by Diana Tain, 7 June 2026
My father has always been a huge influence in my life when it comes to exploring what the sea has to offer. Every once in a while, he would interject my travel stories with a couple of his own. One story I personally found fascinatingly unhinged was about him getting drunk with his friends on an island. He then proceeded to jump into the sea, swim against the current out into the deep end, and when he no longer had the strength to swim back? He simply floated along with the sea currents, swam back to shore on the other side of the island, and hiked back to camp. Iconic!
Naturally, with his love for the sea, island vacations were always at the top of his list and were affordable for a small growing family of four. How long ago was it…? I must still have been a teenager the last time I visited Pulau Tioman. To revisit this beautiful island in May 2026 feels somewhat like a tender, long embrace from a warm old friend I never want to let go of.
This time, I had three “family members” with me for a 4D3N adventure vacation — an unlikely combination of four racially and culturally diverse individuals who needed a proper vacation to prove we could survive each other’s presence by the end of the trip. From left to right, meet Zul, Levinia, myself (Diana), and Mo.
There were many unexpected moments during this trip, and I hope you fall in love with the way I personally experienced Tioman — as well as with the people I travelled with and met along the way.
I contacted Tioman Taxi services way back in October 2025 (Shoutout to Ben!) about the via ferrata hike up Dragon Horn, and he was incredibly accommodating with the bunk arrangements and itinerary planning for the entire trip. Absolutely no regrets going with them.
Day 1
We left Kuala Lumpur around 8am, made a breakfast stop along the way, and arrived at the Mersing Jetty a little after 1:30pm. There was even a designated guy holding our Bluewater Express Ferry tickets on behalf of Tioman Taxi Services, so the whole experience felt oddly VIP — all we had to do was wait at a designated spot before being ushered onto the ferry as the first four passengers to pick our seats. Ironically, we also ended up being among the last few people to get off the ferry, so perhaps that explains why we boarded first. LOL.
The ferry ride took about two hours and, upon arriving at the ABC Jetty, we hopped onto a quick five-minute ride to ABC Chalets. After a brief rundown of our snorkelling spots and a speedy check-in, we wasted no time heading straight for the sea.
In preparation for the Via Ferrata Dragon Horn hike the next day, we took a quick dip along the shoreline, watched the red sun set on us, and went for dinner at Sunset Corner!
Day 2
We got up bright but not early!
If you take a stroll along the only road leading to the ABC Jetty from ABC Chalets, you will not miss the breakfast buffet that begins at 7:30am. It is not the best breakfast buffet, with your usual local carb-laden food items, but I do commend them on having a bread-toasting station with a conveyor belt! It is pricey, but we needed our breakfast, so yes — RM25 spent there.
Levinia was feeling a little under the weather, so we bid her adieu while Zul, Mo, and I headed off to Dragon Horn with three other hikers as well! After what felt like less than an hour’s ride on the speedboat, we arrived at Mukut Jetty. A hike briefing ensued, and it started raining shortly after… which was quite a bummer. It was heavy! Any longer and the hike would have been cancelled, so I sure was happy when it was over in less than 20 minutes.
The hike up Dragon Horn (703m) began with Zhafran and Sopi – whom are such lovable human beings, super warm and funny as well!!!!
If you are a seasoned hiker, it would be easy for you… Zul was on a work call for an entire hour during the hike!! Mo’s a novice but did so well, so just to be safe, if you are just starting out hiking as a sport, I would suggest building some stamina before attempting this.
The terrain at the beginning was steep and mostly made up of soil and roots, and because it was humid after the rain, we were all sweating buckets! The important thing is to pace yourself during the ascent and once the ropes and rocks appear at higher altitude, it gets much more interesting!! A hiking pole would be beneficial, though not necessary, during the ascent, but it definitely helps during the descent (particularly for me, as my hiking shoes were a little worn out).
Midway, Sopi handed out some biscuits for us to nibble on. We rested and were on our way again! Don’t forget to take some pictures at this checkpoint… SO breathtaking — I just wanted to take it all in silently for a few moments.
At the final clearing before we went on the ferrata, Sopi cut up some fruits for us while Zhafran prepared the straps, ropes, carabiners, and helmets. After the simple briefing, we were all clipping and unclipping ourselves while stepping up and down the sturdy metal rungs.
It is not rocket science — remember the instructions and just do it!
