"Pulau Tioman" a Pulau Tioman Travel Page by mansionion

Located on the South China Sea, Pulau Tioman is the largest island on the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia. It is part of the Seribuat Archipelago which is made up of 64 volcanic islands (including the mysterious Seribuat island) off the southeastern coast of Pahang and approximately 32 km off Mersing.

The name of the island is said to be derived from a bird known as "tiong" (jungle mynah) among the locals. In the early days, the local islanders love to keep the bird as pet and affectionately called the bird as "tiong mas" (golden mynah) or "tiong man" (my mynah, ‘man’ means ‘my’ in the island's local dialect ). Hence, this is how the name Tioman is derived from.

Legend has it that the island of Tioman was formed when a magical dragon princess flying from China to join her beloved prince in Temasek (old Singapore) settled herself on South China Sea for a rest. The dragon princess became so enchanted with the warm crystal clear waters of this particular spot in the South China Sea that she decided to discontinue her journey and formed into this beautiful dragon shaped island to provide shelter and comfort for weary travelers. The high ridge of the island is believe to be the form of the dragon's backbone and the clouds that circles around the twin peaks on the island's Western ends are said to be smoke breathed from her nostrils. It is not suprising then that the early Chinese traders referred to Tioman as "the island with 2 horns".

Due to its strategic location on the open sea, Tioman used to be a stopover for sailors, fishermen, traders and even pirates to get fresh water and firewood or for seeking shelter from storms in the early days. The island later became a settlement for Malay fishermen and there are now six major villages (kampungs) on the island, mostly on the west coast of the island.

Apart from its strategic location, Tioman is also blessed with beautiful beaches with bountiful marine life and natural luscious green landscape with majestic cascading waterfalls. All these making it an ideal tourist destination for snorkeling,scuba diving, jungle trekking or even rock climbing.

Tioman claim its worldwide fame when in 1958 it was used as the setting for the imaginary supposedly mythical magical island of "Bali Hai" from the 1958 Hollywood movie "South Pacific". Additionally, the Time magazine once voted the island as one of the 10 most beautiful island in the world.

Eventhough Tioman today is the most developed island on the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia, slow pace of life still the order of the day on this rustic island. However, things are set to change when it was granted the duty free island status on 2004 (Malaysia's third duty free island after Langkawi and Labuan) as more developments will take place here. A controversial marina project that may threaten its marine life is already taking shape. Plan is also underway to upgrade its airport to accomodate bigger planes in the future.

Eventhough over the last 10 years the development in Tioman has had some adverse impact on the it's environment, it still remains a beautiful and restful place. Expect more development to take place here in the near future with its new found fortune as a duty free island. With all the developments and anticipation of more tourists arrival, it is better to go to Tioman now before it is too late.