Tioman Island

Pulau Tioman is a Malay island in the South China Sea. It lies about 50 km east off the mainland of the Malay peninsula. On Tioman are several villages, most of which consist of small, simple huts for tourists and are accessible only by water or trails through the jungle.

On the island, which belongs to the state of Pahang, there is only one road and a few cars and motorcycles. The small airport of the island is served by Berjaya Air and makes the island even in the top layer of the nearby major cities in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong has become a popular weekend getaway destination. You can reach the island except by air only with one of the many ferries that commute throughout the day between Tioman and Mersing. There are regular bus services from Kuala Lumpur, Johor Bahru and Singapore to the ferry terminal in Mersing. A direct ferry service from Singapore has been set, however.

The inside of the 39 km long and 12 km wide island is a nature reserve, covered with tropical jungle. The highest point is Mount Gunung Kajang ( 1038 m). Distributed around the island there are some dive sites that are not very interesting, but comparable to the coalfields in the Maldives or the Red Sea. Nearby there are also some wrecks from the Second World War, as the HMS Prince of Wales HMS Repulse or the. These lie at a depth 50-70 meters and are thus subject to technical divers.

History

Due to its high mountains and its location 30 km off the coast of Tioman was a long time an important stopover for trade of Thailand to the Indonesian islands such as Java. Already written in the Arabic book Akbar as Sin wa'l Hind (German history from China and India) in 1000 AD, the island mentioned as a source of fresh water. Even Chinese sources as the Wubeizhi cards ( about 1620 ) show the island. They are based on reports of Zheng He, who is said to have also visited the island. It is also known that from the 15th century, Portuguese and Dutch ships station made ​​here, and that Willem Jansz on the way from China to Bantam was here in 1602. So you can find the island later on Dutch maps of the Jan van Doetichum. 1693 also made Engelbert Kaempfer as an accountant at the De Waelstrom station there.

Others

The island became famous by the Hollywood movie South Pacific, which was filmed there in 1958.