PULAU GEMIA

Pulau Gemia(also called "Gem Island") is a small island lying off the coast of Terengganu. The island was originally uninhabited, but a small resort was built on one side of the island sometime in the early nineties. Most of the island remain forested, hilly and unaccessible(except to the most ardent rock climber). Pulau Gemia is just next to another larger island called Pulau Kapas. Unlike the unimpressive Pulau Kapas, the views and snorkelling at Pulau Gemia are much, much better. The island is quiet and laid back(you can call it unhappening) and there are usually not many tourists(usually an even mixture of locals and westerners) around. This is an island for relaxation, not excitement. The peak period is in June/July during the turtle season. The resort is closed during the Northeast Monsoon period(November, December, January, February).

Gem Island Resort

Getting there
Air. There are daily flights to Kuala Terengganu from Kuala Lumpur. It is possible to fly from either KLIA or from the Subang airport. The KLIA flight times appear to be more convenient as the Subang airport flight schedules appear to be either too early or too late. Remember that you need to fly from Kuala Lumpur in the morning if you wish to reach Pulau Gemia on the same day. (If you fly in the afternoon, you may miss the last boat to Pulau Gemia.)

Flight times:   Subang airport to Kuala Terengganu 7:30 a.m.
                KLIA to Kuala Terengganu        10:25 a.m.
                Often, other seasonal flights are available - check with your travel agent.

Bus. There are daily buses to Kuala Terengganu from Kuala Lumpur(check out the bus times at the Puduraya bus station). The bus journey takes about 9 hours and many travellers take the overnight coach to reach Kuala Terengganu in the morning. Again, you need to take a taxi from Kuala Terengganu to the jetty at Marang to catch the speedboat to Pulau Gemia.

Car. It is a 7 hour drive from Kuala Lumpur to Marang by car without stopping. Allowing for stops, the trip can be made in 8 hours. Of course, to reach Marang in the morning, you will have to drive overnight. Note that Marang is south of Kuala Terengganu and Rusila. If you see the Rusila signboard then you must have somehow missed Marang and will have to turn back(Rusila is very close to Marang). At the Marang jetty, there are some parking spaces for holiday makers.

The small floating jetty at Pulau Gemia. It is actually made of several floating sections hinged together.

Marang speedboat times
The speedboats operate 4 trips a day(9 a.m., 11 a.m., 1 p.m., and 3 p.m. weather permitting). The last boat trip(3 p.m.) may be cancelled in case of rough weather(it is usually rougher in the afternoon so it makes sense to try to reach Marang in the morning). Also on Fridays, the 1 p.m. trip is not available because of Friday prayers. The speedboat ride is only 15 minutes long and costs RM25(return trip) per person. There are a few boat operators at the jetty but we felt that the boats by the Sutera Link operator were bigger and more punctual than the rest. The much bigger and cheaper slow boat is usually not available as it is unable to approach Pulau Gemia unless the tide is really high. While waiting for the speedboat, you may want to have some food at the foodstall near the jetty. The food is reasonably cheap and their sotong(squid) cooked in Malay style is really good. It is a smart idea to buy some foodstuff from this stall and take it to Pulau Gemia. You won't find stuff like "keropok lekor" or "pisang goreng" on the island.

The resort accomodation
There is only one resort on Pulau Gemia and it has 52 chalets in total. They are all air-conditioned, have TV and their own bathrooms with hot water. The rooms are dark due to inadequate lighting. It may be a good idea to bring a small fluorescent light and plug it into the 3-pin sockets available in the room if you need to do some reading at night. The whole resort does not appear to be brightly lit(including the restaurant). This could be due to the fact that the island is also somewhat of a turtle sanctuary. There are 3 different types of chalets.

Villa - This is a detached chalet. There are only about 2 or 3 units available. Each unit faces the sea. The design is the same as that of the Deluxe unit except that this is a one storey unit.

Deluxe - This is a two storey detached chalet containing 2 separate units. You can have either the upstairs unit or the downstairs unit. The upstairs unit is accessed by a wooden staircase outside the chalet. The upstairs unit has greater privacy and a better view than the downstairs unit. The downstairs unit is cooler in the daytime and has better water pressure in the bathroom. The water pressure in the deluxe chalet is not that great so taking a shower can be a slow affair. We have not stayed in the Villa or Superior units so we are unable to comment on their bathroom facilities. Each unit faces the beach.

Superior - This is the cheapest and the most numerous of room types. This is essentially a longhouse on stilts housing a number of individual units in a row. The entrance is from the wooden walkway behind the longhouse. The units are smaller than the Deluxe units and faces the open sea.

		There are two things you need in the room: 1) Vape mat(helps you sleep undisturbed by mosquitos) 2) Supplementary light(if you want to read at night. Much of the room is dark because the lights are dim and in the wrong position).
This detached building consist of two Deluxe units: one upstairs and one downstairs.		The Deluxe room is big enough for 3 single beds

Food.
The food is reasonably good at the resort restaurant although service can be a bit long if there is a crowd. Be prepared to wait half an hour or longer for your food if there are more than 20 people in the restaurant. Or do like we did....we ordered our food earlier than anybody else. The menu is reasonably varied, although at times some items on the menu are not available. The prices can be quite stiff. Be prepared to pay KL hotel prices for the food. Water is free, but Nescafe, teh tarik sells for RM4 per cup. Noodle prices start at RM12 per bowl. Toast bread, butter and jam goes for RM5 per serving. I ordered the fried fish with rice, and the waiter brought 2 fried "kembong" with rice(cost: RM15). To be fair, the servings are sufficiently big. We had a steamed red snapper for RM25(not on the menu, but they did it for us anyway), which was cheap, surprisingly. The buffet/BBQ dinner(RM35 per head) is available only if the hotel has more than 40 guests. All in all, it would be wise to budget about RM55 to RM60 per day on food for the average Malaysian eater. Small eaters probably can make do on just 30 ringgit a day.

