The real paradise island

We just got back from Rawa Island in Malaysia and that must be pretty close to a paradise island - very small, just one resort, absolutely pristine white sand, turqoise sea, corals right by the beach and amazing underwater world to top it up. It is on the east coast of peninsular Malaysia and only a few hours drive from Singapore plus a 20 min boat trip. What drags the trip a bit is crossing from Singapore to Malaysia - tight controls on both sides of the causeway, people have to get out of buses and carry all luggage through airport style security controls etc. All that takes at least 30 minutes. The rest is really smooth. We had a minivan pick us up at home at 5.30 am so that we would be on time for the 9 o'clock boat. There are only two trips daily so you really don't want to miss it! And this way we had a whole long day on the beach already on Friday. There is a water slide on the jetty which proved very popular with the kids. Quite a ride especially at high tide. There were also so many colorful fish right at the jetty and around the slide that the kids didn't have to swim out to snorkel at all. We did a few trips though to see some special things. The coral started so close to the beach, especially at low tide so that didn't have to swim out at all. The coral and fish life was quite different from Bali. There were many sea anemones in Rawa and of course clown fish in them so that was a pretty sight and we went to look for Nemo a few times. Once at low tide I was so close that two clown fish swam strait into my hands and I could have easily caught them. Karl and me saw a blue spotted ray on Friday. And I saw it again yesterday at the same spot digging away in the sand. Then together with Robert we chased a cuttlefish for quite a while. That was a sight - it kept changing color according to the sea floor - really light when above sand and much darker and patterned above coral. When it stopped Robert dived down and touched it and it gave him a very angry look. It swam very close to where the kids were playing but while Robert went to get Karl to come and have a look I lost sight of it and couldn't find it again. There were lots of beautiful parrot fish very close to the jetty and then some funny little stripy ones that swam very close and started a fish spa business nibbling away on us. Until a big white one wanted to join the feast. We didn't like that!

The rooms were pretty basic so we spent most of the time in the sea, in hammocks, reading, kids playing with their new friends and the rabbits. A very laid back and pleasant feel all in all as there were lots of families with young kids, mostly expats and many scandinavians among them. Beatrice made friends with some danish and swedish girls and we didn't see much of her except from far away or at mealtimes. The boys made some friends as well and ended up being brothers in crime with another set of brothers as they managed to break a rubber boat that they had "borrowed". The owner was not too pleased. Raoul had an extra boating experience - he and Robert went on a kayak around the island. He was also excited to see how they were trying to dig a stranded yacht out from the sand. 

On the second day all the kids got so brave that they started to jump down from the jetty - several meters into the water. I would not have dared.

Food was simple but fresh and tasty. Luckily no desserts on the buffet!