map from bjaya.com
As you can see, Pulau Besar(Johor) is surrounded by few others island, Pulau Sibu, Pulau Rawa, Pulau Tinggi, Pulau Aur and Pulau Pemanggil(As what I know, these few islands are famous in sport fishing). It takes about 30 minutes boat ride from Mersing to Pulau Besar(13km from Mersing). This place sure will attract tourist from Singapore who love diving, snorkeling and fishing game.
Formerly, Pulau Besar is called “Pulau Babi Besar“, time when man haven’t inhabited this island, there are lots of big wild boars roamed around this island. In present, you won’t see any of this animal, so they renamed this island to “Pulau Besar”.
A local myth was about a fisherman couple who transformed into mermaids. This legend is so popular among the local folks that they believed at one time, a pregnant fisherman’s wife was craving for a kind of seaweed, that is plentiful in the Mersing waters. After eating, she turned into a mermaid and the heartbroken husband became one too after eating the same seaweed. Until today, it is claimed that mermaids floating in couples can sometimes be spotted eating seaweed around the island. – from Wikipedia
The island beautiful coral reefs and marine life makes Pulau Besar a superb diving destination, furthermore Pulau Besar also is a great place for snorkeling, wind-surfing, canoeing, jungle trekking and also you can plan for a fishing trip to the near by islands (Pulau Pemanggil, Pulau Aur). In order to protect and preserve this unspoiled environment (marine life), Government had gazetted this island as a Marine Park, to protect the marine life that can be harm by human activities.
Oh yes, don’t forget, Pulau Besar (Johor) is located at East Coast of Malaysia, all operation will be shut down during Monsoon season, November – March annually. There are two Resort Hotels in this island :-
You can ask these hotels to arrange water activities, like diving, snorkeling or fishing trip.
See more islands information at http://www.melakabest.com/malaysia-islands/
