Heidi and I have this tradition of surprising each other with a trip on our anniversary….this was my year. All Heidi knew was to bring her swimsuit, a carry-on bag, and sunscreen. You see, Friday was suppose to be an in-service day for us, but our presenter was not available so we traded a Saturday a few weeks ago thus creating a three day weekend. Soooo, off we escaped to Perhentian Island (per hen tee an). This island lies about 10 miles offshore north-eastern Malaysia, in the South China Sea. It actually consists of two islands (creatively named Big Island and Small Island). The Perhentians are known for their beauty, solitude, and world-class snorkeling and diving.

To get there we booked tickets to Kota Bharu on Air Asia. Air Asia is the Southwest Airlines of Malaysia….cheap tickets, no frills, many destinations….Australia, the Madives, India, China, Bali, etc. They have their own terminal at KLIA and it is busy, busy, busy. Heidi and I have become quite adept at finding our way around airports but this was a new experience. Never shy to ask for help, we finally figured it out and found our way onto exit row seats 12 D and E (paid 20 ringgit extra for exit row seats…need that leg room), buckled in and waited for take off. As soon as we left the tarmac, smoke started pouring around the overhead compartments. Our fear-o-meters were just about at PANIC when we noticed no one else was concerned, there was no smoke smell, and on closer examination it was more mist than smoke. Seems it is just condensation from the air conditioners due to the humid climate….phew!!!! Darn Airbus…wouldn’t have happened on a Boeing!!!

About an hour later we landed in Kota Bharu, a city of about 30,000, just south of the Thai border on the eastern shore of Malaysia. Next, a 60 minute van ride to the ferry jetty. We drove through very rural Malaysia….cows and goats in front yards, little garden patches, almost every home had a simple wooden stand next to the road selling corn, coconuts, meat, fish, figs, even complete meals. We passed a flatbed being loaded with huge sacks of flour. Men with beautiful dark skin wearing only the traditional sarong were hefting the bags on their shoulders, riveretes of stark-white flour streaking their bodies…wanted to capture the contrast on film but we zipped by too quickly. Heidi spied a woman on a moped….she must have been 80 years old. Little shacks and simple lives.

unexpected stop at a Buddhist Temple….prayer ribbons in the tree

Very tall Buddha

gongs

pat the belly for good luck

amazing sight

Arrived at the ferry jetty to find a regular armada of little boats waiting to take people, supplies, materials, etc. to the outlying islands, a fleet of fishing boats, and a few pleasure craft. We loaded onto one of the larger boats and were on our way to Perhntian Island.

The morning sky was overcast, the South China Sea mirror-flat. Made a quick stop at Big Island… motored up to a dock, tossed over some boxes and luggage and two passengers hopped onto the dock….unfortunately for passenger #2 our boat pulled away a bit and into the brink he went. He was helped up by many waiting hands and then squished, squished, squished down the dock. Once out of earshot our boat crew had a good laugh…I don’t think they cared for the guy…seemed like a demanding, stuffy businessman type.
We cruised through the passage between the two islands… covered with thick, impassable jungle…the coast rocky, granite boulders, but every now and then sandy little beaches appear…fringed with coconut trees and sharing the land with a resort or two. Came around a point and there was our destination….Long Beach and Bubu Resort. Long Beach is the largest beach on Little Island….about a half mile in length, fishing boats anchored just off-shore, four or five “hostel-like” hotels, dive shops, a few restaurants, and Bubu Resort….the only three star resort on the islands.

We tried snorkeling right out front by swimming under the dock and along the rocks beyond….we saw giant clams…some over two feet across, coral of every hue, fish galore, and even a four foot grouper. At one point Heidi and I were completely surrounded by thousands of these 3 to 4 inch silver w/yellow striped fish. They moved like a single being, somehow knowing what the others were thinking, when to turn, when to dart. The school groups this way for protection from predators….all the predator fish see is the large mass….but should a single fish venture out of the group, they are quickly devoured by one of the needle fish waiting in the ranks. The water was crystal clear and about 90 degrees…Heidi said it was like swimming in an aquarium.

On Saturday I took a snorkeling excursion to the nearby Baby Islands…Heidi chose to stay on the beach and work on her tan. Myself, a visiting Frenchman, Nicholas, and our boatman and guide, Hasheem, made up the entire group. The Baby Islands are a group of five tiny un-inhabited, coral fringed islands about a twenty minute boat ride away. At the first stop I learned that Nicholas was not a very good swimmer so I loaned him my fins. We spent about 20 minutes or so exploring the coral forest below….green, purple, brown, yellow….bold and vibrant…sponges, sea fans….there was this one coral that looked like a flat table-top…some 15, 20, even 30 feet in diameter, and they often grew in tiers, 4 or 5 high, one on top of the other about a foot apart. And then there were the spiky antler coral….looking like a deer antler graveyard, tips pointing every which way…and fish…oh, so many and so colorful.

Next we motored to the second baby….merely a bunch of rocks and sand, but right offshore some of the best snorkeling I have ever experienced. Hasheem joined me at this stop, donned his mask, snorkel and fins. He was amazing….down he would dive and point for me to follow….under one of the table coral were two gorgeous silver and blue spotted stingrays…a poke with a broken piece of antler coral and off they flew (crikey… didn’t Steve Irwin meet his demise at the hands of a stingray?) We found rays everywhere. And giant groupers, tiger fish and others I have no name for. Hasheem pointed out a pair of clown fish (you know…Nemo) swimming among a sea anemonie’s tentacles….curious little guys, when I dove down to them they swam over to me…actually tickled their sides. Where the shallows gave way to the deep abyss, we found what Hasheem called Christmas Trees….actually worms that stick out little feathery cone shaped plumes of tentacles..bright yellow, red, blue, and white…when you touch them they pull themselves in and out of sight. Poof!! The highlight was the sighting of a four foot black-tip reef shark (Nicholas may not be a great swimmer but he sure can climb into a boat fast!!! Took us awhile to convince him he wouldn’t get eaten.) The last island brought turtles…one seemed to like me and followed for awhile before turning for the open water.

With a storm bearing down on us, Hasheem guided our boat through the 6 foot swells with the accuracy of a surgeon….we hooted, hollered and laughed our way home, soaking wet from the spray but ever so exhilarated….Hasheem is the finest waterman I have ever met.

Bubu Resort was a nice place…clean and comfortable, the food delicious, the service wonderful. Saturday night we walked hand and hand down the beach, lit by a lightening storm miles out to sea, and we thought what lucky people we are to have found each other. Perhentian Island….a great spot to spend anniversary number eight!!!!

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