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| SPOTLIGHT | | Tropical
beaches and jungle, Wildlife, natural heritage and sun-kissed islands. |
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| Malaysia Most Beautiful Beaches |
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Tekek Beautiful Beaches
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Tekek village can be considered as the heart of Tioman. The airport is located at Tekek and so does police station, the hospital, local authorities, other government offices and of course the mosque. You also find a few well-stocked shops and an Internet Café.
he sprawling village of TEKEK is the main settlement on the island and the least inspiring part of Tioman. It has been overdeveloped and much of the seafront is now littered, rundown and fenced in, but it's the only place on the island where you'll find essential services: there are moneychangers and a post office in the new Terminal Complex next to the airstrip, and the police station is located a ten-minute walk south of the main jetty. You could distract yourself with the Tioman Island Museum (daily 9.30am–5pm; RM1), on the first floor of the Terminal Complex next to the airport. Displaying some twelfth- to fourteenth-century Chinese ceramics, which were lost overboard from early trading vessels, it also outlines facts and myths concerning the island. North of the main jetty, at the very end of the bay, it's hard to miss the large government-sponsored Marine Centre (under renovation at the time of writing). Set up to protect the coral and marine life around the island, and to patrol the fishing taking place in its waters, it contains an aquarium and samples of coral.
It has been overdeveloped and much of the seafront is now littered, rundown and fenced in, but it's the only place on the island where you'll find essential services: there are moneychangers in the new Terminal Complex next to the airstrip and, a ten-minute walk south of the main jetty, you come to the police station and a post office.
There are lots of places to stay in Tekek, though most of them are dilapidated and located next to piles of rubbish and ever-present building supplies. There are two exceptions, located a little way out of Tekek. |
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Top Beaches |  |
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 Batu
Ferringhi |
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Batu Ferringhi, a thirty-minute
bus ride west of Georgetown on Transitlink #202 or Transitlink air-con #93 (but
not the standard #93), has a decent beach and several guesthouses, albeit filthy
sea. |
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| Teluk
Bahang |
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The beaches around this rocky
headland are better than the ones at Teluk Bahang itself, but since the big hotels
run boat trips out here, it's unlikely that you'll have them to yourself. |
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| Air Batang |
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A fifteen-minute trail
leads over the headland to the north, which - after an initial scramble - flattens
out into an easy walk, ending up at secluded Penuba Bay. From here, it's an hour's
walk to Monkey beach, beyond which is Salang. |
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| Juara |
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Juara is refreshingly
free from the buzz of speedboats and motorbikes, while its lovely wide sweep of
beach is far cleaner and less crowded than anywhere on the other side. The bay,
however, facing out to the open sea, is the most susceptible on the island to
bad weather. |
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| Mukut Beach |
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Mukut , a tiny fishing
village on the south coast, lies in the shadow of granite outcrops. Shrouded by
dense forest, and connected to the outside world by a solitary card phone, it's
a wonderfully peaceful and friendly spot to unwind, though be warned that this
is still a conservative place, unused to Western sunbathing habits. |
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| Salang Beach |
Salang is a
quieter option with a better beach, but there has been a lot of development recently
and the string of hostels stretches pretty much the whole length of the seafront;
prices tend to be a little higher than at Air Batang.
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| Pasir Bogak |
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Only a few of the chalets
front the beach itself; most line the road that continues north along the west
coast, but they're all reasonably close to the sea. |
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| Teluk Ketapang And Teluk Nipah |
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The
best beach at Teluk Nipah is Coral Bay - a perfect cove with crystal-clear sea
and smooth white sand. The bay is inaccessible by road and to reach it you have
to climb over the rocks at the northern end of Teluk Nipah (watch the tide). |
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| Nipah Beach |
| Comprising a clean, empty
beach of coarse, yellow sand and a landlocked lagoon, there's no village to speak
of here, but there is a Dive Centre and canoeing. |
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| Pantai Cenang Beach |
The bay forms
a large sweep of wide, white beach with crisp, sugary sand, but again the water
here won't win any prizes for cleanliness.
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| Tekek Beach |
| The sprawling
village of Tekek is the main settlement on the island and the least inspiring
part of Tioman.
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| Perhentian Besar Beach |
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stunning conglomeration of three beaches, separated from the main area of accommodation
by rocky outcrops and reached only by speedboat, it provides a secluded haven
between May and September for green and hawksbill turtles to come ashore and lay
their eggs. |
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| Perhentian Kecil Beach |
East-facing
Long Beach has been the target of most development on Kecil, not surprisingly,
since it boasts a wide stretch of white beach and good coral nearby.
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| Pantai Kok And Telaga Tujuh |
| Pantai
Kok lies on the far western stretch of Langkawi and is the best beach on the island,
a large sweep of powdery white sand with relatively clear and shallow water -
quieter and more secluded than Cenang and more intimate in feel. |
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