3D2N at Tioman Island, Malaysia

From Singapore, it is easy to get to Tioman Island. First, we took a bus from the Singapore Flyer towards Mersing. The bus ride takes less than 3 hours (assuming a smooth journey with no traffic jams). Once we reach Mersing, we waited to transfer to the Bluewater Express ferry at Plaza D'Jeti. The ferry ride takes another two hours before we reach the final ferry stop at Salang Beach.

From the jetty, we walked towards Salang Beach Resort and proceeded to check in. The rooms are minimalistic but air-conditioned. There are attached bathrooms however do not come expecting too much as it is not in a good condition and there is no hot water as well.

After resting a while, we headed out to explore the island. It is small enough to explore slowly on foot. Take your time to stop by the various cafes or restaurants around. There is also a small shop selling duty-free items including alcohol, chocolates and perfumes. Don't expect a huge variety though!

From Salang Island it is possible to hike to Monkey Bay. However, it is not a simple hike and we did not attempt it. Besides that, there are various tours around which you can take in order to island-hop. For us, we chose to relax and leave the exploring for our second day. On day 2, we embarked on our first snorkelling trip with stops at three different places. First, before we started snorkelling, our guide briefed us on how to use the snorkelling mask and reminded us to breathe through our mouths instead of our nose.

Soon, we made our first "jump" into the sea at Tulai Coral Island and started snorkelling. The waters were clear and we enjoyed a beautiful view of the colourful underwater world as we swam with the fish. Despite the bad weather during our second snorkelling stop at the Tioman Marine Park, that did not spoil our mood! Our last stop was Soyak Island, which is visible from Salang Beach itself. That night, we had a good rest in our rooms after a good workout in the South China Sea. On our last day, we had a simple breakfast before boarding the ferry back out to Mersing to return to Singapore.