Tioman ferry will depart from the Mersing jetty. If you are traveling by bus, chances are [...]]]> Tioman ferry is probably the cheapest way to get into this tropical island paradise. I have been on the ferry a couple of times these past few months and I thought the experience (and information) would be useful to share.

Tioman ferry will depart from the Mersing jetty. If you are traveling by bus, chances are the bus will end at the Mersing bus station. It takes about 20 minutes to walk to the jetty. Alternatively, you can take a taxi but expect to pay nothing more than RM10 (lets all keep it that way!).

There are two Tioman ferry service providers from Mersing. Mersing by the way is the most common departure jetty to Tioman Island. The ferry operators are:

BLUE WATER EXPRESS
Tel: 07-799 4811
Fax: 07-799 5696

FAST FERRY VENTURES
Tel: 07-798 2986
Fax: 07-798 2980

Not exactly a ferry but a speedboat that I once had to take. Very fast but can be very uncomfortable

Prices of ferry tickets are around RM35 on way. You’ll get some discounts if you are a local or you can prove that you work with one of them resorts on the island. The tickets are sold as early as 5am. The ticket sellers try to take advantage of the early passengers that arrives and they will most probably push you to purchase an ‘open’ ticket back as well. It is OKAY to get the tickets from them. The tickets sold by them are valid and costs the same. They probably get some commissions from the actual boat operators. Other ticket counters usually opens at around 630am as the first ferry is usually 7am.
If you plan to head to Tioman Island and thinking about taking the ferry, consider doing the following:

If you plan to head to Tioman Island and thinking about taking the ferry, consider doing the following:

• Call up in advance and make your booking. I have personally done my ticket booking with Fast Ferry via Fax and they actually have a record book that records all the bookings. By Malaysian standard, not bad at all I would say.
• Call up and find out what are the ferry schedules. The reason I did not display the trip schedule is that on a number of occasions, they increase/ reduce the number of ferry trips due to weather, sea conditions, peak/ low seasons etc.
• Purchase the return ticket straight away if you already know the dates that you are heading off. This way, you need not worry about where to get tickets when you are on the island.

Like the ferries that ply the Kuala Kedah – Langkawi and Kuala Perlis-Langkawi routes, the ferries used are all closed up with strong diesel engine smell inside. The air-condition is usually very cold, the seats rather narrow for my big size and in-house TV that is certain to show some pirated movies (if they show any at all).

Most of the island is still covered in thick tropical rainforest jungle Furthermore, the island’s villages are scattered and there is no proper paved roads connecting them. So, almost each village has its own ferry jetty.

One of the many stops the Tioman ferry makes

You MUST know which jetty/ village to get off. To name a few, there is Tekek, Juara, Genting, Paya, ABC and Salang. All these places are on the island itself and the ferry will stop at each village one after the other. Its kind of like a bus making stops at each bus stop to drop/ pick passengers.

NOTE: See where and how to take a bus to Mersing jetty under ‘Label’ section on the right side of the page.

Anyway, this tropical island’s jungle really packs a punch. The first time I visited the island was for business and I flew in by Berjaya Air. To date, only [...]]]> If anyone asked me, I’d say Tioman Island’s jungle has more to offer than its beaches or diving sites. That…plus the fact that I don’t dive 

Anyway, this tropical island’s jungle really packs a punch. The first time I visited the island was for business and I flew in by Berjaya Air. To date, only Berjaya Air’s special (small) plans can land and take off from the tiny airstrip on the island.

As the plane approaches the island, I couldn’t help but notice the vast greenery that still carpets the island. Besides well known beaches and dirt cheap beers, Tioman is in fact rather contrasting to Langkawi in terms of development (buildings, malls, roads etc). Tioman in a way is rather under-developed. In my books, this is good news. There is only one main road in the main village of Tekek. There is no proper paved road that connects the many villages on the island. The tallest building on the island probably belongs to some resort. There are no petrol stations. Fuel is sold in recycled mineral water bottles. One can literally count the number of cars on in any particular village. No shopping malls. No cinemas. No bowling alley. This place is amazingly ‘preserved’ considering that its one popular holiday destination.

It was a business trip that visit, so I did not have much time or opportunity to venture into the jungle. However, I did manage to convince one of the resort’s staff to give me a first hand tour of an old abandoned jungle trail. The trail used to be part of the resort’s activities but it has been abandoned for quite a while due to safety reasons.

The trail starts somewhat near the marine center of the resort. A flight of steps that later leads into the bush. The jungle is different. Except for the additional markers of arrows and ropes built in when the trail was operational, the jungle looked really pristine. One thing that really stood out about the jungle is the numerous large stones strewn all over the place

The huge rocks seem to be stacked one on top of the other, creating cave like features that required crawling and some maneuvering to pass through. The ‘caves’ we were told are favorite haunting places for snakes, porcupine and bats. One surprising thing we found out was that Tioman island is actually free from wild boars. For an island with a majority of Malay (Muslim) inhabitants, this is rather surprising.

The trail took us about 1 hour to complete. It was a real eye opener that walk. Tioman jungle can only be described as different and mysterious. Probably mysterious enough to entice me for another visit.

NOTE:Find out more about this tropical island of Tioman by scrolling the ‘Label’ section on the right hand side of this page.