Delightful treasure Island, taken From News Straits Times. Saturday, August 5, 2000.
"Beside the calming effects of warm waves and the thrill of swimming with turtled, the chalet owner of the smal island off Terengganu shows an amazing level of trust and generosity. And that makes him a treasure too. HARBANT KAUR GILL writes from Melbourne, Australia"......(please click for full story...)
Kedamaian D'lagoon, taken from Metro. Sunday, Nov 26, 200
"Tiada pendingin hawa, televisyen, telefon atau bar mini untuk mewujudkan suasana semula jadi".....(please click for full story...)
There I was, on one of my regular trips home, and bussing up to Pulau Perhentian, Terengganu, for some recommended snorkelling, when a tall San Franciscan named Sandy says she's headed to a remote, isolated part of small island.
Tell me more, I implore, unshamed that a native needs to ask an oreng puteh for directions to what sounds like a Malaysian paradise. She was there for a week, she says, before going to KL, and now she's going back for two. Just can't stay away. A few hours of such tempting talk later, I'm hooked. So when the bus reaches Kuala Besut soon after dawn, my partner and I just follow her. Off we go on a speedboat for an our-long ride, drop off others at various spots on Perhentian Besar and Perhentian Kecil, then head for the last stop, a beach cut off from the rest of humanity by rocks and steep cliffs.
A small boat comes out to greet us, with smalling manager Razak at the helm. You're back, he tells Sandy. Good, good. We head through dazzlingly clear water towards several timber chalets and a sand-floored cafe, where we are served cups of tea by Razak's wife.Time immediately becomes irrelevant. It's as if we have stepped into another zone, one where the burden of urgency and deadlines ceases to exist.
We sit there, chatting, for at least an hour before one of Razak's helpers brings us the register and a choice of rooms -RM50 a night and a chalet with attached bathroom, RM25 without an en suite, RM20 for the treehouse or RM10 for a dorm bed. If you don't like one, just switch to another after a night if there's room, he says. Oh What a glorious way to be. We change, commune with the South Chinese Sea, and lie in hammocks for inordinately long amounts of time, long enough for all existential stresses to drip drip drip into thirstysand.
No phoness, no e-mail to check, no letters to address - just lime juice, the best mee rebus of my life and the calming continuity of the warm waves. We could canoe to the other more populated and lively beaches, or take a water taxi for a few ringgit to get where the action is - beach parties at night, volleyball and cafes galore. But we choose to snorkel and swim for hours with the most wildly coloured and friendly fish I have encountered, a centimetre from my eyes to be precise.
The heat-stricken coral, now showing healthy signs of new life, detracts little from the experience of being in another world, albeit a chummy one. Event the small sharks and large menacing Napoleons are happy to share their homes with us. Above water, so is Razak. On learning that he is without credit card facilities, we voice our fear of having insufficient cash and offer to make a mainland trip to get some. Oh no, he says, just post me the money. An amazing trust and generosity, given that he has no details on us except the city we live in, no phone number, no address, nothing.
A rare treasure, this man, who has ensured that will definitely keep going back to his patch of Perhentian year after turtle-filled year. What I still can't believe, though, is that having lived in Malaysia for 28 years before heading overseas, I have waited so long to swim with turtles. Oh, why didn't someone tell me what bliss it is, just to lie there on the water, waiting for the turtle to come up for air, then rising with it, stroking its back, and flying. yes, it feels like flying, effortlessly, ecstatically, with a true poet of the ocean, taking you to such dizzying heights of excitement, and intimacy.
I am elated. I want to give my turtle name, and wonder if I would recognise it again, and if it would sense that I had returned, like an old pat. Of course not, but that's what happened. Several weeks later, I'm still reliving that enlivening experience, night after night as I slip into Malaysia-filled sleep.
Sebut sahaja Terengganu, pasti terbayang keindahan pulau dengan pantai menjalar dan laut jernih yang kaya khazanah laut. pulau perhentian, Pulau kapas dan Pulau redang, antara tumpuan pelancong.
Semua pulau menyediakan rumah rehat, hotel dan chalet, dibina bagi menampung permintaan pelancong dalam dan luar negara dengan kemudahan seperti bot, kegiatan selam skuba serta memancing di laut dalam.
