Redang Kalong @Pulau Redang

Ever since when I was in high school, Pulau Redang is always my dream island because of the influence of my fellow classmates whom always describe this island as a heaven's land. White sandy beach with a sky blue sea. That's how they described it after they had their sweet school break with their family. Too bad that my family is not that luxury to do this kind of trip.So I have to earn my own money for my own favourite travel and finally I am here.

We are departing from Merang Jetty and there are no other transportation to reach Merang Jetty but a taxi which is cost RM15.00/way/pax. Actually it is better to depart from Shahbandar jetty which is nearer to Kuala Terengganu city and bus station. Anyway, it is depending on which resort you are staying with. If you are staying with Redang Kalong, you are going to depart from Merang Jetty. Unlike Pulau Perhentian, there is no fixed time table for the boat schedule. Therefore, you are advised to consult your own resort for their own boat schedule. FYI, there is an officer at this jetty collecting Marine Conservative Fees @RM5.00/pax.

If you are not taking the resort's boat (blue) charged at RM70/pax/way, then you can opt for the private boat company (red). Their charges is RM80/pax/way. The total travel time from Merang Jetty to Redang Island is about 2 hours plus. 

Finally, my exciting moment is finally here. I have arrived at Pulau Redang! I chose Redang Kalong is because they have their own dive center. Not a lot of resorts in Pulau Redang provides diving adventure. Most of them just provide snorkelling.

Snorkelling at Redang is practically very boring unless the snorkelling site is the marine park. Other than that are not really impressive so that is why they include snorkelling as a "free" activity in your tour package.

You are not allowed to wear fins when you are snorkelling at Redang Island. That is something snorkeller need to notice. Other than that you can just click on the picture above to read. 

This is the accommodation area at Redang Kalong. This resort basically occupied the whole this part of the beach. You can do some jungle trekking to other part of the resort. Their electricity is opened for 24 hours but no wifi available here unless you are renting from them at a price.

No nightlife in this resort. Mostly everyone sleeps after 11.00pm. However, you can buy beer and red wine from them in advance before they close shop.

This is the schedule for the meal time and snorkelling time. Their will inform you when lunch and dinner are ready by ringing their antique ice cream bell door by door. You will not be notified during breakfast because they do not want to wake you up from your sweet dreams. They will not bother to ask you whether you want to join their snorkelling trip or not. Their boat will just depart on time as per schedule. This is one of the thing I dislike about Redang Kalong.

This is the dining area. They are serving buffet style. I like their food very much. It is quite delicious and they will always make more than you need. Maybe it sound like a waste of food but for the tourists here are very happy that they do not need to fight for food.

This is their dive center. Equipment rental is charged separately and not included in the dive package. Please do note that they charged by per day. For example if you have 3 dives in one day, they will only charged you one day for the equipment charges. If you are going to do one dive each a day for a total of 3 days, you are going to be charged for 3 days usage. This kind of charging method is quite dumb but the worst part is they never bother to inform me first until the day I check out. This is the other thing I hate this resort.

They are only two canoes here which is free for you to rent. If on that day there are 50 guests in this resort wanted to do canoeing, so you have to line up one by one. There are no time restriction on how long you wish to canoe. 

You are only allowed to canoe around the boundary set but the resort. Too bad the two small islands are not within the boundary even they are so close. This is because they are large speed boat travelling in high speed at that area.

They have their very own karaoke room which is only opened from 6.30pm - 11.00pm (daily). There are other things to do which are play carom, mahjong, darts and ping pong.

The sunrise is blocked by the cape and the sunset is at other beach. So not really a great scenery here to be impressed. I understand from the owner of Redang Kalong that he is willing to sell his resort to whoever offer him RM1 million. In my opinion, Pulau Redang is a great place to visit but Redang Kalong definitely is not the first choice to consider to choose as the resort to stay.

Total Damage: RM520.00pax - 3Days 2Nights - Full board meals with snorkelling trip
Ambiance: 3/5
Service: 2/5
Price: 2/5
Recommended?: No. Find other resort.