For this year’s holiday, we thought we’d give the islands of the east coast a try. Believe it or not, we’ve never been to any of the famous islands scattered along the east coast state of Terengganu or Pahang. After much research and comparison, we agreed on Redang island. Tioman was far too costly and Redang some people say is the prettiest of the Terengganu islands.
We picked Redang Holiday Beach Resort from the dozens of resorts on the island. It offers the most value with the fewest bad reviews. We paid around 4,000 ringgit for the snorkelling package for a family of four plus one toddler. The package include two bedrooms, 3 meals a day, snorkelling and boat ride for 3 days and 2 nights. That also include return boat transfer from the Merang jetty near Kuala Terengganu.
We left from KL right after work that Friday evening. It was a tiring six hours drive to Kuala Terengganu and we only reached the homestay after midnight. Early next morning we made our way to the jetty. We waited for the rest of the pax to arrive then cruised across the choppy waters of Terengganu to Redang island. On the island, we took a wagon pulled by a tractor to the hotel room. The hotel itself was okay. It was right next to the beach but our room was poolside. Maybe just our luck but room 116 that we stayed in had a faulty fan, mouldy walls and a clogged toilet. Sounds horrible right? A staff came to unclog the toilet and advised us not to turn on the fan to top speed to avoid the noise. The room also has some really basic amenities - air-conditioner, one electric kettle and one hair dryer but nothing else. No TV, telephones or wi-fi connection. My expectation was low but still, 4k is not cheap to deserve to get a shitty room. Would I recommend this hotel? Only if you’re short of budget and you can’t afford some of the other nicer resorts.
What I can compliment though is the food and the snorkelling sessions. The food was good overall. I mean my wife and family really liked them, especially the fresh sea food. That said I always stick to the chicken menu. The snorkelling session was the highlight of our stay. We visited 3 different diving sites throughout our visit including one paid marine national park where we snorkelled from the beach. Each diving site is beautiful on its own. The boat and snorkelling crew were also really friendly and they made sure we had the best experience and looked after our safety in the ocean. Sure we found some dead corals due to global warming or climate change but for our first ever snorkelling experience, they’re still breathtakingly beautiful. The water was crystal clear, we can see quite a number of fishes (although they were all small) and there’s the white sandy and clean beaches around the island. We were even treated with a fire show on our last night on the island.
We only managed to catch the sunrise once on our final day. It was rather cloudy so it wasn’t that great but it’s still beautiful nevertheless.
Would I recommend Redang island? Absolutely, especially for first time visitors. Your expectation must be directly related to your budget. The more you pay, the better your overall experience will be. I would really recommend snorkelling around the island because it will be an unforgettable experience.
