Hello merry goers,
Are you planning for a getaway this season with your friends or family? How does an island getaway sound? Specifically at Pulau Tioman with Berjaya Tioman Resort!
Although I'm a Malaysian, I must say I never actually explored much of the beautiful islands my home country have to offer. Thanks to Berjaya Group, I had the chance to plan a vacation at Tioman Island.
Berjaya Tioman Resort is the largest hotel on Tioman Island, situated on a vast 200-acre ground with spacious beachfront and lush jungle surroundings of Tekek Village. Let me bring you along my journey to Tioman Island.
If you're coming from KL, you can go there via bus or car. I decided to go by bus because the journey was about 5 to 6 hours. Once you arrive at the Mersing Jetty, you'll have to travel by ferry to Kampung Tekek Jetty. This ferry ride will take about one to two hours depending on the weather.
Note: Please make sure to check the ferry schedule so that you can plan your trip well. There are only limited time slots available.
Once you've arrived at the Kampung Tekek stop, you'll be received by the staff from Berjaya Tioman Resort. Yes! Then resort offers complimentary shuttle services to and from the resort and jetty. Honestly my first impressions were WOW! Not only from the beautiful waters of Tioman but also the welcome service from the resort.
We arrived at Berjaya Tioman Resort much earlier than our check-in time. While the concierge was arranging our rooms to be ready, we decided to have our breakfast at Sri Nelayan Coffee House. Buggy service is available but it's not too far and it's a good walk to work up our appetite.
At Sri Nelayan Coffee House, you can opt for the Breakfast Buffet which as a decent spread of Asian and Western choices. Honestly after the long bus and ferry ride, our tummies were rumbling and super hungry.
The breakfast spread was really satisfying and the taste was on point too especially the Nasi Lemak and Rendang Chicken.
The breakfast spread was really satisfying and the taste was on point too especially the Nasi Lemak and Rendang Chicken.
After filling our tummies, we decided to take a stroll along the beach and around the resort. With the fine weather and sun shining, I couldn't wait to try out all the activities. Berjaya Tioman Resort is HUGE! This 4-Star resort has large facilities including a ballroom, function halls, dive centre, spa, 18-hole golf course, outdoor team building circuit, swimming pool and various restaurants - Malay / Chinese / Thai
We got the Garden View Chalet for our accommodation which was a quaint chalet inspired by traditional village architecture, perched on stilts along the garden. You can also opt for the chalets facing the beachfront and really enjoy the sunset from your rooms. After a quick freshening up, it was time for lunch.
We headed back to Sri Nelayan Coffee House for lunch and ordered quite a feast for two. We had the Seabass as well as the Rack of Lamb which were both just scrumptious. My mouth is salivating with the thought of it. Portion wise is huge and totally worth the price. I actually expected the prices at the resort would be much higher since we were at a tourist spot but surprisingly it was similar with what you would pay for a good meal in KL.
After a satisfying meal, we took a stroll along the beach and relax while we digested our meal. We also checked out the water activities which were available for us to take part. After looking through the activities we decided to try two activities for that evening.
The first thing we tried was the Stand Paddle. This was intense especially if you're not good at balancing. We weren't as ambitious to try paddling out into the open sea but we had our fair fun in the shallow waters.
Next up was Kayaking! Now this is one of my most memorable experience as we kayaked all the way to a mini island. The waves were manageable and oh boy you'll just love the clear blue waters! The waters were so clear that you could even see corals from the surface. It was a good arm workout as we kayaked quite a distance but it was worth it. The view was gorgeous and I could just stay there all day.
The water activity did workout an appetite as we kayaked back to the resort and washed up for dinner. For dinner, we proceeded to have Thai at Matahari Restaurant. The restaurant is facing the beachfront so I'd definitely advice you to head there earlier to enjoy the sunset. The setup was really romantic as they set a table for us with candlelight and fairylights.
The water sports definitely worked up and appetite because we were famished. We ordered quite a number of dishes which I'd recommend if you're planning to have your dinner here too.
Highly recommended the Pineapple Fried Rice, Deep Fried Tilapia and Seafood Tom Yum.
After dinner and a quick stroll, we headed back to our room and rested for the night. Why did we rest so early? Because we were going to go snorkeling tomorrow morning and we definitely would need sufficient rest!
Day 2 : Snorkeling at Pulau Renggis
Before we knew it, daybreak called and we were getting ready for our snorkeling activity! It's a short walk to the jetty, further up from the golf course. There are signboards so you'll won't miss it. Also, there is a buggy which would bring you there too. After a quick breakfast and making sure we had enough time to digest our meal, we geared up and off we went to Pulau Renggis.
FYI, this is the same mini island which we kayaked to yesterday and it is famous for looking like a turtle. There are a lot of different corals around this island and we were excited to explore it.
Tip: Bring some bread with you if you want to attract fishes and feed them. But BEWARE because those fishes are crazy active so once they see bread in the water .. imagine Feeding Frenzy!
I have no words to describe how beautiful the waters were and it's so clear you can really see all the corals and fishes. I've had experience snorkeling before this at other islands but this is just surreal. Just watch my video and you'll see! Also some of our other companions saw a turtle and sharks too.
I wished we could stay longer to see the turtle and baby shark as well but unfortunately our time was up. Still luckily we brought a GoPro so we had some good footages which I'm satisfied with.
After our snorkeling activity, we washed up and it was lunch time! Snorkeling is quite a good workout as you have to swim against the current at times. We headed back to Sri Nelayan Coffee House for lunch and this time ordered something else off the menu.
For two of us, we ordered the Lamb Stew, Steak and Salad. Once again, finger-licking good which our tummies agreed. Our retreat to Berjaya Tioman Resort was really one of the more relaxing trips as it was a chill, no rushing over itinerary, really relaxing and enjoying the view and companionship.
The rest of the day we just chilled by the poolside and enjoyed some peace and quiet. If anyone were to ask me for any retreat recommendations, I'd definitely recommend coming to Berjaya Tioman Resort. Not only for the island experience but also the overall experience staying in the resort. For dinner we checked out the dinner buffet spread at Sri Nelayan Coffee House before calling it a night.
The last day of our retreat was gloomy and it rained non-stop which was a bummer to our trip. Luckily at Berjaya Tioman Resort, there is a Play Room where you could spend some time playing foosball, pool or even just chill with their vintage record player. This resort has everything you'll need for a retreat.
On our last day, we had our last meal at Sri Nelayan Coffee House and managed to go for another session of Kayaking! This time round we brought the GoPro and recorded underwater scenes with an extra help using our bread! The fishes are just crazy and really the beauty of the resort is just embedded in my memory.
It was definitely a memorable retreat and thanks to the hospitality at Berjaya Tioman Resort. For those of you interested to know more you can check their rates at
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