Alunan Resort — Hotel in Lesser Perhentian Island

We booked our 4D3N all inclusive trip through Matta Fair and stayed in Alunan in early September, which I guess is more towards the low season.

Rooms - upon arrival, the room was big, clean, comfortable, complete with balcony (although ours was a lower room, so we had a lot of trees blocking the view. We’re grateful that it’s a shorter distance to the restaurant and reception though, so no complaints there.) Our luggage was taken to our room, so we didn’t have to carry them up the steps. They provided soap and sun gel in the bathroom, as well as the other basic amenities. They provide plenty of towels, separated for room use and activity use. The electricity and airconditioning worked splendidly. Of course due to the proximity to the tropical forest and the rainy season at the time, we did encounter some interesting creepy-crawlies but nothing too disruptive, and they’re mostly outside. It’s worth mentioning that there are so many stairs going up to the rooms, and they can be quite steep, so personally we think the hotel is NOT wheelchair or stroller-friendly. However, during booking, it’s definitely possible to mention to the staff that you’re travelling with kids or elderly people, and we’re sure they will try their best to accommodate such arrangements.

Activities - our goal was to relax as much as we could, so we didn’t really partake in all the activities provided. We only opted for the sunset cruise, glass bottom boat ride, and snorkelling. However, we admire that a lot of the activities are very conservation-focused, and the snorkelling trips are led by experienced marine biologists. The activities are planned ahead of time to prevent crowding, which was really nice. We definitely preferred doing the activities in smaller groups.

Food - The breakfast buffet was quite simple, but still had some minimal variety day-to-day. There’s still an omelette and roti canai station. Lunch and dinner were made-to-order style, which we loved, as the food always arrived hot and fresh. We especially liked having fruit juices on demand. In the menu, there was a good mix between local and Italian offerings at both the main restaurant and the Sunset Deck (however it was more snacks-focused). We especially enjoyed the nyonya fish curry and the carbonara from the former, the fisherman burger and the calamari rings from the latter. Also the tiramisu was so good, and we would highly recommend ordering it. Our only comment is the lack of more local vegetable sides in the menu at the time (no harm in adding a kangkung belacan or a mixed vege stirfry, or perhaps ulam-ulaman) because the meals do steer a bit carb- and protein-heavy. I recall only seeing two kinds of salads and tomato bruschetta in the Italian section of the menu.

Location - definitely a bit more on the secluded side of Pulau Perhentian Kecil. If you want to go to the local town, or enjoy the night life at Long Beach, you’d probably need to take a water taxi. The resort shares a beach with the nearby Villamas. The beach is not of the white sandy type, but there are plenty of good snorkelling/canoeing spots around the resort, which make up for it. Even if we weren’t doing a lot of water activities, we can also stay at the boardwalk/sunset deck for hours, it’s just that beautiful.

All in all, we had a great vacation at Alunan, and hope we could come back in better weather (and...

A resort with SOUL

Alunan is a no-brainer choice for any visit to Perhentian Islands. I can write my face off, but it really comes down to this reason – Alunan Resort is a resort with SOUL. The resort was founded (and is still run by) passionate divers, and their ongoing conservation and awareness efforts are proof of their passion towards the sea. Everything in the resort is a reflection of their dedication not only to the sea, but also to the enjoyment of every guest that stays with them, for they count themselves guests of the resort too. For the same reason why artisanal coffee joints are a million times better than Starbucks, so is why Alunan better than any other resort on the island.

The above pretty much says it all, but for the sake of completion, here are other points: Cleanliness is top notch everywhere – in rooms, toilets, restaurant, walkways, cafe, reception, even in the shared restrooms and the mainland office. Hot water shower with great pressure, cold aircon, cold fridge, powerful fan – yes it’s expected, but good to know they deliver. Very friendly English-speaking staff is obvious, but Alunan goes a step further by employing marine biologists to not only manage their coral growth and conservation efforts, but also to take you on your excursions (for me, at least – may or may not be all the time). Seriously, how often can you say you got a marine biologist to take you around Perhentian? The food is great, and I say this as a seasoned Malaysian foodie. I would go for Asian flavours more than the western fare though, it’s really top-notch that’s hard to match even in Kuala Lumpur. They expanded during the Covid downtime, so if you make your trip now you’d get to enjoy all the awesome new stuff eg the new cafe, new restaurant, new pontoon, new spa, etc Lastly, the corals there are simply awesome, and since it’s right in front of the resort, it’s literally free. Just jump in and swim for hours and hours on end. Needless to say, the water visibility is amazing from morning to night, and the biodiversity at the resort is to die for. If you’re a good swimmer, follow the left shoreline for ~1km (about 45 mins on a leisurely swim enjoying the corals along the way) to reach the “secret garden” filled with sea anemone and clownfish (Nemo). If you’re lucky, you might even catch black-tipped reef sharks, a wandering barracuda, even dolphins if you’re ultra lucky.

I would write more but you get the point. Alunan is awesome. This is not a place to save money at. Come with a budget of RM1,000 per person per day (inc hotel stay – about USD250), at least 4D3N (ideally a week), and you’ll go home with the best memories Perhentian has to offer.

And please, for the love of the sea, please buy a rash guard before coming, or buy from Alunan, to minimise the need for sunscreen. Sunscreen kills corals, even in super-low concentrations. Please don’t litter, please don’t damage the corals, swim responsibly, so this place stays beautiful for generations to come.

Thank you Team Alunan for making my trip so awesome. I look forward to...

We had a good time chilling here for one night. Price is quite steep. Our room is near the top so we got a super view. Not advised for the unfit, disabled and elderly though. Need to navigate small walkways that goes up and up and quite confusing as well. Upon arrival at the jetty, there is already staff waiting for us and they took our baggages to the room. Check in was smooth with a great view from the lobby. They provided you with refillable water bottle and a number of water stations in the establishments - effort towards less plastics use 👍🏼. The room did I mention super view? And you can chill in the bed gazing at the view clean and well maintained upper deck has small airconditioned nook with same super view and open air floor with artificial grass floor. Gets really hot in the afternoon but makes for amazing place to chill and look at the nightsky we noticed some room has hammock but ours has none

The service all the staffs are friendly and welcoming. Quite a rarity in this part of Malaysia. 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼 the downside. We booked the snorkeling excursions but they forgot about it. They tried to arrange it on the same day but as the arrangement fell through, they were quite late in informing us plenty of activity aside from snorkeling. They have transparent kayak but I would advise against it. The price is higher than the regular kayak but i think the transparent kayak has leak so most of the time your kayak is flooded, which obstructs the view below. stand up paddling. Really nice experience and i dont think there is any other place in perhentian that offer this

The beach and water around small strip of beach but clean the water in front of the resort is nice but be careful less you step on the corals remnants whatsnot further out, there are plenty of sea cucumbers in the water they have their own coral nursery but we did not visit due to exhaustion and time constraint. I think this and the jetty are the areas where you get to see corals and fishes

The food the breakfast is order from the menu. Fruits selections limited. I had western type breakfast. Filling and nice. dinner. Standard resort price. We had bbq set. The sauce is yummy. The butter prawn is also 👍🏼

All in all, I had a great stay. Just wish the price is not too steep or they throw in few other perks with...