Coral View Island Resort Perhentian Island

This beautiful resort is also run by a local Malay family, and the resort is cleverly located in between two beaches with a great view for anyone wanting a perfect beach holiday here in Malaysia.

Coral View Island Resort Perhentian Island Review

A fibreglass speed boats takes about 45 minutes to get to Perhentian Island (Pulau Perhentian, pronounced Perhen-TEE-AHN), and the prices are usually around RM70 to RM80 (US$20) for a two way trip.

You also need to buy the Marine Park Conservation Charge of RM5. Once you reach the resort, smaller boats will come and pick you to take you the your resort as there is no jetty at most of the resorts in Perhentian Island.

I had booked my trip through the Coral View Island Resort office in Terengganu town, so my speed boat brought me straight to the resort from the Kuala Besut Jetty. 

I was also told that her boss was a local Malay man whose family ran the business. Looking around I could see that a lot of effort was put into the resort.

The sea view chalet was basic with a lot of local Malay influence to the exterior and interior. Sadly, due to land space, the chalets were pretty close to each other.

Also to add in, this resort caters to a lot of families, so expect children running around and also large groups which can get noisy at times.

A recommended restaurant to try is at The Barat, just next door to the resort, which is notes as the best restaurant on Perhentian Island. 

So without hesitation, we ordered a large grouper cooked with Malay style sweet and sour sauce, a small plate of mixed vegetables and two plates of white rice. I must say the fish was one of the freshest fish I had ever tasted.

Apart from this, there are numerous activities available here. From snorkeling, diving to jungle trekking and island hopping around the other islands.

Snorkeling equipment is readily available for rent if you want to explore the corals around the resort. There is a good patch of coral garden just outside of the resort beach.

If you choose to do a jungle trek, there is a good chance to see some monitor lizards where some of them grow up to about five feet long.

For scuba divers, there is a dive shop here called Pro Divers World. This dive center caters to dive trips and also scuba diving classes in the event you want to take your PADI Open Water Course.

Unfortunately during my visit here, you can see from the photo above that it was the best sunset I could capture.

Coral View Island Resort at night

The resort is pretty well lit at night so walking around would give you the feeling of living in a local Malay Kampung (Village).

Perhentian Island beach at night

Apart from the resort, I took a walk to the other restaurants and cafes along the beach. Some of them are pretty cosy serving beers and coffee, just like in Bali or Phuket.

Most of the foreign travellers would be seen catching up here at the outdoor restaurants and cafes, as it is much more relaxed compared to Perhentian Kecil.

This means, many will take the water taxi and come here to wine and dine versus having it on the small island.

A storm approaching Perhentian Island

One of the days I was there, the weather was not too good as it looked like it was going to rain cats and dogs.

Going out to the beach, the clouds looked like a major storm coming. In the end, it just rained a little and blew over.

If you are adventurous, you can walk past the Coral View Island Resort and find the wooden walkway to the more expensive Perhentian Island Resort.

This wooden walkway doubles as a jungle walk as it runs through the mangrove and rocks. The length of this walkway is about 500 meters and very interesting.