Redang Island A Journey To Remember

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On 1-3rd October 2015, me and my family had a family vacation Redang Island, Terengganu, Malaysia. We have a very joyful and memorable moments there. Redang Island is one of many islands in Terengganu water. Among other attractions to Redang is Redang Marine Park which is located near Redang Island.

We departed to Redang Island on ferry from Shahbandar jetty on 9.00 a.m ferry. We took 3D2N package direct from Redang Lagoon Resort which we found the cheapest and worth for money package for our trip. There are many other packages offered by other resort operators and travel agents ranging from medium range to high luxury package. Of course the price will be higher for the more luxury package.

Inside the ferry
The door lead to open deck areaOur sail took about 1 and a half hour along the beautiful Terengganu water and passing by 1 to 2 islands in our route to Redang Islang. Redang Lagoon and most of resorts in Redang Island are located in the seashore of Pasir panjang. There is no ferry jetty in Pasir Panjang, so we have to transfer ourselves and our luggage to a floating platform which can move right on the beach. Arriving there, we have our ground transport ready to move us from the beach to resort. The transport is actually a wagon attached to a tractor. It was very thrillling as we move along the beach and climbed the higher gorund.

Floating platform

Canteen and snorkeling center
Hammock
Our transport from the ferry arrival to resort
Check in proccess was smooth, the recepionist asked for the deposit payment slips. It is very lucky for me to have the slip downloaded in my phone. Mobile phone line got a problem on our arrival that day. We were given a quad sharing room near the canteen and near the beach. It is very pleasant for us as we have our 6 years old daughter and 23 months toddler with us.

Lunch was served on 12 noon. The lunch served was variety of local foods. It is absolutely worth for money that I paid for the package. After filling ourselves, we took some rest and waited for the first snorkeling trip. Open sea snorkeling. On 2.30pm we were called to board the snorkeling boat. We rented the life jacket and snorkeling gears from the resort for MYR20.00 per set (life jacket - MYR 10.00, snorkeling gear- MYR10.00). The boat was parked in the water. At first I walked in the water carrying my baby boy in my arm and my wife holding our daughter in her arm. Then when we realized the water level at the boat parking area is way higher than our head, my wife started trembling and a kind and supporting beach boy offered to carry my daughter but my daughter refused. Then my wife asked the beach boy to carry our baby boy and i carry our daughter. Our baby boy have more bravery than his sister. I passed our baby boy to him and continued walking toward the boat carrying our daughter. The beach boys were very kind and helpful. One of the main attraction in checking in to Redang Lagoon is their beach boys which are reportedly to be kind, helpful and very supportive.

Our journey to the open sea snorkeling area took about 15 minutes. Arriving near an isolated rock island, I felt the adrenaline to jump in the sea and start snorkeling. There was a very beautiful and magnificent underwater scene in the area. The fishes, the corals, the clear water. It was very beautiful.

That was very deep water. yeah

me in my mask
Returning form the first trip, we rushed over to the canteen and had our evening tea with a local food called 'jemput-jemput'. The canteen was built to cater dry and wet occupants. There is no restriction to enter the canteen in wet clothes. Done eating , we headed over to the beach in front of the resort to continue our snorkeling and water fun activity. Yet the beach alone is very beautiful and got a full load of fishes and corals underwater. I got myself some pics and video underwater using my Xperia Z wrapped in DiCaPac underwater bag bought from Shashinki Lelong store. It got USD1000.00 device warranty to fill up my confidence on the bag. Honestly, I'm not 100% confident to use my phone underwater continuously because maybe I'm a paranoid introvert type of person. I passed over the phone to my wife after snapping some pics and videos.









We started the second day with a trip to marine park. This is the most awaited moment for every persons coming to Redang Island. Our journey took about 30 minutes from the resort to Marine Park. We were briefed on the do's and don'ts in marine park which we are not allowed to bring anything back with us, we cannot step on the corals, we cannot swim outside the free boat area and we are not allowed to catch the baby turtles.

Feeding the fishes







Marine park was like an underwater paradise. The water is so clear and the underwater living creatures were very beautiful. We fed the fishes with a couple of bread slices, my daughter and baby boy were so delighted to see the fishes gathered around us to eat the bread slices. After couples of snorkeling tour, I got up to the beach and let my wife to snorkel. On approximately 11.30 a.m we were called to board the boat returning to the Resort. On the jetty, we had seen a miraculous show by a school of fishes swimming under the jetty and sometime jumped over the water. There were so many of them, they were like a grass on the field.

There were so many of them
On the evening we were supposed to have another open sea snorkeling trip but we were too tired to get up from the beds so we ended up sleeping and then snorkeling in the beach in front of the resort. This time I braved myself to explore the sea further away from the beach but I found out that fishes were gathered around the coral and reefs which is located not too far away from the beach. The reefs were a kind of eery with a small cave like hole below the reefs. I feared to be pulled into the hole by something so I kept myself at a distance from the reefs.

The beachOn the next morning, we took another last beach activity before check out. We could see smaller fishes swimming around us finding for foods. My wife and childrens had a very fun time in the water that morning as the tide is low and the waves were calm.



We checked out on 10.00 am and transferred to the ferry arrival area using the tractor pulled wagon. Our ferry arrived on 11.00 am and the journey ended in Shahbandar jetty on 12.00 noon. We are so grateful to the beach boys which helped us a lot during snorkeling trip and in the resort. They even helped my wife to pour out the porridge in the bowl seeing my wife had a difficult time controlling my baby boy and pouring the porridge. Also to the other staffs of Redang Lagoon which were very helpful and supporting. We indeed felt like we are a family to them. We will surely come back after my wife finishes up her study in Australia next 2 years. The islands in Terengganu will be closed starting 15th October until End of March next year due to the monsoon.


view from the back end of the resort
Night scene at the resort

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