Redang Island

Redang Reef Resort

Woke up early Sunday. The sky was just turning a pale orange. We hopped in a taxi and headed to the airport. Soon we were in the air and sipping orange juice and eating peanuts. That was my breakfast. Before the taste of the last peanut dissolved, we were landing in Terengganu on the east coast of Malaysia. A driver sent by the beach resort was waiting for us and we piled into his van and headed to the jetty. His driving was slow, but the pace of life in this early morning town needs no rushing. At the jetty we boarded a speedboat and headed to Redang Island, 50 minutes out to sea.

We jumped from the boat on to the small beach in front of the Redang Reef Resort and was briefed by one of the staff. Snorkeling trips were at 9:30am and 2:30pm. Breakfast served between 7 and 9, lunch between 12 and 1, tea at 4, dinner at 7. All meals were buffet style… basic food such as fried rice or mee (noodles), chicken, veggies and soup. We went to our rooms, threw our small bags on the simple, worn bed, changed into our swimsuits and had a light lunch. The rooms were basic meeting your needs; bed, bathroom with shower, air-condition and sand sprinkled on the floor and the smell of the sea in the air.

The front of the Redang Reef Resort faces a small sandy beach and cove and the rear of the property faces another cove, shallow with rocks. A rock-lined peninsula that juts out about 500 meters into the sea separates the 2 coves.

We stayed in the water for 3 days getting out only to eat and sleep.

My daughter really loved snorkeling. It was like swimming in a huge aquarium. We saw Nemo and Dori and a cast of their friends. To hear a little girl laughing through her snorkel is a wonderful sound. We didn’t know the names of the fish we saw, but that didn’t matter. We knew them by their traits. Big blue fish with orange heads were beautiful bullies bothering the smaller fish. The overly excited white fish with black stripes would nibble at your hands when you held them in front of you like a cup. Swimming through schools of small silver fish was like being on a disco floor with lights sparkling all around you. One really nasty fish tried to bite the mole off my stomach and I had to hitch up my swim trunks to cover it. Schools of large white fish seemed bored and just drifted along the bottom. Sea cucumbers, like giant slugs littered the sandy floor. And the velvety blue and purple mouths of the clams held no interest for my fingers, closing tightly shut when I caressed their wavy lips.

I did a stupid but wonderful thing at the end of the second day by snorkeling around the point of the peninsula, out to sea and back into the rear cove alone. But I never really feared water or the sea (worked on shrimp boats when I was a kid). Though the currents were strong at the point of the small cape, the wonders of what I saw below kept me going. I saw small sharks, a sea turtle and approached an eel but backed off when he bared his teeth at me. Snorkeling is like flying above a strange and beautiful landscape. The beauty of snorkeling is that with a deep breath and a swift kick, you can soar down into that world and almost forget what you've left behind. Swimming below overhanging reefs, through underwater canyons, and down the sides of rock cliffs with only a deep breath is exhilarating. I’ve never tried scuba diving but always likened it to flying a small engine plane, while snorkeling is more like steering a glider on the air currents. I like the freedom of just wearing my trunks and a snorkel.

Snorkeling is hearing the steady sound of your breathing and nothing else as you gently bob on the surface of the water, seeing waves of light in a mesh pattern dancing on the sea floor, while a rainbow of fish scurry among the reefs and rocks. It’s letting go of all that is above you, shedding the weight of work, of thoughts. There is no past or present while snorkeling, only the time of now. And when you briefly lift your head to set your bearings with land above the water, the magic wavers like a curtain in the wind until once again you’re floating effortlessly, alone, in the now.

This was our second trip to Redang in 10 years and we’re determined not to wait so long for our third. We’re already looking at dates for our next trip to the sea.

Here are more pictures of Redang Island.



Bay feeding the fish


Surrounded by fish