Hotels FAQ

Question:

Tioman could do with a longer runway, so that the bigger planes can land. I suppose the bigger planes..(by big I mean 25,000 to 40,000 kg… like a 737) can hanled the rougher weather. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – >I had trouble getting to Tioman in July by plane because of a bad storm >encircling the island.  We were forced back to S’pore and had to travel >the next day.  The ferry ride back to S’pore from Tioman is well worth the >five hours for the beautiful view of the harbor on arrival.  As for Tioman >itself, I found the scuba diving spectacular on the northwest side of the >island – loads of brightly colored fish and pretty coral.  Bring your PADI >or NAUI card or you’ll have to pay for a beginner’s course.

Response:

I had trouble getting to Tioman in July by plane because of a bad storm encircling the island.  We were forced back to S’pore and had to travel the next day.  The ferry ride back to S’pore from Tioman is well worth the five hours for the beautiful view of the harbor on arrival.  As for Tioman itself, I found the scuba diving spectacular on the northwest side of the island – loads of brightly colored fish and pretty coral.  Bring your PADI or NAUI card or you’ll have to pay for a beginner’s course.

Response:

I dived Tioman several times in ‘93 & ‘94.  The diving season there ends in October and doesn’t pick up until April.  Transporation from Singapore includes air, high speed power catamaran, bus and large ferry to bus and inflatable boat (usually a miserable ride). Accomodations are either lusurious and quite costly at the one hotel to pretty rustic with nothing in between.  I recommend contacting a dive shop in Singapore for arrangements.  The group I dived with there used Sharkey’s.

Response:

Tioman has one 4 star hotel call Tioman Resort. You can book it through travel agents in Singapore or Malaysia. Apart from this there are numerous accommodations ranging from rooms with both to a bed in a villagers home. You can travel to Mercing Town on the east coast of Malaysia where visitors to Tioman hop off. Ther are amny freelance agent soliciting to provide accommodation. Tioman is a great place for scuba if you know which spot. The place is"overvisited" and need some good conservation mesures and another 10 years to get back tScott McDonal >Does anyone out there have any info on Tioman Island,(Malaysia) ? > I will be in Singapore for a few days in two weeks time, and >have heard that Tioman is close and offers some excellent >snorkelling.  What are hotels like there?  Know of any good >places to eat? Do reservations  have to be made well in advance >for the trip by boat or air from there? any info on this matter >would be greatly appreciated. >"An honest brew makes it’s own friends" John Molson

o its old glory

Response:

Tioman has one 4 star hotel call Tioman Resort. You can book it through travel agents in Singapore or Malaysia. Apart from this there are numerous accommodations ranging from rooms with both to a bed in a villagers home. You can travel to Mercing Town on the east coast of Malaysia where visitors to Tioman hop off. Ther are amny freelance agent soliciting to provide accommodation. Tioman is a great place for scuba if you know which spot. The place is"overvisited" and need some good conservation mesures and another 10 years to get back to its old glory

Response:

Tioman has one 4 star hotel call Tioman Resort. You can book it through travel agents in Singapore or Malaysia. Apart from this there are numerous accommodations ranging from rooms with both to a bed in a villagers home. You can travel to Mercing Town on the east coast of Malaysia where visitors to Tioman hop off. Ther are amny freelance agent soliciting to provide accommodation. Tioman is a great place for scuba if you know which spot. The place is"overvisited" and need some good conservation mesures and another 10 years to get back tScott McDonal >Does anyone out there have any info on Tioman Island,(Malaysia) ? > I will be in Singapore for a few days in two weeks time, and >have heard that Tioman is close and offers some excellent >snorkelling.  What are hotels like there?  Know of any good >places to eat? Do reservations  have to be made well in advance >for the trip by boat or air from there? any info on this matter >would be greatly appreciated. >"An honest brew makes it’s own friends" John Molson

o its old glory

Response:

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text ->Does anyone out there have any info on Tioman Island,(Malaysia) ? > I will be in Singapore for a few days in two weeks time, and >have heard that Tioman is close and offers some excellent >snorkelling.  What are hotels like there?  Know of any good >places to eat? Do reservations  have to be made well in advance >for the trip by boat or air from there? any info on this matter >would be greatly appreciated. >"An honest brew makes it’s own friends" John Molson >Tioman can be reached from Singapore by air.  You book a hotel thru >most travel agents, or make a reservation thru silk air, (a subsidiary >of Singapore airlines).  The diving is generally good, with the >beaches having rental shops available.  Snorkling is okay.  A longer >way to go is via ferry from Mersing, approx 3 hours from singapore by >coach and another 2 hours by high speed cruiser.  Cheaper than air, >but 4 hours longer. ag

I’m also planning to go, but I’m not sure whether it’s the monsoon (raining) season now.  Can anybody advise, pls? I also heard from one of my colleagues that Tioman is quite commercialized and and polluted now.  She suggested me to go to another one next to Tioman which is Pulau Tinggi.  Any advise, pls?  Thanks

Response:

: I was in Tioman in 1991 and liked it a lot. : I went by a bus to Mersing and took a ferry from there to Pulau Tioman. : The bus and the ferrytrip took quite a long time, and probably takes a : longer time than by going directly from Singapore, but I would think it’s : well worth it and also sheaper.  I staid at Paya Beach Resort in a Ya! a few years back, this was the standard mode of travel to Tioman from Singapore. Usually the bus would reach Mersing late at night and you have to catch the high tide so that the bump (sp?) boat can come near the jetty. I was told that the boat only have seats, no proper place to lie down and full of diesel smell. The most dangerous thing I feel is the sea worthyness of the bump boat. You can never trust such a boat in monsoon season. But then anyone will tell you these boats have been plying between Tioman and Mersing for years. Still I’ll not like to take the risk and discomfort. I heard recently there a big and fast boats plying between Mersing and Tioman, and of course you have to pay more. I don’t think I’ll mind paying the extra. lns

