Shark! One of the tourists we were walking with at the jetty shrieked and pointed at the water several feet below us. We all bent over the wooden railings, searching the clear waters of Pulau Payar for the said creature. And indeed, there it was, or were, there were more than one! But they weren’t the kind of sharks everyone fears for, it was a small one, a baby blacktip shark to be exact. And more than anything, it looked really cute!

FERRY RIDE TO PULAU PAYAR FROM LANGKAWI

Our day started early. From Hotel Bahagia, we booked our island tour to Pulau Payar via their in-house tour agency, Ekomegah Holidays (the same guys that would take us to a Langkawi half day tour tomorrow). Included are the roundtrip van transfers from the hotel to the Langkawi Royal Yacht Club, the ferry ride to Pulau Payar, packed lunch, and snorkeling gear. That last one, we brought our own; the thought of biting on to a snorkel previously used by hundreds of other people really didn’t appeal to us that much, lol.

THE FERRY’S AIR-CONDITIONED SO YOU REALLY CAN’T SEE MUCH OUTSIDE

From Kuah’s yacht club, where we also launched off the day before for our Langkawi Sunset Cruise, we brought bottles of mineral water and cans of beer right before boarding the medium-sized ferry to the island. The ride takes about an hour and we dozed off throughout.

BLACKTIP SHARK FROM PULAU PAYAR’S BOARDWALK

PULAU PAYAR IS GEORGEOUS

Pulau Payar Marine Park consists of four islands; Pulau Kaca, Pulau Lembu, Pulau Segantang and Pulau Payar, its main island. The word pulau, by the way, is Malay for island. All four are uninhabited and without any accommodations. The only way to see it, really, is via the day tours being offered by tour companies. There is the option of camping out on the island, but one has to get a permit from Alor Setar’s Fisheries Department at the capital of Kedah state (04) 732-5573.

Well, we didn’t have no tent, so it was the day tour for us.

THE CLEAREST WATER I’VE SEEN IN MALAYSIA SO FAR

Soon enough, we were all disembarking from the ferry and transferring to a smaller boat to bring us to Pulau Payar’s jetty. The island, filled with lush vegetation over its rocky outcrops, looks stunning even at first view. And the water! Emerald green in color, it was the clearest I’ve seen in Malaysia so far.

MAIN BEACH AREA WITH PICNIC BUILDINGS, THEY HAVE SHOWER ROOMS AND TOILETS TOO

PACKED LUNCH FROM OUR TOUR, CAN’T GO WRONG WITH FRIED CHICKEN

There were a lot of picnic huts set some meters from the main beach of the island, but everything was quickly filled up. With no other choice, we first asked for our packed lunch, consumed it at the dining hall near the jetty, before proceeding to find a nice spot near the water.

OUR SPOT AT PULAU PAYAR

That said spot was found right under another jetty at the other side of the beach. It was shaded, has a few rocks we could set our stuff and beer on, and is just a hop away from the water. It was the perfect place. In fact, it was so cozy we didn’t even leave it to explore the three other beaches on the island, nor its two hiking trails. We were contented with our cans of beer, bags of chips, and the sea.

SHARKS AND FISHES

And we didn’t even need to go far to snorkel, a few steps from the shore, schools of fishes explode into view as you dip your head down the water; colorful butterfly fishes, groupers, parrot fishes, the most common of which.

Played hide and seek with blacktip reef sharks at Pulau Payar. No lost limbs! #BeachHopAsia2016 #CoralislandMy

A photo posted by Christian L. Sangoyo (@lakadpilipinas) on Apr 16, 2016 at 12:23am PDT

And among those fishes, small blacktip sharks sometimes mingle. I was actually a bit nervous at first, but these creatures are actually quite shy, swimming away as you approach them. There’s a resident giant barracuda in the area, which they dubbed as Mr. Mustafa, but we weren’t able to spot the guy.

CLEAR WATERS AT PULAU PAYAR

GOODBYE PULAU PAYAR!

I heard the best place to snorkel in Pulau Payar is at the Coral Garden at the southwestern tip of the island, but it was closed off at the time to let the corals recover. But that’s alright with me, the multitudes of fishes and sharks we’ve seen were good enough for me. Now let’s drink some more beer!

~ THIS TRIP WAS MADE POSSIBLE WITH THE ASSISTANCE AND EFFORTS FROM HOTEL BAHAGIA

Pulau Payar Tour via Ekomegah Holidays
Address: Persiaran Bunga Raya, Langkawi Mall, Phase II, Kuah, Langkawi, Kedah, Malaysia
Contact Number: (604) 969-5989
Email: ekolgk@gmail.com
Cruise Fee: MYR180.00 | MYR130.00 for kids
Pulau Payar GPS Coordinates Map: 6.063741, 100.040913

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