Скачать или смотреть Swimming with turtles in the Perhentian Islands, Malaysia

#swimmingwithturtles #perhentianisland #travelmalaysia

After seeing the circle of life at the turtle sanctuary in Cherating, we made our way about an hour off the East Coast of Malaysia in Terengganu, to the Perhentian Islands.

Crystal clear water, white sands, it's not dissimilar to the Corn Islands in Nicaragua. The main difference is turtle bay. It's a beautiful bay of Redang Island which is an hour boat ride from Mimpi Resort on the small Perhentian Island where you can swim with lots of large green turtles.

Supposedly, it used to be where the fishermen would sort their catch.....and the by product would feed the green turtles there. Over the years the turtles realised that they could get free food and naturally, tourism took over.

I have never seen so many turtles in a single spot. The water is ridiculously turquoise and clear. Yes, there are a lot of boats (by the time we left there were probably 15) and therefore a lot of people in the water. However, our boat driver brought squid and fish to attract the turtles so we managed to swim with around 4 turtles with just us around. Funnily enough, the turtles know that the boats that arrive will likely have food so they tend to migrate between the boats. How many green turtles did we swim with? I don't know.....there were too many to count.

We also visited a number of other snorkelling spots and whilst the coral seemed to be pretty bleached, there were a lot of fish. Pro tip, bring some bread or food in your pockets to attract the fish.

The Perhentian Islands are incredibly beautiful. In fact, it's amazing how quickly the water colour changes just an hour off the coast of Malaysia. It's not even a comparison. It's some of the clearest water I've ever seen.

You can also do some hiking to the North of the small island where you can find remote beaches made up of coral and sea shells, it's very very pretty. The diving is also pretty good (as you can imagine), with a couple of smaller wrecks that you can dive.

Generally speaking, most trips cost in the range of 65 Malaysian Ringgit (£8-£11) per person (our day trip on the boat cost the same). In terms of accommodation, Mimpi resort was about £65 per person, per night, though not something that I could recommend. Unfortunately it felt like the lack of tourism during Covid meant that the hotel's upkeep probably feel behind schedule - there are other resorts so I'd look elsewhere.

I'd go so far as to say that the Perhentian Islands is the best place I've visited in Malaysia. It's fairly remote on the East Coast so you'll likely have to make a choice (if you're looking for beautiful beaches) between Langkawi or the Perhentian Islands, though if logistics weren't an issue, I'd say the Perhentian Islands has Langkawi beat.

0:00 - Snorkelling day trip on Perhentian Islands
1:06 - Turtle Bay, Rendang Island
1:51 - Swimming with Green Turtles
6:39 - Snorkelling Rendang Island
7:36 - Turqouise Tropical Water
10:46 - Cost of Perhentian Islands