Comments on: Visiting the Perhentian Islands

By: Talon Windwalker

Talon Windwalker — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 02:54:56 +0000

In reply to Angela. They DO sound majestic. So far we've really liked Penang and Utila (Honduras). I'm not sure Ayutthaya counts, but it IS an island on a river, and we really liked it there, too.

By: Angela

Angela — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 01:45:19 +0000

‘The Perhentian Islands.’ The name alone suggest majesty, doesn’t it? I’ll take your word for it though, Talon. Do you have a favorite island including both what on land and in the sea?

By: Talon Windwalker

Talon Windwalker — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 02:48:09 +0000

In reply to Toni. You mean underwhelming? :) Yep, some places are just like that. Yes, I'm very glad because early on I had applied for a job there. Guess I'm glad I never heard back, and now I know not to apply for future ones!

By: Toni

Toni — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 18:32:01 +0000

As the saying goes ‘if you don’t try you’ll never know’. I’m sorry it was an overwhelming experience (I’ve had a few places like that) but at least you know for definite that they didn’t float your boat as opposed to always wondering 🙂

By: Talon Windwalker

Talon Windwalker — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 13:07:12 +0000

In reply to Melanie Murrish. The elephants were definitely incredible, and it was very exciting to be able to introduce my friends to the underwater world and certify them for scuba.

By: Melanie Murrish

Melanie Murrish — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 09:06:08 +0000

The elephants-every cloud has a silver lining!

By: Talon Windwalker

Talon Windwalker — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 04:50:55 +0000

In reply to Mary. The diving wouldn't be that much better. As there are much better islands with much better diving, I'll stand by saying cross it off the list. :D

By: Mary

Mary — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 04:15:44 +0000

I agree with most of what Talon says here although I do like the Perhentians. There is not much to do but snorkeling right off shore is a real treat. Nothing spectacular I guess but still quite nice and chilled out. The dive operation was awful, crossing that coral was terrible and specaing the dives so far out ate up the entire day! Their equiptment was nice though I thought,

I also think the diving could be better if we werent hampered by having to do certain dives due to our training and if the season were further in. Don’t cross it off the list entirely!

By: Talon Windwalker

Talon Windwalker — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 02:16:28 +0000

In reply to Steph (@ 20 Years Hence).

If you felt that way about Langkawi, then I’d DEFINITELY skip the Perhetians. Check out Redang. I think you may like it more.

The diving was downright depressing. I haven’t had to work so hard to find creatures to show students ever! Although, the damselfish were very entertaining because they kept attacking us. I usually see less when I’m doing an OW course because I’m always watching my students, but still I’ve never had to struggle like this. We probably saw more fish snorkeling on the reef by the beach than while diving!

By: Steph (@ 20 Years Hence)

Steph (@ 20 Years Hence) — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 00:56:18 +0000

Thank you so much for writing this! We had seriously been considering visiting the Perhentians, but it wasn’t the right season for us when we were in Malaysia (January/early Feb) and we wound up in Langkawi instead. I have to say, my impression of Langkawi sounds really similar to your response to the Perhentians—I just felt it was kind of overdeveloped (but also pretty boring) and not really that pretty and definitely overpriced for Malaysia. It was the one place in the whole country that I definitely would not return to. But, we had kept the dream of the Perhentians alive… now we know they’re probably not worth it for us either, especially if the diving is as underwhelming as you say. Such a shame to hear about the coral, but it is nice to hear that your friends still fell for SCUBA anyway!