D'lagoon di Pulau Perhentian Kecil antara resort kelas sederhana yang menjadi sebutan ramai. Sedikit terpinggir daripada rumah rehat lain, ia terkenal kerana pantai di situ paling menarik untuk kegiatan selam skuba.
Untuk sampai ke Pulau Perhentian anda perlu menaiki bot penambang di jeti Kuala Besut. Di sini agak sibuk, dipenuhi pelancong 'Mat Saleh' yang datang secara berkumpulan.
Ramah
Pelayan kedai makan turut ramah melayan karenah pelanggan, sesekali terdengar mereka bertutur bahasa Inggeris loghat Terengganudengan pelancong. Bagus juga, walaupun sesekali seperti itik bercakap dengan ayam.
Perjalanan mengambil masa kira-kira satu setengah jam. Angin Laut china Selatan menyapamesra. Pemandanagn sekeliling mendamaikan dan jeti semakin jauh ditinggalkan. Masing-masing melayan perasaan, ada yang membaca, mendengar lagu dan ada juga yang melelapkan mata.
Di kejauhan D'lagoon setia menanti. Bot terpaksa berhenti agak jauh dari pantai bagi mengelak terlanggar batu karang. Melihat kejernihan airnya, pasti yang ramai tidak sabar mahu berenang.
Tetamu dijemput dengan dua bot laju. Seronoknya dapat mencecahkan kaki di gigi air yang dipenuhi kulit siput. Kerusi rehat berderetan di pantai, bersidai mat saleh bermandi suria.
Udara segar
Bongkah besar batu warna keemasa menghiasi kiri kanan pantai, menjadi tempat sesuai bersantai menghirup udara segar. Tiba di ruang legar D'lagoon, pengunjung disajikan minuman sirap sejuk. Selepas berehat, masing-masing ditunjukkan biliksama ada chalet kayu berkembar, bilik asrama atau bilik untuk dua orang.
Di chalet ini cuma ada kipas angin. Tiada pendingin udara, televisyen, telefon atau abr mini. Ini kerana pelancong digalak menikmati sepenuhnya keindahan pulau dan melakukan pelbagai riadah tanpa gangguan, berbanding berehat di bilik tanpa sebarang kegiatan.
Teringat sewaktu tinggal di asrama apabila makan beramai-ramai di meja makan panjang. Walau sajian tidak sehebat di hotel, namun sotong goreng, telur dadar, sup sayur,ikan goreng dan sambal belacan cukup membuka selera.
D'lagoon diurus Abdul Razak Mohd Nor,44 yang berkongsi bersama seorang rakan membeli seekar tanah di pulau ini. Dia memberanikan diri dengan membina beberapa chalet berbentuk 'A' tanpa bantuan pinjaman. Keuntungan dari itu, dia membina chalet lebih besar dan selesa yang kini berjumlah 30 unit.
Kebanyakan tetamu D'lagoon dari Jepun, Jerman, England, Amerika Syarikat dan Australia. Mereka melakukan pelbagai kegiatan seperti snorkle, selam skuba, merentas denai dan berkayak. Jika bernasib baik, anda boleh melihat penyu bertelur.
Jika anda gemar selam skuba, di sini tempat menarik. Ikan pelbagai warna dan karang laut pancawarna tentu membuat anda tidak sabar ingin melihat lebih dekat.
Tidak perlu ke tengah laut, berendam sahaja di tepi pantai, anda terasa seperti berada di dalam akuarium besar denagn anak ikan berenang jinak menghampiri. Apatah lagi jika disogok roti, pasti jari anda turut digigitnya.
Selain bersantai di pantai utama, anda boleh menikmati keindahan di pantai Turtle Bay atau pantai Adam & Eve, kira-kira 15 minit berjalan meredah denai.
Lautnya tenang kebiruan, pantainya tidak berpasir, sebaliknya dipenuhi kulit siput perlbagai bentuk. Janagn harap hendak berkaki ayam pasti terasa sakit. Suasana disini sungguh nyaman, sesuai mereka yang inginkan ketenangan jiwa.
