Perhentian Islands Day 1: Snorkeling & Surviving Tropical Storms

The Perhentian Islands get compared to Bora Bora. We arrived expecting clear skies and got completely poured on instead. The islands have their own schedule and do not particularly care about yours. We adjusted quickly and had a good first day anyway.

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Lunch: Escaping the Rain

We ducked into a local restaurant while the rain came down and ordered a lot of food.

Kampong Fried Rice: Kampong means village in Malay, so this is village-style fried rice. Topped with a fried egg and genuinely flavorful. A good, solid version of a dish we ended up ordering throughout Malaysia.

Kueh Teow Soup: My first time having the soup version of this noodle dish. Flat noodles in a subtle broth that is hot and slightly spicy. As someone who grew up eating Korean hot seafood soups constantly, this hit that same comfort note immediately. Exactly the right call for a rainy arrival day.

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Snorkeling Near the Port

Once the rain cleared, we went snorkeling right by the port before our full boat tour the next day. We did not have to swim out far at all. Fish were swimming up to us almost immediately. We spotted a strange sea snail or urchin creature on the ocean floor that neither of us could identify. The water clarity is exceptional, warm, and completely transparent.

Snorkeling tip from day one: If you go to the far south side of Long Beach at low tide, there is not much to see. Stay closer to the port or go early in the morning if you want the mini reef sharks. We found this out after making the walk.

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Long Beach

We walked all the way down to the south end of Long Beach, which is farther from the resort area than it looks on a map.

What to know: The accommodation options range from proper resorts to tents rented directly on the beach, which is about as budget-friendly as it gets. There are cafes and restaurants throughout the walk, but most of them have large menus tilted toward Western tourists: pancakes, salads, that kind of thing. The local Malaysian spots are noticeably better. Stick to those.

We also found stray kittens playing in the sand near the south end of the beach. Very friendly, apparently unbothered by tourists.

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Dinner: Chili Prawns and a Second Storm

We found a spot near the resort for dinner. Before the food, we tried the drinks.

Three-Layer Tea: Sweet condensed milk tea, similar in spirit to Thai tea but sweeter. A dessert in a glass.

Sweet Barley Tea: I grew up drinking unsweetened toasted barley tea in Korea, essentially as water, so the sweet version here was a genuine surprise. It is refreshing once you adjust to the sweetness.

Local Chili Prawns: The spiciest option on the menu. Cooked in a rich kung pao-style sauce and prepared well. The heat was real.

Sea Bass: Fresh and flaky. The fish quality on the island is good and it shows.

Midway through dinner, another tropical thunderstorm arrived. The rain started blowing horizontally under the umbrellas at our outdoor table. We had to run inside, ask the kitchen to re-plate everything, and start over. This is apparently a near-nightly occurrence on the island. Plan accordingly.