Dan was with us for the following 2 weeks, so from KL we set off on a 5 hour coach journey to the east coast of Malaysia to visit Tioman island. We decided to split our time there staying on different beaches. First stop was Salang, known for being the party central of the island and it's huge monitor lizards that swim through the river. We found a perfect size hut for the three of us set back in the jungle. We stayed here for 3 nights and during our stay we went on a snorkelling trip around the whole of the island visiting waterfalls, and snorkelling in different spots, by far the best was around the tiny island of Ringit where we swam with a coral reef shark that was probably one and a half metres in length and pretty chunky! The coral was also very beautiful. In the evenings we got friendly with a local guy, took advantage of the duty free booze and one night treated ourselves to a BBQ steak dinner.

We moved on in the pouring rain a few coves round from Salang to ABC beach which had a much more laid back backpacker vibe. Again we found another hut closer to the beach with a double and a single (which Dan managed to break!). The weather picked up and we found a lovely little bar on the beach to sit and watch the sunset, drink beers and eat there yummy pizza's. We stayed for 2 nights before moving to Nipah, one of the most secluded coves on the island with only 2 options of accomodation. We stayed in a little hut set back in the garden. The beach changed depending on the tide, and when the tide was out it formed a pathed island leading to the next cove. When the tide was in it came right up to the restaurant and the boys enjoyed swinging from rope swing palm trees and plopping into the sea! The restaurant was run by a well travelled malaysian chef, there was no menu, he would decide what to cook that day depending on fish caught or supplies and make the one meal for everybody, it always seemed to impress us though.

We explored the surrounding secluded beaches, kayaked through mangroves looking for pythons and went on a fishing trip where Dan got a bad case of sea sickness! We managed to catch about 15 fish, but the chef laughed at how small they were and refused to cook them!