There wasn't anyone at most of the hotel booths. We stood there and waited for awhile, then decided to take a seat nearby, where we could see the booth. When a staff finally appeared, he tagged our luggage and told us to wait for other guests to arrive. It was after more than an hour when we moved off from here.
A few staffs brought the luggage and load them on the speedboat. Off we go to the resort!
Fifteen minutes later, we found ourselves at paradise. The drizzle hasn't let up since morning.
All the guests were seated in the arrival lounge while check-in was being processed.
We were served some chilled lemongrass drink.
Going to room 111, which is really near the arrival lounge. We stayed a total of four nights here.
A desk behind the room door
The pantry / mini bar
Complimentary coffee, tea and mineral water (the hotel ensures that there's 6 bottles in the room during daily housekeeping).
The closet containing iron, ironing board, bathrobes, slippers, safe, hair-dryer and towels (for drying after getting out of the seawater).
The bed
The door leads to the outdoor deck.
Shower on the right and toilet bowl on the left.
The outdoor deck
Before the sun goes down on our first day here, we went exploring the island. The over-water rooms 101-112 are the nearest to the jetty. This is also the place to see the sunset.
Panoramic view of the water bungalows
The beginning of the boardwalk to the more expensive over-water rooms.
Under-utilised lounge chairs on the beach
The reception lounge, where check-out is processed.
This hotel does not provide complimentary wifi in the room. Only in this area, guest can login for free wifi.
Business centre behind the reception counters
Lounge area outside the business centre (free wifi still accessible here) and a souvenir shop further down this corridor.
Swimming pool
Two rooms on the ground floor and two rooms on the upper floor.
I'm guessing this is one of the beach cottages.
On the most east side of the island is where is Shine Spa is located.
Take this boardwalk to the little island for spa treatment. This is also the place to see sunrise, where we didn't manage to catch. It rained on our first morning. We woke up late on the second morning and the sun was already out of the horizon by the time we got here. On the third, it was too cloudy. And there was super heavy rain on the fourth morning (and that's our last day).
Our first dinner on the resort was at Sand Coast restaurant.
I ordered beef burger and KB ordered a pizza
We had breakfast every morning at the Feast restaurant, served in buffet style, at a charge of USD10 per person per day (which is surprising cheap).
After breakfast, we head over to the Water Sports Center to borrow the snorkeling gears.
The snorkeling goggles and breathing tubes are washed after every return from the guest.
Beach at the Water Sports Center
After getting rain the whole of day one, we're really fortunate that the weather was totally sunny on days two, three and four. Then, on day five, it drizzled again as we were leaving.
Bright and sunny day! And I simply have to take a postcard shot.
"Suntanning" our gears on the deck
Clear blue waters
Spot the little crab. There's more of them but they run away as I approaches to take a photo.
That's me floating around in paradise, enjoying the warm sunshine while soaking in the sea. The tide was highest in the afternoon and the waves were rather strong. So, on subsequent days, we only went into the water in the evening when the sea is calmer.
I was too excited about jumping into the sea and didn't care about putting on sunblock. I really should not underestimate the sun's power because I got a burnt nose after one hour of snorkeling!
We spent the rest of the afternoon lazing around in our room.
In the evening, we took these boats and set out to the set for dolphin watching. Bottled mineral water and soft drinks were provided and there's also a toilet on board.
Boats from various resorts gather around the same area to lookout for dolphins.
Tourists on the edge of the boats, armed with cameras.
Waiting for dolphins to appear
Returning back to the resort after the dolphin watching trip.
KB and I joined one of the snorkeling trip on a late morning. I hopelessly cannot get used to stuffing the breathing tube into my mouth, so I just went down with my goggles (just like my Tioman island hopping trip many years ago). There was one elderly Caucasian couple on our boat and they were equipped with their own Tribord snorkeling mask. I am so going to get one of them on my next snorkeling trip!
Doodling on the sand
Watching the sunset on the boardwalk outside our room
The over-water rooms at night
We called for room service for two nights. Lunch and dinner are not actually cheap on the island (except breakfast) and everything is charged in US dollars. Before leaving for this trip, my friend had already advised me to bring instant cup noodles and tidbits, which we did. Perhaps, it is more economical and enjoyable if we had booked the room with the full-board option. There's no other dining choices other than the restaurants on the island anyway.
Soon, it's time to go back home... a last look at paradise on the plane.
Souvenirs I bought from the hotel's shop. There's actually a much wider variety in the transit area in the airport. The prices are mostly similar at the hotel and at the airport... except for the blue whale paper holder, which is much cheaper at the airport.
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