Response:

i had the opportunity to beach dive there about 10 years ago.  the water was fabulous!  the amount of turtles was increadilbe as were the fish!   Happy diving! – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – >: Does anyone out there have any info on Tioman Island,(Malaysia) ? >:  I will be in Singapore for a few days in two weeks time, and >: have heard that Tioman is close and offers some excellent >: snorkelling.  What are hotels like there?  Know of any good >: places to eat? Do reservations  have to be made well in advance >: for the trip by boat or air from there? any info on this matter >: would be greatly appreciated. >It takes approximately 5 hours for the regular ferry to reach Tioman from >Singapore. There is also a direct flight from Seletar Airbase (in >Singapore) to Tioman. It takes approximately 30 minutes. There is a major >hotel in Tioman that offers fairly good facilities. For cheaper >alternatives, the natives there rent huts and even their house for budget >tourists. Pulau Tioman is a relatively undeveloped island. The choices of >accomodation and food is therefore pretty limited. I have been there >twice without advance reservations, so I don’t think you will need one. >: "An honest brew makes it’s own friends" John Molson

Response:

>Tioman can be reached from Singapore by air.  You book a hotel thru >most travel agents, or make a reservation thru silk air, (a subsidiary >of Singapore airlines).  The diving is generally good, with the >beaches having rental shops available.  Snorkling is okay.  A longer >way to go is via ferry from Mersing, approx 3 hours from singapore by >coach and another 2 hours by high speed cruiser.  Cheaper than air, >but 4 hours longer. ag

Hi There is also a hi speed boat direct from Singapore ( 4 hours approx. if I remember correctly). I was there in August and used Ben’s dive center in Salang. They also have an office in Air Batang. They were heavily booked then (we had to wait a day before diving ) but maybe it’s not so busy now. Joe

Response:

:> :>Does anyone out there have any info on Tioman Island,(Malaysia) ? :> I will be in Singapore for a few days in two weeks time, and :>have heard that Tioman is close and offers some excellent :>snorkelling.  What are hotels like there?  Know of any good :>places to eat? Do reservations  have to be made well in advance :>for the trip by boat or air from there? any info on this matter :>would be greatly appreciated. :> :>"An honest brew makes it’s own friends" John Molson Well, just watch the weather – you’re arriving close to the monsoon season, which runs from around Oct – Mar the following year so it *might* get a little rainy and the waters choppier and murkier. (although they’re still a lot better than S’pore waters where diving and snorkelling are concerned) Conditions can change quite markedly in a matter of weeks – was just at Pulau Aur (near Tioman) earlier this month for a diving weekend and was told that the visibility had already deteriorated. On the bright side – you should have no problems finding accommodation, which is likely to be cheaper this time of year too! And you can bargain at cheaper places! Berjaya Imperial is the poshest resort there – has its own jetty and 4-5* rates. (obviously not bargainable!) Rest of the villages on Tioman offer a variety of accommodation from cheap A-huts (from abt US$4 a night) to   air-conditioned chalets with attached bathrooms and hot water (about US$30-50 a night). Tekek village’s my favourite cos it has a footpath that cuts right across the dividing range on the island and brings you to Juara on the other side. I stayed in some non-airconditioned chalets (on 2 occasions) near the jetty for about US$10 a night (at 1992 prices) Juara is relatively untouched, compared to the other villages like Genting and Paya. Many Caucasian tourists seem to favour Salang on the northern tip. It’s been a while since I’ve been to Tioman, so certain things may be different now – anyone else care to furnish an update?    The JuneBug

Response:

I was in Tioman in 1991 and liked it a lot. I went by a bus to Mersing and took a ferry from there to Pulau Tioman. The bus and the ferrytrip took quite a long time, and probably takes a longer time than by going directly from Singapore, but I would think it’s well worth it and also sheaper.  I staid at Paya Beach Resort in a bungalow, which I think is a very good and cheap way to stay.  A restaurant is usually connected to the bungalows.  There is (was) one big hotel there, at Tioman Island Resort, with a golfcourse, nice restaurant and more luxury, but that place was also quite expensive.  I would rather choose a bungalow, much more of an adventure.   We rented one of the local boats to take us to a small island nearby, called Tulai, north of Tioman, where snorkling was very good.   But then, I was there 4 years ago, so maybe things have changed.  I’ve heard that Tioman is getting more and more turistic? Tomas G.Gislason Reykjavik, Iceland

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text ->Does anyone out there have any info on Tioman Island,(Malaysia) ? > I will be in Singapore for a few days in two weeks time, and >have heard that Tioman is close and offers some excellent >snorkelling.  What are hotels like there?  Know of any good >places to eat? Do reservations  have to be made well in advance >for the trip by boat or air from there? any info on this matter >would be greatly appreciated. >"An honest brew makes it’s own friends" John Molson >Tioman can be reached from Singapore by air.  You book a hotel thru >most travel agents, or make a reservation thru silk air, (a subsidiary >of Singapore airlines).  The diving is generally good, with the >beaches having rental shops available.  Snorkling is okay.  A longer >way to go is via ferry from Mersing, approx 3 hours from singapore by >coach and another 2 hours by high speed cruiser.  Cheaper than air, >but 4 hours longer. ag

Or you can catch a fast ferry from singapore – takes around 4 hours

Response:

I was there around 2 and 1/2 yr. ago. It is a very quite island w/ the nature view (It