We took a trip to Tioman at the start of March 2020... little did we know it would probably be our last getaway for the year (we were on our way home when news of impending Covid lockdown started breaking).
For this trip, we left MJ with my folks to take care of for 3 nights (thankfully that went well), and we could enjoy our holiday with our friends Jo Anne and Jimmy (with Myla with us, but she's easy so no problems there).
We took a private car up to Mersing (it's a large 7 seater vehicle), much more time efficient and comforable compared to taking a coach, and then Cata Ferry to Tioman.
Strongly advice you to take the first class seats on Cata Ferry, it was my favourite part of the whole journey. So clean, spacious and comfortable.
It's not a big splurge in terms of $$, well worth the extra cost as it's so much better than being squashed in shittier seats in a 2 hour ferry ride.
After you arrive in Tioman, a small shitty boat from the Resort comes to pick you up. Ok.. shitty cos I'm comparing it to Cata Ferry lol but as far as Malaysian island resorts go, their boat was normal standard.
We stayed at Tunamaya Beach & Spa Resort in Tioman. Accommodation was comfortable, and totally beach front. That's our room in the pic above, behind Myla and Adamson.
I found the room a bit small even though it's already one of the bigger rooms there. But ok lah, not a deal breaker. And it's clean and safe. If you have a bigger family/ older kids, you can opt for adjoining rooms.
It's lovely to wake up in the morning and see the bright blue sea just outside your window.
Beds and pillows and linen etc were good hotel standard. (Important!)In room, it has an all inclusive minibar, and some basic amenities ... not luxurious but it suits the rustic beach resort feel.
But the star draw of coming to a place like Tunamaya has to be having the beach right at your doorstep.
And not just any regular seaweedy beach, but soft powdery sand and crystal clear waters kind of beach.
Like seriously, this sea water is clearer than some countries' bath waters.
Convenient and fun to just put your swimsuit on and go snorkeling out or sit and make sandcastles... anytime.
They have only one pool... it's a decent size and under utilised (I guess cos everyone is in the sea).
When we were there the weather was mostly good.. nice and sunny. It rained during the night... when we were asleep.
The All Inclusive package includes a private boat ride to snorkling/diving points around the vicinity. It also includes breakfast, lunch, dinner and a free flow happy hour in the evenings.
But the food there is a disappointment ah.. I was expecting Club Med standard of all inclusive (oh well)... but their all inclusive meant we couldn't pick from the menu what we wanted to eat and our meals were pre-planned by them... the dishes not nice... plus it felt like they were just serving us whatever didn't sell.Like even for Myla they didn't really have proper kids meals planned.. luckily she's not fussy. But we had to remind them please no spicy stuff for the kids meal, because she can eat anything but she won't take spicy stuff.
Breakfast spread was blah. With the as expected beef bacon and such -_- . At least do a nice nasi lemak lah!
Wanna hear something sad? Their all inclusive free flow drinks package turned out to be canned beer only... wtf. Wish they would have said so at the start in the fine print or something. So I wouldn't turn up at their resort, having already paid for this package, looking forward to having some cocktails.
The view somewhat made up for the disappointing F&B.
Their boat trips out were superb. Friendly, patient and efficient crew.
Really enjoyed our time out at sea, and they brought us to some good snorkling points.
And later to a different town to have seafood lunch. Now we're talking!
At the end of the day, it's still nice to come back to Tunamaya. They have beautiful sun sets, and the evening weather is breezy and cool.
Overall... here are the pros and cons of TunamayaPros:
Beautiful sunsets/sunrises
Safe
Beachfront rooms
Clean beach + Crystal clear sea
Not many mosquitoes, surprisingly
Cons:
Almost NO WIFI. No in room wifi, and very poor wifi connectivity at their main lobby. Even your mobile data connection is extremely crappy here. I wouldn't last more than a few days here honestly.
Food for us sucked balls. Definitely do not go for the all inclusive package because you're better off taking a short boat ride and eating else where, or order your own choices from their menu. Their happy hour free flow as per their all inclusive package turned out to be just beer, so skip that option too. Go for all inclusive only if you do your calculations and it make sense to go for it because of the included free boat rides & snorkel/dive trip out.
Travel Lust....
