Asia by Hammock

A lot of places I've been look better on postcards. Photographers can get shots with no people or bungalows or Photoshop the colors to make it more impressive. The Perhenthian Islands look about twenty times better in person than any postcard I have ever seen. This is the stuff of Corona ads. The beach is a long and wide swath filled with incredibly fine white sand that burns your feet in the middle of the day. The water is warm, starting out incredibly clear at the shore and gradually changing into turquoise then light blue then dark ocean blue. The palm trees fringing the beach shimmer in the tropical heat. There are three beach volleyball nets and not a single hawker pushing taxi rides, banana pancakes or body massages. There are snorkeling and biking tours, but all that would require leaving the beach, something I was not prepared to do. It is not unspoilt (there are barbeques, you can buy antibiotics and use the internet) but it certainly does not have the tacky touristy feel of the Thai islands. As Matt put it "I couldn't imagine being more chilled out, I think I'd be comatose"

Not bad,
Gore

PS> To be fair, the diving wasn't spectacular and there were a lot of couples, but I still looooooved the Perhenthains.