Bus and ferry to Tioman

Bus to Mersing

To my surprise, I slept deeply last night despite retiring around 2000 and worries about catching an early 0700 bus.  Even though I had woken up a couple of times, I fell back asleep each time.

I woke to my alarm at 0545 and grabbed a breakfast of coffee and toast downstairs before walking to Johor Bahru’s Larkin station across the road around 0630.  I had already exchanged by online booking confirmation for barcoded boarding passes last night, at a cost of MYR2 for use of the bus station.

Despite having been in Korea for less than I week, I was looking to board the bus from the wrong side!  We boarded and left more or less on time.  People didn’t adhere to the seat numbers but it wasn’t a problem as the bus was relatively empty.

The scenery got a little misty and rural around Kota Tinggi.  The ride to Mersing should have taken around 2h35 but only took a little more than 2h and we arrived around 0900.  The town has made an effort to spruce up the facilities for tourists going to Tioman.  Instead of improving facilities at the ferry terminal, they’ve built a nice mall across the road with shops, dining and toilets.

The office for paying the marine park and other fees is also located here. One could have easily missed it unless one was looking for the place. And there are no checks before embarkation (and while in Tioman).  

Waiting at Mersing

I had an awesome brunch of Laksa Johor before moving to chat with a family from the USA.  Well, they’re not really from the USA as he’s British and she’s French.  They work remotely and are spending a year travelling with their teenage children.

Even though we had about 3h to kill between bus arrival and ferry departure, time went quickly due to great conversation and common interests.

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We moved to the station after 1130 and boarded not long after.  I noticed that there were quite a few westerners.  It is good to welcome foreigners back into the country as the tourism industry has suffered enough already.

Ferry to Tioman

The Cataferry sailing scheduled for 1300 had been brought forward a few days ago to 1230 (notified) and then 1215 (not notified).  In reality we left about 1220.

On board, I noticed the overhead lockers looked rather familiar.  Inspecting their latches I noticed they were branded with the words Airbus, completely with part numbers.  Good re-using of scrapped aircraft parts.

It was a very cloudy day (despite being calm) and the sea wasn’t blue at all.  The ride took about 1h40 before we pulled into the first stop around 1400, which when announced, turned out to be my stop at Genting Beach.

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Settling in

My accommodation, Impian Inn, was a few minutes walk to the right of the jetty.  I was relieved when I opened the door and took a look inside my chalet.  Accommodation in Tioman is either super-expensive or rather basic.  I seem to have picked one of the few places that are a little better than basic.

Choices are even more limited because I wanted to be at Genting Beach.  Other areas have had mixed reports of the beaches being rocky and unsuitable for swimming; it does depend on where exactly one is along the whole stretch.

After a brief rest, I took a dip in the sea.  For low tide, I could have been in worse areas.   I went out to explore the entire village afterwards.  There were many run-down places.  I could have made many worse choices of accommodation and only a few better ones.

Many places are fully-inclusive package holiday accommodation that specialise in groups. Nice barbecues are put on for these guests and unfortunately, they don’t take walk-in guests for dinner.

I had to settle for a simple noodle soup for dinner.  Some places open quite late for dinner and others are only open for lunch.  My choices were limited as I wanted an early dinner and an early night, having woken up early for the 0700 bus.