Some Enchanted Evening on Tioman island

We'd grabbed the cheap flights to Singapore, with the plan to take the little ones to LEGOLAND. But how to fill in the rest of the 2 weeks, without blowing the budget? As a family of 5, it's no mean feat. With a partner who's a diver, we decided Tioman island was the place for some R&R beachwise.

We took to the air with Berjaya, though you can get car or bus and then ferry. Landing in the jungle airstrip, we knew we were in for something special.

There is plenty of different accommodation on the island. Due to the ages of the kids, we opted for the largest resort, Berjaya Tioman Beach, Golf & Spa Resort, for the best chance of adjoining rooms. It also offered me an easy option for the solo parenting gig while my partner was off diving each day.  However, there are some spectacular looking smaller resorts, which are well worth a look if you are not desperate for adjoining rooms.





The resort is old but still got all the right boxes ticked. Easy access to the beach (it's on the beach so it's literally a stroll from your room or pool). The pool has a slide and a kiddy pool - and for the Mum supervising, views out to sea. The rooms are little chalets, low rise so you feel like you're in a little village, even though the resort itself is far bigger than any  actual village on the island.

There is a games rooms, and water activities, otherwise, Tioman is for the beach hoppers or scuba and snorkelers. Organise a boat to take you beach hopping to the little beaches scattered round the island. It's feels all very remote, and a world away from popular tourist holiday hubs that island escapes become. We went over to Juara, and were the only people on the beach (though if you looked into the internet café there, it was full!).

My favourite time of day was hitting the bar for sunset drinks before dinner. The kids would play on the sand and my partner and I got some alone time, as the sun went down.

On food, there are a number of dining options in the resort, or you can of course head into 'town' if you want to try something else. The Berjaya has a Thai/Indian restaurant, as well as a buffet restaurant. On some nights they do 'steam boat' where you cook your own food in a soup. If you eat seafood, this is definitely a must. The a la carte in the buffet restaurant, is also the lunch menu, so we'd exhausted that in the 5 days we were there.

The snorkelling is brilliant - we did a 4 hour trip, and went out to this magical little white sand beach, which had massive coral formations in the emerald green water. The snorkelling was spectacular, with some big fish adding to the experience. The other two sites were less impressive, but fortunately we'd spent the bulk of the trip at the best site.

We had a very laid back 5 days, and as a beach escape out of Singapore, it's a very easy and low-cost affair. It's easy to see why Tioman Island was the setting for the romantic musical, South Pacific. What's harder to understand is why it's still such a secret?

Practicalities:

Flights https://www.berjaya-air.com/

Berjaya Resort http://www.berjayahotel.com/tioman/en/home

For the record, flying Scoot to Singapore, then flights & 4 nights on Tioman, plus transfers & 3 nights in Desaru, entry into LEGOLAND and Hello Kitty Town was less than our 5 nights in Fiji. Sometimes, for a good value holiday, you need to think outside the square.

Linking with #WaterThursday