Pulau Pangkor is an ideal beach holiday for folks on the west coast who are not keen to drive to east Peninsula, the likes of Redang and Cherating.
But for a good vacation, make sure you pick the right resort for your stay. We also picked Thursday - Saturday during the school holidays to avoid the possible crowd.
We sure did make the right choice in choosing Pangkor Island Beach Resort ( Formerly known as Pan Pacific ). You can book through the internet but also do call up the resort too as other rooms may be available but not on the internet. We did just that, so ended up with a dual sharing Garden wing room via internet reservation and a QUAD sharing Garden wing room via phone/fax reservation which was a good buy with breakfast and dinner for 4 adults included. The staffs were kind enough to count 2 kids as 1 adult meal, and child aged 5 and below dines free.
To drive there from KL, take North-South Expressway exit at Bidor and head towards signboards that say Pelabuhan Lumut, Teluk Intan, Setiawan and finally Lumut. Only takes about 3 and half hours leisure drive from KL - Lumut. I ventured into Tapah after Bidor but luckily managed to head towards Teluk Intan from there without turning back.
From the Lumut Terminal Jetty, go right in and there is a Pangkor Island Beach Resort booth serving their resort guests. They provide their own ferry to transport their guests straight to their resort without going to the Pangkor Jetty. Just take note of the ferry schedule from the resort staff, as they only have a few trips. Adults return fare at RM 18 and children RM 12. While waiting for the ferry, you can take lunch at the terminal's Nasi Kandar restaurant.. very nice briyani rice with kurma.
Ferry ride took about 30 minutes and upon arriving at the jetty, a bus was there waiting to bring us to the resort. What a nice surprise as we alight from the bus at the resort entrance, to be greeted by a singing trio welcoming us with complimentary drinks and chocolates. The checking-in procedure was very smooth too, though had to wait for our rooms to be ready. Despite my reservation being half through phone, and the other through internet, they had taken note of my request to have these 2 rooms next to each other and voila, request met.
The Garden wing rooms were pretty basic, but good enough. We like the closet that divides the sleeping area from the bath/pantry area, with doors on both sides, one side opening from the sleep area, the other side opens from the bathroom area. Cool. And all our bags could fit in with shelves for us to place our clothes, so all the clutter kept behind the closet doors. Better bring your shampoo toiletries as they only provide the dispenser type .. for hair & body. The balcony looks out to well-trimmed garden and tennis courts. Very pleasant. Also as monkeys are part of the inhabitants, who are smart to open door knobs, we were told to keep the balcony doors locked all the time.
Apart from monkeys, it is also home to a few peacocks that wander freely even to the beach-view dining area.
But for a good vacation, make sure you pick the right resort for your stay. We also picked Thursday - Saturday during the school holidays to avoid the possible crowd.
We sure did make the right choice in choosing Pangkor Island Beach Resort ( Formerly known as Pan Pacific ). You can book through the internet but also do call up the resort too as other rooms may be available but not on the internet. We did just that, so ended up with a dual sharing Garden wing room via internet reservation and a QUAD sharing Garden wing room via phone/fax reservation which was a good buy with breakfast and dinner for 4 adults included. The staffs were kind enough to count 2 kids as 1 adult meal, and child aged 5 and below dines free.
To drive there from KL, take North-South Expressway exit at Bidor and head towards signboards that say Pelabuhan Lumut, Teluk Intan, Setiawan and finally Lumut. Only takes about 3 and half hours leisure drive from KL - Lumut. I ventured into Tapah after Bidor but luckily managed to head towards Teluk Intan from there without turning back.
From the Lumut Terminal Jetty, go right in and there is a Pangkor Island Beach Resort booth serving their resort guests. They provide their own ferry to transport their guests straight to their resort without going to the Pangkor Jetty. Just take note of the ferry schedule from the resort staff, as they only have a few trips. Adults return fare at RM 18 and children RM 12. While waiting for the ferry, you can take lunch at the terminal's Nasi Kandar restaurant.. very nice briyani rice with kurma.
Ferry ride took about 30 minutes and upon arriving at the jetty, a bus was there waiting to bring us to the resort. What a nice surprise as we alight from the bus at the resort entrance, to be greeted by a singing trio welcoming us with complimentary drinks and chocolates. The checking-in procedure was very smooth too, though had to wait for our rooms to be ready. Despite my reservation being half through phone, and the other through internet, they had taken note of my request to have these 2 rooms next to each other and voila, request met.
