The beautiful island of Redang is located off the north-east coast of the Malaysian mainland in the state of Terengganu. The island is one of nine that make up a group and measures about 7km by 6km, and has been designated as a marine park which affords some protection to the stunning underwater life. There are shallow reefs and deep dives, with manta rays and whale sharks being the top attractions. Interestingly for the non-divers, it is possible to swim with sharks very close to shore. Further down you will see some of the photos I took of the docile black-tip reef sharks that even first-time snorkellers can encounter. I won't say too much about the island here, but instead urge you to click on this link to Ping Anchorage, and to the following independent site created by a lover of the island.
Although it is only a small island, it does have an airport. This landing strip was developed by the Berjaya hotel and resort company, and is mostly used by visitors to their top-end resort in its own bay on the north of the island. Alternatively, people fly to the mainland airport of Kuala Terengganu then take a boat from the Merang jetty. Ping Anchorage is a reliable an efficient company and worth considering for your travel arrangements if you don't use Berjaya directly. Because of its accessibility from Singapore and KL, most visitors are from these two cities and the island has a the feel of a weekend getaway for wealthy city folk. Beware the nightly karaoke blaring from many of the mini-resorts! Although the nights are noisy, the days are very peaceful and the beach normally quite empty as the happy holidaymakers take to the water to dive or snorkel in the clear blue water.
We arranged a Berjaya flight, meaning we had to spend a night in KL then get to the old airport by taxi. This was a bit of an adventure but it worked out fine. After arrival at the tiny island airport we caught the tiny shuttle bus to the very large and well-appointed Berjaya Redang Beach Resort. Unfortunately a little out of our price-range. Here we had arranged for a boat from our resort to come and pick us up. We waited... and waited... and waited. Finally, I went back into the hotel and made a call to the resort and eventually they arrived at the jetty and a refreshing twenty-minute boat trip later we were at the stunning Pasir Panjang beach and ready to check in.
The Berjaya flight from Kuala Lumpur and the Berjaya resort jetty.
We had arranged to stay in two different resorts just in case one of them was disappointing. First up was the Redang Holiday Beach Villa built at the North end of the beach, up on the rocks above the sea. We had a large bungalow with great views over the bay. The bungalow could easily sleep six people so we had room to spare. But there's no point being indoors when there's a blue sea waiting to be explored. It was a few minutes walk down to the main resort building and the clear water. We immediately went snorkelling round the left side of the bay across shallow reefs teaming with fish and full of healthy coral. There is a lot of staghorn coral in particular. We had the entire area to ourselves, it was sheer bliss.
A great place to stay with friendly visitors. In fact, the squirrels
were quite naughty!
The resorts all have their own kitchen and restaurant, so we were on a 'meals-included' deal. The food was filling and edible after hours in the water, but not a great culinary experience. Even so, I ate all mine and couldn't really complain. We went on a dive with the incredibly interesting Romanian diving instructor. One of only four from that country and an inspiration to anyone who wants to change their life. It was great to get really close to a green turtle at around 10m. In the evening the atmospheric and enormous wooden deck overlooking the bay was almost empty but the music was at full-blast and the disco lights spun and whirled as cocktails soothed stiff muscles. A walk down the beach to the headland, then along the second bay to the large and swanky Laguna resort (see below) helped digest the big evening meal. I enjoyed staying here, even if it is situated right at one end of the bay. The house reef is very nice and the deck is great, It probably suits larger groups as they can make their own party. For a couple, it offers peace and quiet away from the karaoke crowd.
The bay at Pasir Panjang beach and the view from our first bungalow up
on the hill.
Because the beach faces east, there are no glorious sunsets, but there are glorious sunrises! Take a look at the two photos below that I dragged myself out of bed for. Sitting alone on a beach as the sun comes up is one of the most spiritually uplifting experiences. Hover your mouse over on the small images to reveal two beautiful dawns....
After three days we moved a couple of hundred metres to the centre of the beach and checked in at the slightly more expensive Coral Redang resort. Our spacious but slightly-worn bungalow was set in a lovely garden and only 20 seconds from the beach. This resort seemed to be popular with Europeans and the atmosphere was friendly and relaxed. The cocktails went down a treat, and the poolside bar was a great place to linger at sundown for a gin and tonic, or two. I'd recommend this resort for its international vibe and good facilities for the price. Weekends are busier because of the Chinese Malaysians and Singaporians, but the whole beach is much quieter during the week. Kids will enjoy the pool here and love exploring the extensive grounds looking for huge insects, snakes and lizards. We stayed here for four days and it was a great place to see various flying, crawling and slithering critters.
The view from our bungalow's terrace and the totally unnecessary, but
wonderful pool!
There are two bays at Pasir Panjang with a kind of separate headland in the middle. This can be climbed for a great view and is where I shot the photos for the panorama at the top of the page showing the two white-sand beaches connected together. The smaller beach is home to the largest resort - The Laguana Redang. We went there for a drink but the service was not very attentive and we had to wait a long time. I hope other people had better experiences than us! The resort provides higher level facilities and looks quite nice, but maybe the atmosphere of the island is changing. This smaller bay has painfully sharp coral as you enter the water, but it's a price worth paying, as it's here where you'll find the sharks!
The smaller bay with the Laguna Redang resort in the distance.
We took a trip out to the smaller island of Pulau Pinang where the Marine Park office is located. The jetty here is home to thousands of fish and hundreds of noisy snorkellers. I was disappointed to see many people standing on the coral and abusing the site. The area is completely given over to tourists, but perhaps this is a good idea as it preserves the other less accessible places and concentrates the damage in one area. The fish seems happy though, as everyone wants to feed them. So as soon as you get in the water, a hundred little hungry faces come swimming towards you, expecting a meal. Sadly, I disappointed them and they seemed a bit angry. There is a massive grouper living among the wooden supports of the jetty. It's slow moving but very impressive, and I would want to disappoint him!
A short swim from the jetty is a shipwreck which starts above surface and goes down to the seabed. This was fantastic for snorkellers and was home to a wide variety of fish. I thoroughly enjoyed spending time here. Few people bother to swim across to it and so it retains a feeling of mystery and adventure. You can swim around the steeply slanting deck, and see into the interior - great fun. It's located where the channel becomes deeper and so there are some larger fish on view out in the blue.
The word 'shark' always grabs attention. It's a word that evokes fear in many people, including me. However, I was still looking forward to coming to Redang to see them face to face. Just off-shore in the smaller bay is a shark nursery where a number of young sharks spend time growing into bigger sharks. They are completely used to people and it is possible to swim close to them and take some nice photos. I'm surprised they don't get annoyed with all the attention, but they seem fine. We saw maybe six in total, with sometimes three together. They look exactly like adults so it's difficult to guess their size from these photos, but if you want to know, you'll have to ask me! Further out, in deeper water we spotted full size black-tip sharks, but strangely, I didn't feel the need to chase after them for a photo-opportunity.
Click on the image below to see a photo gallery.
