Perhentian Islands: Eastern islands of Malaysia

Our next destination was one we were all looking forward to, since it would mean the scuba certifications would be completed. The day of travel, however, wasn’t something that we loved. At 4:30am, we got up and jumped in a car for the 45 minute drive to the airport. We then had a short flight of about an hour to the eastern Malaysian town of Kota Bharu, followed by an hour of an absolute nightmare of a drive to the harbor, where we then waited for about two hours.

Finally, we boarded the speed boat which took us on a 35 minute fabulous ride out to the Perhentian Island of “Big Island”.

Our day of traveling ended at Bubbles Dive Resort. It would mark the first of seven blissful days of not wearing shoes even once.

Bubbles is a fabulous little resort that sits on the south side of the island all by itself. We were originally drawn to it because they offer PADI dive certification, but also we wanted to go because it is run by homeschoolers. Bubbles also is deeply involved with turtle and reef conservation. The perfect trifecta.

Our week there was spent almost exclusively snorkeling and diving. Our dive instructor was a lovely French woman named Lea. Fun, laid back, but thorough, she led our family of four through the various confined and open water dives to complete certification. I think each of our open water dives were at least 40 minutes long. Every one of us felt safe and confident in the skills we were taught. I don’t think we could have asked for a more fun, patient, and knowledgeable instructor.

Once we completed certification, we planned a few dives. Our dive master was one of the turtle conservationists named Jon. Since he was an avid diver and marine conservationist, we spent the next two or three days learning about everything and anything we could ask him about. He taught us about the various fish and introduced us to “nudies” which is a sea life I would never have even noticed.

Our last day prior to leaving couldn’t involve diving, so we opted for snorkeling. Jon took us to several different places around the island. We swam with a variety of amazing fish including bump heads, bat fish, lizard fish, parrot fish, Sargent fish, needlefish, clown fish, and others. The triggerfish were also out there. They are large colorful fish that can be aggressive during breeding season. They can be a little daunting for sure, and I can say without hesitation that I don’t need to see them going forward.

One of the highlights of the snorkeling was the turtles we spotted. We saw one hawksbill but mostly green sea turtles. I was the luckiest as one chose to come up for air right next to me! Extraordinary.

Our other exciting spots included a blue spotted sting ray that swam right under us.

There were loads of baby baby black tipped reef sharks.

And lastly, we spotted a blue banded krait (snake).

It was a relief to not know during that moment that they have the most potent venom of any snake in the world. (Keali later did a report on them for our family. They aren’t quite as scary now…)

There wasn’t just sea life to observe. We saw three different kinds of crabs.

Monkeys came up to the resort too and hung out in the trees several times while we were there. Curious and playful, they were incredibly entertaining to watch.

And of course, monitor lizards.

We didn’t see any huge monitors at the resort, but our last night there, we took a boat taxi over to another island to have dinner and spotted a huge one. As gross looking as they are, I haven’t tired of looking at them. We even saw two smaller ones at the top of some absolutely giant palm trees. We watched for an hour or more to see if they would fall. They didn’t.

As mentioned above, there is an extensive turtle conservationist project happening at Bubbles. I think there were at least five different conservationists when we were there. They work tirelessly to ensure the dwindling population of sea turtles have a safe spot to nest. One night we were woken by the staff at about 1am to come see a green turtle who had come up on shore to nest. We saw her lay her last egg and then start covering her hole up. Once she was gone, the staff moved the eggs to a protected spot near the resort to give the hatchlings a better chance at making it to the ocean. We sadly missed two different nests hatching the night that we left. There is a certain amount of “feel good” that you get from supporting a place that is fun, educational, and helping to protect the earth. They are certainly attracting a phenomenal staff as well which speaks volumes itself.

I am unsure if we will ever be back in the Perhentian Islands, but if we are, we’ll make our way back to Bubbles. The place and the activities will remain as some of our favorite memories.

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