Wednesday, July 09, 2008

Sabah Bliss: I

I had a grin - T H I S size - plastered on my face the moment we stepped out of the boat onto the jetty of The Reef Dive Resort, the only resort on Mataking Island.

It was gorgeous.

Can I just say this again? I love the sea. I fucking love the sea, dammit!

Now, my usual island trips are made solely for the purpose of enjoying the sea, the sand and the sun, and choice of accomodation is usually something basic - clean, attached bathroom and airconditioner, usually about RM80 - RM100 per night. So you can pretty much figure out the kind of service (or the absence of) that I am used to.

The Reef Dive Resort (TRDR) was nothing of that. On my part, definitely a splurge, a luxury, but worth every single penny.

Like most island resorts, TRDR chalets are all wooden, kampung-style chalets.

They left the airconditioner to our chalet on. A nice touch to greet your guests I thought, but definitely a waste of resources. In the subsequent days, we found out that every time housekeeping leaves after cleaning, they have the airon on for their guests' return to the room.

Housekeeping even folded our dirty clothes which we threw into the basket provided.

My favourite part of the room?

The bathroom. I love the tiles. I wished they had a rain shower though.

There is only one dining area at TRDR, where only buffet meals are served. There is a bar and a gift shop there as well.

The dive centre was huge and spacious - a wash area, a seating area under the trees, and another shaded room with numbered lockers and racks to hang our wetsuits and gears, and a pantry area for coffee and tea. Clean and comfortable.

Divers are a pampered lot here because no one has to assemble their own gear. All we did was zip up our wetsuits, hang on to our mask, fins and weight belt, and get onto the boat where the tanks and BCDs would already be ready.

The jetty right in front of the dive centre also became a lepak area for us.