Ok, here’s how not to arrive on the Perhentian islands.  Late in the afternoon during high season with no hotel.  Trudges along the beach can be fruitless and most nights a couple of people are reduced to sleeping outside on the beach.   The good point about this is that there’s a good reason why the island gets so full up – because it is a true piece of tropical, unspoilt idyll.  Kuta beach too commercialised? Samui become too built up?  Perhentian is the place to stop off.

The Perhentian are a cluster of islands off the East coast of peninsula Malaysia and are only accessible by a one hour boat trip from the main land.  There are two main islands, known as Besar and Kecil or more simply big and small island. 

In keeping with its undisturbed nature, accommodation is in single storey wooden hut complexes which are normally built round restaurants on the beach.  The standards range from the very basic hut with simple fan, to aircon with bathroom and pleasant verandah to watch the sun go down. 

For those who demand room service, a TV in the room and luxurious five star living, this is not the place to come.  But for those who like the luxury of the simple life, there is accommodation for most tastes and budgets.

The beaches are surrounded by clear turquoise water, at many you can gaze down at fish swimming around your legs.  Off the rocky edges of many beaches there is fantastic coral.  Most hotels will lend out snorkelling equipment giving you an opportunity to explore an underwater world of amazingly colourful fish. 

For the more energetic snorkelling and diving trips can be arranged to outlying islands where even better diving is to be found.

The islands can also be explored by canoe, the waters are normally calm and you can happily paddle along the shoreline, stopping off perhaps at another beach for lunch.  There are also a number of trails leading from one beach to the next overland, and it is an exhilarating experience clambering through the rainforest, looking at the many birds, unique trees and plants on display. 

Volleyball on the beach provides a good way to let off steam at the end of the day – provided your not too exhausted by the hours of sitting under palm trees! 

Despite their location near the Malay Thai border and the great array of dishes which come from this region, food can often be plain on the island. 

Many restaurants serve a variety of fried mee (noodles) or nasi (rice) with none of the accompaniments to be found in other parts of Asia.

From the daily catch which gets brought up to the beach in the mid-afternoon a fantastic barbecue is cooked up, often for as little as $3!  Accompanied by a variety of sauces – coconut and lemongrass, sweet and sour or curry you can choose from barramundi, squid, shark kingfish, garoupa or whatever else the fisherman have caught up with that day. 

The Perhentians come under the restrictions of one of Malaysia’s most conservative states, Terengganu.  Consequently many restaurants, particularly those run by Muslim Malays, do not serve alcohol.