Situated to the northeast of Malaysia is one of our favourite islands in the country. Famous for its white sandy beaches and beautiful diving spots, Pulau Perhentian is made up of two small islands namely Perhentian Kecil and Perhentian Besar. In English ‘perhentian‘ means ‘stopping point’, where ‘kecil’ means ‘small’ and ‘besar’ means ‘big’. These islands got its name as it was used as a stop over shelter by traders in the early 1900s from storms.
Having visited Pulau Perhentian many times, this time around we decided to bring along our 4 children for an island adventure. We chose to stay at Perhentian Island Resort on Pulau Perhentian Besar for our family getaway.
Perhentian Island Resort has its own jetty as the whole lagoon is occupied by the resort exclusively. The white sandy beach stretches from one end to the other with beach front chalets over looking the clear blue sea.
After the usual snorkelling activities, on our second day we decided to bring the kids on a walk along the west coast of the island. A walk that takes us from our hotel Perhentian Island Resort right down to Abdul’s Chalet and to the southern tip of the island called Teluk KK.
Neighbouring to Perhentian Island Resort is Coral View Resort. To get there is a 7 minute walk through a concrete walkway.
The walk will take you up and down a flight of stairs with many breathtaking views along the way.
Greeting us on the other side is Coral View Resort. Like its name, this chalet has its own coral garden right at its doorstep.
There are several other chalets along this beach… however Mama’s Chalet was undergoing renovation at the time we were there. Continuing our walk, is a 15 minute jungle trekking. Unlike the previous concrete pathway, this short hike will definitely make you sweat. However, if hiking is not your thing, you can grab any water taxi to get you to the other side.
You will know you have reached the end of the jungle trail when you can see rows of orange chalet with green roofs overlooking the blue ocean. This is Cozy Chalet.
Next to Cozy Chalet is Cocohut Chalet. Unlike most of the chalets in Perhentian Kecil, almost all of the chalets in Perhentian Besar provides 24 hours of electricity.
Walking along the beach there are several eatery spots to chose from. Usually, these restaurants are attached to the chalets but it is open to all.
Next chalet along the beach is the Tuna Bay Island Resort.
Our walkabout brings us to the next chalet called Abdul’s Chalet. Like most of the chalets along the coastline, they too offers beach front chalet and a restaurant overlooking the ocean.
If you refer to the first map picture of Pulau Perhentian Besar, moving further down will get us to Teluk KK or KK Lagoon. A location usually used as a camping ground. From Abdul’s Chalet, to get to Teluk KK we need to cross another two lagoon which is accessible via concrete path way.
On the other side of the walkway is private lagoon.
Climbing up another concrete walkway, we found ourselves at Teluk KK. On this beach there is a fishermen jetty used by the locals and we found an abandon chalet.
The journey from Perhentian Island Resort right down to Teluk KK should not take you more than 2 hours… without stopping that is or in our case having 4 kids slowing you down. To those looking for activities other than snorkelling, we do recommend you to try the route. Maybe in our next trip to Pulau Perhentian, we will try the hiking trail across Pulau Perhentian Besar from Perhentian Island Resort to Arwana Eco Resort in Teluk Dalam.
Walkabout Asia 
Do u know if December is too wet to be there?
Unfortunately from September – February is the Monsoon season for the East coast of Malaysia…with heavy rain…and the sea will be a bit rough
I’ve been to quite a number of islands and beaches in South East Asia but I’ll always long for Perhentian!
Its one of our favourite island…hope you get to visit soon
Perhentians is so beautiful ! Your post reminds me of the good times 🙂
Glad to hear you had a good time in Perhentian….hope you guys can come again real soon 🙂