We had just got back from a wonderful 4 nights stay in Redang. It was our first visit to Redang, believe it not. As first, we waited for Brother Bear to grow bigger, then came Sister Bear and Baby Bear. So that's how it dragged us so long to visit this beautiful island we had always wanted to visit. We were glad that the water was still crystal clear and blue when we finally went! We hope it stays so for many more years to come, as Redang is such a beautiful place!
We had chosen Wisana Village, a small scale boutique resort, close to home-stay concept, instead of other bigger names with 4 to 5 stars rating, as we had read mixed reviews of those properties, about the service, crowdedness, and etc... And all we wanted was a quiet holiday with loved ones. That's how Wisana came into the picture - a small property with clean room, beautiful private beach (snorkelling ready) and awesome people.
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| The speed boat transfer from Merang Jetty to Wisana Village took 30 minutes, life jackets were provided. If you prefer a ferry transfer (gentler for pregnant mums, old folks or young babies), you may request for a transfer from Syahbandar Jetty, but it takes longer). |
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| Wisana Village sets right on a private beach with fine white powdery sand and crystal clear water! |
Wisana has a total of 6 chalets and 4 terrace rooms. We booked ourselves into their superior chalet which was refurbished last year, it came with 2 queen size beds and accommodated all of us comfortably. The room was basic and clean. It had everything we usually saw in any standard hotel's room, but no TV. Papa Bear was initially worried that how were kids going to pass time at night with no TV and any other entertainment in the room. He downloaded some movies into our iPad, which we didn't manage to watch any. Kids simply enjoyed themselves outdoor even at night.
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| The basic and clean room of our Superior Chalet. |
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| The lounge where we spent our time when we weren't on the beach or in the water. |
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| Sister Bear discovered the fun of Congkak - a traditional Malay game. A great way to pass time! |
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| The cosy family friendly setting had allowed Papa Bear and I to spend time together and pretend that we were honeymooning. :) |
During the day, we would swim, snorkel, hang around at the lounge and just walk around. We just had to swim 100 to 300 metres away from Wisana's private beach to see corals and colourful fishes or to catch a glimpse of sea turtles. You don't have to worry about buying or renting snorkelling gears, as Wisana provides everything. However, we did bring our own for Sister Bear and Baby Bear, as the ones provided were adult size. Baby Bear's set was from Mothercare and Sister Bear's set was from Tesco. The mask from the Tesco set was not suitable for snorkelling, so Papa Bear removed its snorkel from the set and attached it to the proper mask provided by Wisana. Fins were not allowed in Redang, for fear that snorkelers might damage the corals. But you could buy the soft diving shoes to protect your feet if you wanted to, which we didn't use any during our trip. Wisana provides life jackets for both adults and kids too. So you could really travel light. :)
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| Brother Bear enjoyed soaking in the crystal clear water. You could spot lots of colourful fish swimming around the rocks. |
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| If you swim further, you could spot one or two sea turtles. Papa Bear and Sister Bear once bumped into a huge one almost face to face! LOL |
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| There's a hammock and swing right in front of our chalet. We loved spending our time here in the early morning and in the windy afternoon. Life was truly awesome. |
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| After a long day of swim, snorkel and play, we loved playing chase game on the white fine powdery sandy beach. |
We also booked a boat trip out around Redang Island to do and see more of the majestic ocean world. Our guide, Azrin, one of the sons of the resort owner was an awesome guide. His assistant, Ilham and him guided Brother Bear and Sister Bear through the whole snorkelling trip. Papa Bear and I just had to take care of Baby Bear and we could take turns to swim and snorkel further away to see more. But after awhile, Baby Bear too got the hang of it and she could swim further and began to enjoy it.
Azrin and Ilham also brought us to an extra stop to show us more of Redang. They made us felt like we were their friends and they were the hosts to make sure we were safe and enjoyed the trip thoroughly. Thank you Azrin and Ilham for such a memorable snorkelling trip.
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| Come say hi to our awesome guide - Azrin. :) |
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| Azrin and Ilham also helped to take pictures of us snorkelling. |
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| Hello Marlin and Nemo! :) |
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| Beautiful, isn't it? |
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| Ilham dived into the sea to help us take closer shot of the ocean world. |
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| We saw quite a lot of this, Sister Bear said it looked like a big ear. |
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| A family picture we love. Our first snorkelling trip as a family. :) |
Here are the links of the short videos of our snorkelling trip:
Video #1 - Snorkelling Trip (3 minutes)
Video #2 - Snorkelling Trip (1 Minute)
At night, we would hang around the lounge to have drinks, play games (congkak or board games), watch some TV shows, mingle around with other guests or just throw ourselves on the beanbags and enjoy the quiet night with starry starry sky, accompanied by the music of the ocean waves. Life was simply AWESOME!
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| Each night, we were greeted by starry starry sky and breezy wind. :) |
Wisana is run by a local family. Some of their staff are from other parts of Malaysia, but mostly the East Coast. Their chef is a UiTM graduate, who designs the daily menu and cooks delicious food. Every guest was talking about the food. Simple and nice, combination of both local and western. Just like how we live at home. The rest of the staff were very friendly, they were always smiling and ready to assist or stop to chit chat. I remember the below conversation during dining time:
Staff: Kak, nanti akak cuba dessert ni ya, saya yang buat. (Sis, please try this dessert, I make this.)
Me: Ya ke? OK, nanti akak cuba. (Really? Sure, I'll try that.)
Staff: Mesti sedap, sebab saya buka tin and bangcuh aje dengan jelly. (Surely it's good, as I open the canned food and mix with jellies.)
He was trying to joke that he could not make such a nice dessert, if not because of the help from the ready canned food. We both laughed out loud.
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| Sister Bear and I had a wonderful time walking along the beach, sharing our little stories of the day. |
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| The couple cum parents of the year for Redang - self declared. LOL Just kidding! |
Thank you Wisana Village! You have made our holidays a perfect one. Our kids have fond memories of Wisana and keep asking for another trip there. If you would like to know more about Wisana, do log on to their website here or look them up on Trip Advisor under Special Lodging in Redang.
I have a small request, please share this article of Wisana Village if you think the place is awesome and worth visiting or sharing with others. They need our support to keep the place going. Thank you! :)
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| Thank you, Wisana Village! :) |
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