Three days on Tioman Island

13th-16th June

No time for a Sunday morning lie-in as we head to the airport for a short flight to Tioman Island. It’s school holiday time in Malaysia and we had trouble finding accommodation, so our three nights are split between two resorts. There are virtually no roads on the island and the airport transfer is by water taxi. Our first stop is slightly north of the airport, an area known as ABC, which is popular with locals and backpackers. Our hotel is one step above backpacker, but definitely budget. On the plus side, there is a pretty beach and warm clear sea, and life here revolves around this prime piece of real estate. We lounge in the shade of the trees alongside the backpackers playing cards, watching the antics of Malaysian children in the water. Snorkelling and an ever-capsizing banana boat are on offer to those who swim. This pleasure has passed many Muslim adults by – most wear life jackets even sitting in a water taxi – so I’m impressed by a mum in a bright blue swimming burka, teaching her children to swim.

Happy Hour at the beach bar starts at 5, but a handful of middle-aged Brits have been propping it up for several hours by then, the drone of their world-weary tales the irrating background hum of barflies the world over. After dinner, beach chairs are turned away from the sea towards a giant screen showing live football – no escaping the world cup here. The barflies and backpackers have settled in for the night, but I’m soon nodding off and head to bed.

Half an hour down the coast in a speedy little boat we arrive at our second destination, and I can't think of many people who won't find paradise at Bagus Place. This delightful little resort - just 5 rooms - is a restful, rustic, haven nestling almost invisibly in the rocks and rainforest that fringe the South China Sea at the southern tip of Tioman Island. We are staying in the boat house, which looked like Noah's Ark washed up on the beach. Inside there is a downstairs lounge and shower-room with open tread stairs to the bedroom, outside deck, and a second indoor lounge complete with daybed and splendid sea view. We had planned to scuba-dive but, if truth be told, the restful style of Bagus Place lulled us into a soporific stupor of contentment. We managed to interrupt our lounging, reading and sleeping with an occasional snorkel from the end of the jetty, where baby reef shark chased shoals of tiny fish. The jetty bar is also a lovely place to watch the sun go down and stars come out. Robinson Crusoe, eat your heart out.

After two days of simple pleasures, it’s time to head back to KL. We wake to a flat, calm sea, but an hour later, when our boat is due to leave, a wind has sprung up, swelling the sea making white crested waves. This time we are given life jackets for the bumpy ride back to the airport, and are thankful that we are not on one of boats full of snorkellers that we pass on the way.