beach | what's brewing?

Pulau Redang is located in the state of Terengganu. There are practically 2 ways to get to the island from the mainland Kuala Terengganu; Shahbandar Jetty right in the middle of the town OR Merang Jetty 45 minutes from town. From Merang to Pulau Redang only takes about 35 mins boat journey.

We stayed in Redang Pelangi Resort for RM380 – 3D2N stay in triple room plus meals. No complaint about the room / meals. Even so I hardly comment on accommodation while traveling..the cheaper, the better. The only luxury local island stay was a few years back in Laguna Island Resort, also in Pulau Redang. Still I spent most of the times at the beach and pool rather than inside the room.

Diving in Pulau Redang

Since its nearing monsoon season, September may not be the prettiest time to go diving in the East Coast. However judging from my previous experiences diving in Pulau Perhentian in September, I know that this trip is not going to be wasted. Plus I HAD to put on my brand new mask for a try 🙂

1. Shore dive / house reef

The vis. was okay. Started at 3m deep and we worked our way deep. The stupid new mask decided to give me a hard time. The water kept on coming inside the mask, that I had to go up few times to re-adjust the mask. Cursed all my way throughout the dive.

2. Pulau Kerengga

Saw turtle, triggerfish, shark

3. Terumbu Kiri

I’ve always loved morning dive. Sadly I can’t recall the fishes that I saw haha.

4. cant remember the name of the site. imma check later with my log book.

Supposed to be a deep dive in the open sea and we were promised with nice soft corals. I had trouble equalising (my buddy was with me all the time) and when we finally gone down to 21m, we’d lost everyone. Tried searching for them for few minutes, but as the water got murkier and darker we decided to abort the dive and go up. The boat picked us two back and later on we saw the bubbles streaming from the water. Upon seeing that my buddy decided to go down again. But not me cause I know, me and my ear problems would only slow her down. Funny thing though my buddy has gone into deco stage that she had to stop several times during descending, only to be reunited with the rest of the divers while they’re doing safety stops. Ha ha. So, a very unlucky dive for both of us.

The rest of the divers reported that they saw lion fish while they were ascending.

5. Che Isa

Saw morray eel, crocodile fish. Pretty soft corals during safety stops. I think the best dive I had in Pulau Redang.

This place is the absolute epitome of beauty. I dont mind settling down at this place, marry a local and grow a farm. Heh.

Basically we decided to spend a night in Uluwatu after googling the many beaches around Uluwatu. There are few beaches that caught our eyes, namely Suluban, Padang-padang and Dreamland. You can google the pictures of these beaches and yes, all of them are very nice. Mainly for advanced surfers, as the waves can get very high therefore very dangerous for novice surfers.

Anyways I booked Bali Bule Homestay for Rp. 350k. No doubt the most expensive, but the nicest place that we stayed in Bali. Uluwatu is a huge place, obviously there are other homestays and guesthouses around the area. However not many are listed on the internet, and due to its seclusion, we had doubts on whether we were able to get a room for the night had we not place any booking. That explains why we booked Bali Bule Homestay. Nevertheless we were happy with this place, huge room (able to fit 4 pax), clean toilet, comfy bed, and of course, a swimming pool 🙂 It is also a walking distance to Suluban beach.

Sunrise was pretty early in Uluwatu..as early as 5am. We woke up real early and headed to the beach at about 7am. Apparently the people there were also early risers, especially the surfers aiming to catch the big waves. To get to the beach we had to ask the locals along the way. To get there we had to climb down the steep stairs alongside cafes and bungalows. It was truly a different experience for us. We spent approx. 2 hours swimming the natural ‘pool’ at the beach. By the time more and more surfers started coming and wading the water waiting to hit the waves. The waves started to appear around 8ish..and it was really fun watching those guys (even few kids!) surfing. Maybe soon we’ll learn to surf..perhaps perhaps 😀

Feast on the pictures below