Tropical Paradise - Pulau Aman, Malaysia

Village on Pulau Aman, Malaysia

When my Malaysian friend Salva asked if I would be keen to visit a beautiful tropical island on the Malaysian coast how could I refuse? I mentioned to him though that I preferred to visit a non-touristy island so he picked Pulau Aman. “Pulau” in Malay (and Indonesian) means ‘Island’.

Salva mentioned that he visited the island on a day trip last year and was looking forward to having more time to explore what it had to offer.

According to the brochure the island had jungle trekking trails, boardwalks in the mangroves, sport fishing, swimming beach areas, kayaking and to top it off ‘amazing seafood’. I was in!

There is a small village on the island and they have for generations focused on fishing as well as a small bit of rubber production in the interior of the island. When we arrived a small fleet of fishing boats were scattered in the small harbor and on the edge of town there are still lots of rubber trees complete with small 'rubber' collection pails at the base of the trees.

Salva pulling the rubber on a Rubber Tree

But as everywhere in the world times are changing and this once sleepy fishing village is in a state of transition.  The island itself is within view of the city of Penang (or the other way around as at night you can easily see the glow of the city lights). The community does benefit from tourism but mainly from day visitors who come across from the mainland on the small 20 passenger ferry to feast on regular udang (shrimp) or the larger centipede prawns.

Salva with a Centipede Prawn

It seems the government decided to help the residents develop a tourism industry to supplement the island’s fishing focused economy. What appeared to be a tourism ‘cooperative’ set about doing a whole range of things to prepare for over-night tourism. A ‘homestay’ program was established; waterside chalets were constructed; a trail was built around much of the island (constructed out of cement); a boardwalk was built to allow visitors to walk through the mangroves on the adjacent small island (which can be accessed only by boat except on very low tides); local fishermen offer ‘boat tours’ around the islands and a new jetty was constructed to (I assume) handle the boom in overnight visitors. Well as of yet the ‘boom’ has not come.

If you look at the brochure you would think wow … this place looks amazing! Wellllll… brochures can be deceiving … as some of you may very well know.

I don’t know exactly when most of the structures were built but it was obvious that the planners failed to include one very important line in their financial plans for the project – and that is upkeep and maintenance. The cement trail is at some places falling into the sea and the gorgeous boardwalk through the mangroves (which must have been fabulous when it was first built) is now in shambles … as a large percentage of the wooden planks have rotted. Apparently last week an Australian visitor fell through the boardwalk and was lucky not have sustained serious injury.

And one of the saddest parts is the amount of plastic that is strewn across the shores in and around the village (on both islands). Plastic drives me nuts! (see upcoming post on plastic)

Malaysian Flag on Pulau Aman

We still had a great time hiking, exploring, relaxing and in fact it was a fabulous three days. I just hope that the village is given the support to fix the structures that are in disrepair and maintain the ones that are still in decent shape.

Fisherman on Pulau Aman

Fishermen on Pulau Aman