On the Perhentian Islands most of the action is underwater, and you find that out on your first morning. You pull your mask on, put your head under and watch a reef shark glide along the rocks, a metre long and more startled by you than you are by it. After that, a sun lounger never looks the same again.
Above the water the list is short. A jungle trail, a bay on the west side, a second island a few minutes away by boat. Precisely because there is so little to do, what you do with your days matters: the sea sets the pace here, and if you go with that, you get the most out of it.
So where do you spend your time on the two islands, and what do you add if you still have a day left?
Getting there, where to sleep and how many days you need are all on our Perhentian Islands page.
Snorkel trip to Shark Point and Turtle Point
This is the day you come to the Perhentian Islands for. A small boat takes you to five or six spots around Kecil and Besar, and two of them stay with you. At Shark Point, blacktip reef sharks swim between the rocks. At Turtle Point you float above green turtles that could not care less about you and just keep grazing on the seabed.
The trip costs from about €10, snorkel gear included, and takes half a day to a full day. Between the fixed stops you hang above coral gardens full of fish, in water so clear you can see the bottom from the boat.
The trick is the timing. Nearly all the boats go after lunch, so ask for a morning departure when you book. Out at nine, you share Shark Point with a few boats instead of a whole fleet, and the water is often clearest then.
Do not touch the sharks, the turtles or the coral, do not chase them, and fix your mask without standing on the coral. Then they just keep swimming around, for you and for the boat after you.
Our verdict: the best €10 you will spend on these islands, so book it for the morning
Sunset in Coral Bay
Long Beach is on the east side of Perhentian Kecil, so the sun sets behind your back. Ten minutes over the jungle trail to the west side brings you to Coral Bay: a smaller beach, calmer water, and the sun dropping into the sea right in front of you.
It costs nothing and there is nothing to organise. Get there half an hour before sunset, find a spot in the sand or at a table by the water, and stay until the light is gone. Eat there too, and you have the best table of the evening.
Bring a torch. The jungle trail back to Long Beach is pitch black at night, and you do not want to be relying on your phone light the whole way.
Our verdict: good every evening, and the first one is the best
Getting your dive certificate
On Long Beach the dive schools sit shoulder to shoulder, and that works in your favour: in one afternoon you can walk into three and pick the one that clicks. The water is warm, the current weak and the dive sites close to the islands. Conditions for your first breath underwater hardly come better than this.
An Open Water course takes three to four days and costs from about €290. Pick a PADI or SSI school and check beforehand that your travel insurance covers diving.
After that, two classics are waiting. Tokong Laut is a coral-covered rock out in open water, the Sugar Wreck a sunken cargo ship, and at both you have a chance of turtles and sharks. Already certified? Then a few fun dives here cost very little.
Our verdict: get your certificate here and you will end up staying a few days longer
Kayaking to a bay of your own
On Long Beach and in Coral Bay you can rent a kayak by the hour, from about €4. Paddle along the coast until you find a little bay that is hard to reach on foot, and jump in wherever the water looks good.
Take your snorkel gear in the kayak. That gets you to places where the trips do not stop, and you have the coral to yourself for a while.
Go early in the morning, when the sea is calmest, and stay out of the speedboat lanes. A cheap, quiet outing between two diving days.
Our verdict: the smallest adventure on the islands, and maybe the nicest
A day on Perhentian Besar
Perhentian Besar is a few minutes by boat from Kecil and still feels like another world. Long beaches, resorts, families and a lot fewer backpackers. After a few days on Long Beach, that is exactly the break you are after.
A water taxi takes you over from about €4 a ride. You snorkel straight off the beach and walk the trails from one bay to the next, with no fixed plan.
Agree with your water taxi what time it will come back for you. Then you are not hunting for a boat home at the end of the afternoon.
Our verdict: a rest day that still feels like a day out
Long Beach after dark
By day Long Beach is a beach for swimming and snorkelling. In the evening it changes. The grills fire up with the day’s catch, the beach bars open, and somewhere in the sand a fire show gets going.
This is also where you find your beer, because Terengganu is conservative and away from the beaches drink is hard to come by. Count on about €3 a can. It is not a cheap night, but it is one where you sit with your feet in the sand and run into the people from the snorkel boat again.
Our verdict: the place where you find your travel buddies for the rest of your route
Got time to spare on the Perhentian Islands?
The fishing village on Kecil
Behind Kecil’s beaches is a fishing village with a mosque, where the islanders themselves live. Take a walk through it for a different picture of the islands than the beach. Cover your shoulders and knees, as you do everywhere off the sand.
Snorkelling from the beach
You do not always need a boat. On Long Beach and Perhentian Besar you swim straight off the beach among the fish. On Long Beach, keep an eye out for the boats coming and going close to the shore.
A roti canai breakfast
Start your day with roti canai, have nasi lemak or mee goreng for lunch, and finish with a fresh fruit shake on the beach. Food costs a bit more than on the mainland, because everything comes in by boat, but a meal is still around €3.
Absolutely nothing
Sounds like a joke, but on these islands it is a perfectly good plan for the day. Hammock, book, into the water now and then. After a few weeks of buses and cities, you may need it more than you think.
Our top five on the Perhentian Islands
Got three or four days? Then these are the five we would do no matter what:
- The snorkel trip to Shark Point and Turtle Point, with a morning departure
- Sunset in Coral Bay, with a torch for the walk back
- A few fun dives at Tokong Laut or the Sugar Wreck, or your Open Water straight away
- A kayak and a snorkel set for a bay of your own, early in the day
- A rest day on Perhentian Besar, with a fixed pick-up time for your water taxi
Still got an evening after that? Settle in on Long Beach with your feet in the sand and watch the fire shows.
So what do you really have to do on the Perhentian Islands?
One thing: float with your head underwater above a shark or a turtle. Everything on these islands revolves around what swims below the surface, and the snorkel trip is the easiest and cheapest way to see it. Book it for the morning and you have the reef almost to yourself.
After that you can slow right down. Walk to Coral Bay when the sun is low, rent a kayak when the sea is like glass, and take a water taxi to Besar when Long Beach gets too busy for you. No need to plan: every morning the sea tells you what is on.
And if you notice you do not want to leave, take one more walk past the dive schools. There are worse places to get your first certificate, and not many better.
