Wonderful Stay at Perhentian Island Tunabay Resort

Hi, my name is Lou. For island, sun and sea lovers, especially if you are visiting Malaysia, may i personally recommend you to a great resort in Pulau Perhentian. I stayed 5days 4nights in this resort called "Perhentian Tunabay Island Resort"

The resort is rated as the #1 Resort in Perhentian Islands. The rooms are simply but nicely furnished, with comfortable beds, aircon and fans and hot water. I went round to a few hotels in the island and I honestly think this resort is the cleanest.

The staff were helpful and pleasant,as in fact were all the people on the island, and the standard of food in the restaurant good- the banana lassi and the Thai soup were especially nice!

I'd recommend this for families, couples, and it has the best cocktails on the islands! Do see it yourself at www.tunabay.com.my. Happy Holidays.

Hi, my name is Lou. For island, sun and sea lovers, especially if you are visiting Malaysia, may i personally recommend you to a great resort in Pulau Perhentian. I stayed 5days 4nights in this resort called "Perhentian Tunabay Island Resort"

 

The resort is rated as the #1 Resort in Perhentian Islands. The rooms are simply but nicely furnished, with comfortable beds, aircon and fans and hot water. I went round to a few hotels in the island and I honestly think this resort is the cleanest.

 

The staff were helpful and pleasant,as in fact were all the people on the island, and the standard of food in the restaurant good- the banana lassi and the Thai soup were especially nice!

 

I'd recommend this for families, couples, and it has the best cocktails on the islands! Do see it yourself at www.tunabay.com.my. Happy Holidays.

LOL! More like an advert than an objective review. Having recently stayed at resorts on both Kecil and Besar, I could write something pretty similar for those. Before staying there though I usually check the reviews on TravelAdvisor. Here's the link for Tunabay

LOL! More like an advert than an objective review. Having recently stayed at resorts on both Kecil and Besar, I could write something pretty similar for those. Before staying there though I usually check the reviews on TravelAdvisor. Here's the link for Tunabay

I've stayed at a couple of places on Redang, which is not too far from Perhentian, at two dive-specific hotels.

1. Coral Redang - a friendly and comfortable beach side resort, with a good dive shop that runs both dive and snorkelling trips. Guests at the resort are generally split into 2 groups: expats escaping for a few days diving and local Malaysians. It is one of the pricier resorts (and this tends to attract a higher percentage of foreigners), but pricier in Malaysian terms doesn't mean its extortionate (although local Malaysians will complain when *anything* costs 1 Ringgitt more than it should ). The dive shop is manned by 3 or 4 excellent local divemasters with good eyes for critter spotting in the muck. When I was there I had several solo dives, accompanied by a divemaster buddy and I just asked for a good macro location and off we went! On a shore dive 2 of them came with me to spot critters and we had a great hour long dive, just nosing around for interesting stuff. They really enjoy just diving. Typically there are no more than 6 divers at any time (although I think weekends could get a little busier). Deal for 3D 2N is all inclusive of food and accomodation and runs in at RM 755 (USD 255), together with 4 boat dives, 1 shore dive and transfers from Merang Jetty or Terrenganu airport to the resort.

2. Redang Kalong - run by a Chinese dive shop operator located just down the road from me in Petaling Jaya (KL), this is a pretty basic hostel type operation designed around divers. Rooms have seen better days, beds are usual solid Asian style mattresses and the showers..well..not for the squeamish, but hey, for the price who cares...I've seen worse (usually in some far flung part of China).

Life centres around diving. Breakfast, lunch, dinner all scheduled to maximise dive time and trips. The restaurant/decking area is constantly full of divers having just returned, planning their next dives, editing pics or eating (another Malaysian custom..constant eating is catered for here..free flow of juice, tea, toast, peanut butter and general snacks all day for the returning scuba army).

The resort is heavily geared towards locals, hence those who don't enjoy congee or spicy noodles etc for breakfast might want to go upmarket to Coral Redang. The atmosphere is lively and, I have to say, its cheap. From memory the last time I did a 3D/2N all inclusive there it was around RM575 (USD172) for 4 dives, all food, accomodation and transfers to/from Terrenganu airport.

The owner (AB Lee) is an accomplished UW photographer and is often around to give impromptu tips/lessons and will act as tutor on a dive (for a small fee I figure).

Hope this helps anyone heading out this way.

Steve