The first few steps were the toughest, but it was fine after a few minutes. I also learned that we needed to keep gaps between individuals just in case someone fell — you would not want one person grabbing onto a neighbouring hiker and plunging both to certain death. What I saw felt very unreal… It was as if someone had taken a photo and placed it right before me. I imagine this is how a nesting eagle would feel. Oh, what joy it must be to witness this view every day….
We only had a moment before clouds quickly rolled in and obscured our view. We still managed to get some awesome photos nonetheless before heading back to where we started and having some warm roti kosong and roti telur WITH dhal!! Sopi had hiked up the food as well as some hot black coffee… So rewarding.
We then started descending and got to soak for a short while in a river.
Levinia had an exciting day too despite not joining us on the hike — reading her novel, hanging out, and chatting with locals and guests alike. There is also a café we frequented, Hany’s brew, which has awesome coffee beans and the friendliest barista you can find in this area, Hani.
It was almost dinner time when we arrived back at the ABC Jetty, and we headed back to Sunset Corner. I said I could do the hike again but the moment I laid my head down — I drifted off…
Day 3
This morning, it was only Zul, Levinia, and myself. Poor Mo was nursing a toothache with a vengeance, taking over half his face, and fortunately someone from ABC Chalets took him to the pharmacy while the three of us went about our day at sea. Not much thought was put into breakfast as we went back for the same buffet breakfast, albeit with a different menu. There is something comforting about routine… perhaps also the tea selection? My favourite was the Earl Grey tea.
At 10am, we met at ABC Chalets to select our snorkels, flippers, and life vests for a day of snorkelling! It was just a 15-minute speedboat ride before we arrived at the first stop, Coral Island. Levinia lounged on the boat admiring the sun, the waves, and fulfilling her role as the designated conversationalist of our group.
It can get a little crowded with many boats and bobbing humans all huddled together, but if you dare, you should venture a little further out (while still being cautious of how far you are allowed to go). I went off on my own without a life vest to watch fishes of different species chase each other, stopped myself from poking a puffer fish just to make it blow up, and watched sea anemones sway with the current… How fascinating….
While I hovered above the surface of the water, Zul was free diving near a couple of large (what I believe to be) longfin batfish, and credits go to Zul for any underwater pictures posted here.
The next spot we went to was Batu Malang (AKA The Unfortunate Rock). It is this huge rock that we could snorkel around. Being the overconfident swimmer that I am, I went off on my own anti-clockwise instead of staying with the crowd….
It was serene on the other end where there were far fewer people. There were some divers near the seabed and, to my left, a wall of coral reefs…. My biggest concern at this point, being so isolated, was that a shark would bite my arm off as a snack, but the water was so clear… crystal. I bet I could fight it off if it came for me.
I was just cruising when Zul swam towards me – assumed he wanted to show me something and when he turned to swim alongside me — there was a turtle!!!!
It was biting on some corals trying to get to sea grass. It was my first time seeing a turtle in its natural habitat! Zul went down to get some videos and pictures of it while I stayed a little too long just admiring it — chomping away and occasionally looking up at a queer man with a GoPro in its face.
It swam away shortly after and I needed to go around the rock back to the speedboat. What I did not know about this rock was that there was a current on the other side sending waves — and me — towards the rock. How momentous (and unfortunate) it would have been to die at The Unfortunate Rock. Haha! I panicked and started flailing in the water, spotted a random boat, and called for help! Zul then bobbed above the water and shouted “oi!” in embarrassment before letting me piggyback on him with a life vest from the boat.
Lesson learnt: be confident, but not overconfident.
We had lunch at Salang Beach and visited three other snorkelling spots (one of them being Monkey Bay, though I cannot recall the other two), which were not as impressive as the first two spots, before heading back to ABC at 4pm. Dinner was a laid-back seafood dinner at ABC Restaurant and I highly recommend any of the fish dishes!
Day 4
The final day on the beautiful island of Tioman did not end up how we had intended according to the itinerary.
We were supposed to go on a 9am 4×4 jungle tour, but it would have been yet another activity without all four of us together, so we decided to skip the tour and take the easy route for the day with lots of lounging and chilling while Mo rested.
All in all, I think we did our friendship justice with our first local trip together.
There were good conversations, near-death experiences, animal sightings, adventures involving heights, newfound admiration for these lovely human beings, and Mo — you looked adorable with your puffed-up face.
Tioman, thank you for the memories.
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