'd planned to go right at the start of Feb, but heard it might be monsoon season still? or is that just Jan?
Would it still be worth me going say 1 Feb for a week? |
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| Back to top | Location: Unknown | 135 Posts |
| Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2009 9:40 am |
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i'd planned to go right at the start of Feb, but heard it might be monsoon season still? or is that just Jan?
Would it still be worth me going say 1 Feb for a week? Doesn't normally re-open 'til at least mid February, mate. Earliest I've known them to run public speedboats is around 12th Feb. Depends on the whim of the monsoon, but I very much doubt they'll be open before that date. |
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| Back to top | Location: Unknown | 6506 Posts |
| Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2009 10:01 am |
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| Just checked a blog run by one of the dive centres out there. They said things didn't open up 'til mid February again this year, so same as usual.
Valentines Day is a good date to set your watch by. |
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| Back to top | Location: Unknown | 6506 Posts |
| Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2009 10:17 am |
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| places will let you stay out of season and itl be cheaper, but dont expect to meet many people there.
Dont use spice divers if you go there, i was almost hit by their boat when i ascended. Fucking spastics! |
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| Back to top | Location: Unknown | 1537 Posts |
| Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2009 1:31 pm |
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places will let you stay out of season and itl be cheaper, but dont expect to meet many people there.
Dont use spice divers if you go there, i was almost hit by their boat when i ascended. Fucking spastics! Normally it's only the Perhentian Island Resort that runs right the way through, but that's expensive. You can negotiate your way out there on the locals' supply and fishing boats out of season (done it - not advisable) and you may be able to find some lodgings that are semi-open, or if not you can always camp on certain beaches in Besar (but there are marine park rules, so make sure you pick a beach where camping's permitted). There are periods in wet season most years when there is absolutely nothing open on the small island, and only the big resort is open on the big island. I've been out there in the middle of wet season and stayed at a friend's place (former dive centre owner on Kecil), and it's not much fun. Boring more than anything. Quite often large sections of the main beaches are washed away by rainwater run-off, although bizarrely the swell can create amazing surf, which totally transforms long beach and you get some surfers show up on boats too. A lot of the islanders go back to the mainland for wet season, which is why the accommodation totally shuts down. The guy who owns Tropical Reef on Besar - a local from Kota Bharu on the mainland - went to uni in Bolton, which makes me chuckle. He goes back to the mainland for wet season, but last time I spoke to him he told me it was his dream to go back to Bolton for wet season one year. Fool. Spice and a couple of the other places will tell you that the islands don't close completely for monsoon, which is true in a way because an island can't really close, but there's fuck all going on out there. Some places will have skeleton staff on in case folks rock up, but yeah, expect your own reflection to be the only other outsider you see most of the time. Solitude is fine (the novelty wears off after a few days), but there's better things to do elsewhere in the region while the Perhentians, Redang and the other smaller islands are in wet season. If you really want to go to an eastern Malaysian island at that time of year, then go to Tioman. It has more of a pulse during wet season. |
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| Back to top | Location: Unknown | 6506 Posts |
| Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2009 2:28 pm |
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| well alot of the hotel/ bungalow complexs do all their upkeep in the wet season, and if you turn up i know they will let you stay for cheaper but they just wont be sorry for hammering all day. | |
| Back to top | Location: Unknown | 1537 Posts |
| Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2009 5:29 pm |
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| Yeah, agree with the above. I got there on the first boat, and there was so much going on, the staff were extremley friendly and I ended up staying for 14 days. Such an incredible island.
And watch out for the Lizards that look like small dinosaurs! Tomma.. I'll let you camp on the beach before me!!! ; |
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| Back to top | Location: Unknown | 138 Posts |
| Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2009 8:52 pm |
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| cheers guys, leaning towards staying in thailand for a bit longer then. also means i don't have to get a triple/multi entry visa for thailand, cos my flight out of the region is from Bangok snd i'd have to go back into thailand a 3rd time from the Perhentians.
This has got me thinking tho, are there any areas in thailand I should avoid in january, ie best to stick to one of the coasts? weather advice in the guides is pretty vague.. |
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| Back to top | Location: Unknown | 135 Posts |
| Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2009 10:38 am |
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well alot of the hotel/ bungalow complexs do all their upkeep in the wet season, and if you turn up i know they will let you stay for cheaper but they just wont be sorry for hammering all day.
You'll see plenty of contractors on the big island these days in wet season working on the fancy pads, but the the vast majority of resorts on Kecil don't know what upkeep is. Cloudy waters and no bars open. That's Kecil in the wet season. It's a shame the Seadragon blog doesn't run any more, coz they updated stuff all year round with pictures and info. That's how we found our way out there in wet season. One of the guys off here used to work for Seadragon, maybe he knows what happened to the blog. |
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| Back to top | Location: Unknown | 6506 Posts |
| Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2009 10:48 am |
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| Bintang chalets which is on Kecil, is run by an irish woman called Finola with a malay guy called Joe. Its midway up the beach and up a track on the hill.
I know that they will give you accomodation if you want, but like Tom said. Cloudy water and no bars open. But finola makes an awesome banana cake and custard.haha. Perhentians are only to be seen in their unrivalled glory of high season, when the water is like a swimming pool. The only annoying thing is when you have to clamber over boats with your backpacks and it can get sketchy at times. I saw a few people drop there bags in so be careful. I bought a dry bag there and it came in priceless the day i left.When it was raining and there is minimal cover on the fast boats at least. And dont be fooled when people tell you about the monitor lizards, some of them are huge. And i saw the locals trying to get rid of one from a bungalow complex only to piss it off and make it start lashing out at people.haha |
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| Back to top | Location: Unknown | 1537 Posts |
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