Weather, work, pandemic ... whatever! Nothing was going to stop me from making my third consecutive annual trip to Pulau Redang in Terengganu, except for the lockdown laws which needed negotiating past.
The monsoon is traditionally an off-season period for holidaymakers hoping to frolic in the waters of the peninsular East Coast, but heavy rain, choppy seas and huge waves routinely put paid to those plans.
Our weather has become so unpredictable over the past few years.
My daughter went on a four-day oceanside excursion to Pulau Perhentian, Terengganu a few weeks ago, and she was greeted with mostly sunny skies.
I headed to Pulau Redang instead, for an equally short jaunt and, excluding a shower one morning, every day was just another glorious one in my most visited island, after my hometown Penang.
In the late afternoon, the waters got a bit choppy, but the monsoon wasn’t at full tilt yet, where one had to stay indoors.
Of course, this is in the middle of October, but by sometime next week or December, the monsoon will be raging.
But the period between October and early November opens an opportunistic window to head to the East Coast islands, especially Redang.
Redang certainly tops the offerings since it has the best upmarket hotel, the Taaras Beach And Spa Resort, and an airport that connects directly to the Sultan Abdudl Aziz Shah Airport in Subang, Selangor.
As for the other islands, it’s a flight to either Kuala Terengganu or Kota Baru airports before boat rides to the resorts.
I simply had to make this trip because two mainland Chinese friends from Hong Kong were crossing their nation’s borders for the first time since quarantine rules there were relaxed.
They were lucky because just two days before their departure, the quarantine rule was rescinded!
Otherwise, their holiday would have included the long quarantine stay in hotels while burning away precious leave days.
But lo and behold, the quarantine rules ended, and they didn’t even need to take a full PCR Covid-19 test as per their pre-departure requirements.
I was pleased as punch that I could offer two friends a retreat they craved for and witness their expressions of jubilation when they swam with the friendly turtles just off the hotel shoreline.
It was a transcendental experience for them, and they regarded it as a “once in a lifetime” occurrence, but unfortunately, going to Redang is something we often take for granted because it’s always accessible to us.
At the end of the day, as we sipped our beers from the beach bar, watching the stunning sunset, we agreed that our greed and irresponsibility have damaged Mother Nature and scarred this beautiful marine ecosystem and its waters.
My friends simply couldn’t imagine swimming in crystal clear waters surrounded by scores of fishes, describing the experience, “like swimming inside an aquarium, except this is real”.
We looked around the beach and realised we had the whole island to ourselves, apart from a few guests.
“In China, during summer, the popular beaches would be swamped with thousands of people and here, this incredibly beautiful beach with lovely sand is near empty. Malaysians are so lucky!” he said, the irony clearly not lost.
Indeed, we are. We’re truly blessed to have one of the best beaches and waters in the world.
As we left Redang for Subang, he made a confession, saying he stopped posting pictures and videos of our trip on his social media because he could sense that his friends from China had gone from being envious to jealous!
A few weeks later, I texted my daughter, who was enjoying herself in Pulau Perhentian.
“Got rain there ah?” I asked curiously. Her reply came fast, “What rain?” and sent me a picture to prove her response.
And then I asked if it was better than Redang, and she retorted: “Nah. Nowhere near Redang.”
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