Tioman was one of the places I was considering staying for a month if it struck me right. I had the same idea for the Perhentian Islands in the north east of peninsular Malaysia but it was not right. I had decided that if I could find a simple job or a way to over my living costs (aside from diving) but allow me time to dive I would stay a month but if not I would stay a bit and move on. I ended up not finding such a job but still spending about two weeks there. I met a bunch of cool people, completed my Advanced Open Water diving certification, and enjoyed duty free alcohol.
The Advanced course usually takes three days but because of the diving schedule and my feeling ill it took me nearly a week. This is fine as it provided me a free dive and the slower pace allowed me to enjoy the night life and World Cup more fully.
Other than the diving Tioman has some good hiking and I took advantage. The best route was across the waist of the island to its west side to a town called Juara, which is far less visited, quieter, and has amazing beaches. The first beach I saw on the west side was was the southern-most beach in the area and completely empty as far as the eye could see when I got there. Over the 30 minutes that I was there I saw maybe five other people all as disappointed to see me as I was to see them. I went swimming and at my US$0.60 lunch on top a rock overlooking the ocean. Then I walked as far north as I could passing over rocks and swimming around them. The beaches at the north were not as nice because this is where the jetty is located and the water has a rainbowy tint from the oil. I decided to eat again for no reasons other than I had not eaten on this side of the island and was craving beef for some reason.
The walk to Juara takes a few hours. I could have easily walked back through the jungle as I did when I got there and started off doing so but then decided to take part in a Tioman tradition: hitchhiking. While it is technically hitchhiking it kind of is not here because everybody picks everybody up without asking anything more than, "Where are you going?" The police routinely pick people up. It is just understood here that you pick anybody up that you can when you can. (In the end, this was one of my favorite parts of Tioman. It is just so simple and funny and perfect.) After about 30 seconds of walking I saw a pick-up truck full of people and food in the back. They stopped for me and I jumped in.
The truck has a Malaysian driver and nine people from Saudi Arabia and the conversation was priceless. I cannot transcribe most of it here. The four girls were sitting inside the cabin and the five guys were in the truck bed with me. In the back was also four cases of beer, countless bottles of hard alcohol (remember all alcohol is duty free), and some food. They were just at Juara but left because it was too quiet (which meant too few people to drink with and too few women specifically) and were asking me where to find both things. I directed them to the beach I was staying and they were interested but you cannot get there by car so they had a situation. It worked out for them but I made it back to my place seperate from them because I could walk there while they could not.
While Tioman would not have been the worst place to spend a month as I was hoping to do, it was not right for me. I had already done most of the above water acitivities and the below water activities alone were not enough to keep me there for the full month. Still, I did spend longer than I intended to stay once I decided I was not staying the month but this is partially to do with the flights I found to my next destination.
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