The restaurant has a good view of the sea. The water was so clear that we could see fishes swimming in the shallows while waiting for our food.		Breakfast in the restaurant

The restaurant does not operate 24 hours a day, so if you are one of those people who need to snack at odd hours, it is best to make your own arrangements. Tea/coffee making facilities are not available in the room. However, you can ask for a flask of hot water from the kitchen. We found it useful to bring our own little electric water heater, a metal mug and some three-in-one satchets of red date tea. (Electrical socket outlets are available in the room.) We did not fancy any of the limited menu items(mostly cakes, I think) of the restaurant for teatime. Thank goodness we brought some snacks along. There was a small fridge in the room, but it did not work, so we used it as a food cupboard instead to keep ants out of our food.

Activities
Snorkelling appear to be the main activity here. Kayaks are available to those who have the inclination to go out further. Beach volleyball seems to be more popular with the resort staff than with the guests. The presence of sea urchins outside the resort makes swimming a risky affair. We would recommend wearing a snorkel, mask and fins at all times! We did see quite a number of kids swimming, but they stayed in the shallows(sandy bottom) where there are no sea urchins. However, it is not advisable to swim out more than 6 metres from the shore without a mask and snorkel on. It is quite easy to step on the sea urchins as some of them grow at a water depth of less than 1 metre.

There is no dive operator at Pulau Gemia. However, the resort has an arrangement with a dive operator at the neighbouring Pulau Kapas. Guests who wish to go diving will be picked up by the diveboat from Pulau Kapas.

A few monitor lizards live on the island.		The snorkelling is good in the bay behind the Deluxe units. There are no sea urchins at this stretch.

Snorkelling.
The snorkelling is surprisingly good. There is a good reef in the bay behind the Deluxe chalets. It has a good coral collection of mostly soft coral, staghorn coral and brain coral and no sea urchins. We saw quite a number of the blue Giant Maori Wrasse, black tipped sharks, barracuddas and huge Blue Ring Angels. At one of the plastic buoys anchored on the reef, we found a resident spotted trunkfish(about a metre long) which looked like a beautiful underwater camouflaged leopard-skinned fish.

The stretch of water just outside the beach volleyball area has pockets of sea urchins but that stretch offered some good sights as well. We found a small moray eel and a stingray in addition to a Giant Maori Wrasse which came really close. Just further out, near the buoy line, Eileen was amused when a crab hitched a ride on my back while we were snorkelling. A curious 3 foot blacked tipped shark circled us twice near the end of the buoy line and we hastily moved away.

The snorkelling in Pulau Gemia is comparable to that of Pulau Redang. Of course, every reef is different, and a lot depends on luck as well.

Essential things to bring

1) Snorkelling gear
If you don't bring your own snorkelling gear, the resort can rent you these items. By the time you finished paying for the rental of gear, you would have wished you had bought your own gear.

2) Vape mat vaporiser.
There is a mosquito problem at the resort. Rooms are supplied with mosquito spraycans. We sprayed the whole room with mosquito spray just before we go out for dinner. Even so, we need to switch on the vape mat vaporiser in order to sleep. Mosquito repellent doesn't seem to discourage them. While eating dinner in the restaurant, the staff lit mosquito coils under the table so that we could eat in peace.(If they don't, you can request them to do so.)

3) Torchlight
Most of the resort is dimly lit so you will sometimes need a torchlight to get around if your unit is far from the the restaurant.

4) Heater/kettle
This is for those who wish to make tea, eat instant noodles at odd hours when the restaurant is not open. It is also nice to be able to make tea in your balcony especially in the afternoons. We would recommend bringing 3-in-1 satchets of coffee and red date tea(the 'Super' brand is good).

5) Foodstuff
The resort restaurant is adequate for main meals. But they don't have much in the way of snacks such as potato crisps, melon seeds, prawn crackers etc, so it is advisable to bring your own. We saw a group of westerners who even brought their own french loaves. Oh yes, the restaurant serves white bread and not wholemeal bread, so if you can't stand white bread, bring your own wholemeal bread.

Conclusion
Pulau Gemia is an island for relaxation and snorkelling and that's about that. There is the inevitable comparison with Pulau Kapas, Pulau Redang and Pulau Perhentian. Of course, Redang is much more happening. If you are a diver, then you will prefer to consider other islands which have dive operators. If you swim but do not snorkel, then it may be better to try the Pulau Redang instead. Snorkelling wise, it can compete with Pulau Redang and is much better than Pulau Kapas and Perhentian. Pulau Gemia caters to a slightly more upmarket crowd than the other islands and this is reflected in the food prices. Its advantage lies in the fact that a reasonably good reef is close by, which is more than I can say for many other island resorts.