Experience
Pulau Besar
Pulau Besar is used to be Pulau Babi Besar which stands for 'Big Boars Island'. The number of wild boars decreased due to the inhabitation of man, thus the name is changed to Pulau Besar. Set within nature beauty, Pulau Besar is the tropical paradise on earth. The island is surrounded with swaying palm trees, gleaming water and also fine white sand that gives comfort to your feet.
Pulau Besar is located just off the East coast of Johor. The only way tp the island is by boat from Mersing, a small town which serves as gateway to various islands off the coast including the famous Tioman Island. Drawn to its serene beach and clear waters, I decided to make the most out of Labour Day long weekend by booking a 3 days 2 nights package with Aseania Beach Resort, one of three resorts established on Pulau Besar.
From Singapore, I booked an early bus with 'The One Travel' which departed at 6:45 a.m. from Boon Lay Shopping centre. Buses from Singapore to Mersing are very early because they are scheduled to catch the boats/ferries which will depart from Mersing Jetty to the various islands in the afternoon at around 11 a.m to 1 p.m.
The journey from Singapore to Mersing Jetty took me around 4 hours. There are lots of resort offices around the jetty and also a food court. There are also a couple of convenient stores that should you need to buy some snacks or beach wears. After checking in at Aseania Beach Resort Office, all you need to do is wait for the office lady to lead you and the group to the jetty gate for departure. The boat ride from Mersing to Pulau Besar takes about 30 minutes. Once we disembarked at the island's main jetty, we were greeted by friendly staffs who helped us with our luggage. Basically, you can walk all the way to your room without carrying your luggage!
I booked my stay in Pulau Besar with Asenia Beach Resort, one of the three resorts available in Pulau Besar. I took the 3D2N Fullboard Package which includes 2-way boat transfer from Mersing Jetty to Pulau Besar, buffet meals (2 x breakfast + lunch + dinner), and cozy resort room. There is no wifi at the resort apart from the lounge area where meals are served. Internet speed was not the best but good enough to send and receive 'Whatsapp' messages. Phone reception was also not very good especially if you use roaming like I did. It was perfect for me as I wanted to have a quiet getaway from the hustle and bustle of the city.
The resort also offers several add on activities such as island hopping, snorkeling, jungle trekking and Malay spa indulgence. I signed up for the afternoon island hopping and snorkeling at the reception. We were provided with snorkeling gears and life jackets and off we go. We took a boat to 3 snorkeling spots: Pulau Hujung, Pulau Tengah, and the back of Pulau Besar. The boatman told us that there is only one resort on Pulau Tengah (Batu Batu Resort) and no resort on Pulau Hujung.
After anchoring the boat offshore, we just snorkeled around the boat. My favourite spot is at Pulau Tengah because the water was the clearest and coolest. As it was my first time snorkeling, I didn't bring my GoPro along to capture any pictures, or videos. The island hopping snorkeling trip took about 3 hours and cost RM65. It was really fun and tiring and fortunately we had dinner feast awaiting us at the resort. Dinner on every Saturday is barbecue buffet. There was endless stream of barbecue chicken, lamb, satay, prawn, grilled fish etc.
Day 2 began with breakfast by the beach and some jungle trekking. There is a route behind the resort which will lead you up and across the jungle mountain to the back side of Pulau Besar which the Quiet Beach awaits. However, I had to turn back midway through the trekking as I though it was too dangerous to venture further. There were lots of boulders and the trekking path was not very well maintained and was kinda misleading. If you would like to try, I'd highly recommend to get a guide from the reception and trek it with a group of friends.
Alright, now it's time to check out the beach! It was fortunate that the weather was really fine and sunny which makes the beach look really good under the sun. The sand was perfectly fine and white and the water was crystal clear. Along the beach there is also a convenient stall selling beach wears, mineral water and snacks. I also took some time to explore other parts of the island near the beach and found that Pulau Besar has this 'kampung' feel. I was told that there are actually indigenous people living here for generations.
Next, it's time to take a dip into the water again! If you are snorkeling, I'd recommend to do it near the jetty because there are a lot of fishes and the corals are richer there. I only found out about this on the day I left so I didn't managed to see those cute little fishes.
My last day on the island was cut short due to expected low tide. We were informed in advance actually through email by Aseania Beach Resort about this so I was all prepared. Usually boats depart from the island at around 10:30 a.m. but due to low tide, we were given the options to depart either 8:00 a.m. (the boats actually departed at 8:30 a.m) or at 1:30 p.m. As I need to catch a boat from Mersing to Pulau Rawa later on that day, I chose the earlier slot.