The Garden wing rooms were pretty basic, but good enough. We like the closet that divides the sleeping area from the bath/pantry area, with doors on both sides, one side opening from the sleep area, the other side opens from the bathroom area. Cool. And all our bags could fit in with shelves for us to place our clothes, so all the clutter kept behind the closet doors. Better bring your shampoo toiletries as they only provide the dispenser type .. for hair & body. The balcony looks out to well-trimmed garden and tennis courts. Very pleasant. Also as monkeys are part of the inhabitants, who are smart to open door knobs, we were told to keep the balcony doors locked all the time.
Apart from monkeys, it is also home to a few peacocks that wander freely even to the beach-view dining area.
And hornbills flew from trees to trees surrounding the swimming pool by the beach. There is a hornbill feeding station filled with bread crumbs at the Kingfisher's Pool. Early morning you will see these remarkable birds swooping down for their feeding, with some bringing food to their young ones up on the trees.The first 2 days were pure relaxation. The sandy beach is just a few steps from the swimming pool. Very well maintained and so accessible you just can't resist stepping into the sand. The waves here are gentle, being in a bay. This resort prepares daily activities for its guests, something I really appreciate.
The kids took part in a sandcastle competition. Tools were provided and of course simple prizes for the winners ( almost everyone got something since there were only about 5-6 kids taking part.) But just swimming in the pool and spending time playing sand burying each other by the beach was enough to keep us all happy. 
As for food, this resort is easily one of the best when comes to buffet dinners and breakfast. We were very impressed with its variety and constant replenishment coming from the kitchen. The satay was really really tender and yummy, there was also baked crab, honey lamb, baked prawns, lots of different types of cakes, puddings, yogurt, ABC. This is also one rare restaurant that serves half-boiled eggs and hard-boiled eggs apart from the usual sunny-side-up or omelettes for breakfast. Despite the crowd, we never run out of things to eat. And the lovely view from the dining deck, especially in the evening enjoying the sunset and morning, refreshing view giving all of us a good appetite to start the day.We took a short island tour via the pink taxi ( a non-air conditioned van ). Our driver who had lived on the island all his life was previously a fisherman. With a good sense of humour, he asked if we had passports because he was going to bring us to China and then Holland! Well, we visited the Hainanese Village ( a fisherman village ), the Fu Ling Gong Temple which was newly painted and famed with a miniature replica of the Great Wall of China. Next, went to a 300 year old Dutch fort which was built not to watch out for enemies but for guarding tin ore. ( The other 2 Dutch forts are in Malacca and in Penang.) Also passed by the Teluk Nipah area which is more popular with the Malay visitors. They have budget inns and malay food stalls lining up the road just by the beach. Went round the island and looked across to another island where the luxurious Pangkor Laut Resort is located. ( Hmmm .. one day, we'll go there.) And then to a Kuan Yin Temple which is built by the sea. The driver said they would come here to pray and then enjoy a meal before wrapping up with a dip in the water ! Final stop was a shopping street just to get some anchovies, what Pangkor is famous for. Not necessarily cheaper than what we get in the market in KL. All in 1 and half hour plus of the breezy van ride, most of us were rocked to sleep already by the time we were back at the resort. And just for RM 60 for 6 of us.
On the morning of our check-out day, we tried our hand at the watersport facilities . There was this banana-boat ride which was really great and a huge favourite with the kids. I even got my 5 year old to join in. Each adult pays RM 25 and children half-price. For my 5 year old, we bargained to RM 10. The jet ski costed RM 85 for 20 minutes so Daddy took each one out for a ride.We all had a good time remembering Pangkor Island Beach Resort. Everyone had wonderful memories and this is one of the trips that I was so relaxed that I wanted to come back again. The resort made a big difference after what I saw at the other resorts in the island, so so glad we picked this place. The staff were all very professional and if not for running out of time, we could have taken part in their cake decoration activity.
On the way back, we stopped by Bidor town to grab some local produce - the crunchy and sweet Bidor Guava fruits and the wonderful petai grown in the jungle. Hmmm... delicious. 
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