Oh yes, if it’s awesome diving, beautiful beaches and exquisite lounging you’re after, yes, Tioman will deliver. In spades.

But all is not peaches and cream. A quick note to repeat Tioman visitors, or those wishing to go there in the future.

Since we go to Tioman quite regularly, we’re seeing more and more travellers, especially from overseas, arriving at the Mersing jetty too late to catch their ferry, because it’s full. Some even told us they had to stay the night in Mersing. Obviously a bummer if your resort room is waiting for you in Tioman.

I think the reasons for the full ferries are:

1) The recent popularity boom Tioman has been enjoying.
2) The recent rule prohibiting passengers from sitting on the ferry sun-deck.
3) All other ferry types have discontinued, including the fast-ferries and the slow ferries, as well as the catamaran from Singapore

All of this has resulted in a higher chance of passengers left stranded during the busy holiday spells and weekends.

In light of this, my advice to those who’ve booked a Tioman resort, or want to go to Tioman during the weekend or a public holiday: book your ferry tickets in advance so you won’t need to worry about being stranded at the departure jetty due to the ferry for that day being already full.

You can get tickets from the ferry operators direct, “Blue Water”, or from “Tioman Ferry Tickets”.

By Bryan Norman on Jan 19, 2012