Cotton, I mean Kapas Island

I visited Pulau Kapas (translated into Cotton Island if you want to be literal about it) for the first time about three years ago. Back then, the service was excellent. As soon as you landed, you were greeted by resort members and taken to the lobby (of sorts) served a drink, and then you were checked in and taken to your rooms. The staff were friendly and the service was good. Food was so-so.

The island itself though, it was beautiful. Pristine, quiet, and beautiful. Fishing was great, though by rights it was illegal. I rarely took part, preferring instead to play in the water and read while le parents and lil bro were busy catching that night’s dinner (literally. We had fish for lunch and dinner the day after check-in). Dad made friends with the boatman who eventually took us out (at his insistence) to go fishing. Frequently.

However, there were drawbacks. The electricity would be cut off sometime in the afternoon for a bit when the generators on the island would be refilled with diesel, and it happened during the hottest part of the day, so you could imagine our reaction.

The resort then was known as Primula Kapas Island Resort.

Three years on, not much has changed. The island, I mean. In fact, coming towards the tail end of the monsoon season (though not without it’s dangers) also means that the waters are unusually clear and beautiful. Going towards the island was fun (if you’re a rollercoaster fan) but it was also dangerous.

The waters though, were a clear blue, one of the clearest I have ever seen anywhere in Malaysia. Having been dragged throughout most of Peninsular Malaysia when I was growing up to beach resorts, I can safely say that waters like these were rare in Malaysia unless you were going to one of those premium beaches.

Once we hit the island, it took us some time to get everything to the lobby and then to the room. I was quite shocked at the change in the desk; the table had been replaced by a counter with the staff sitting quite a ways below, so it seemed that we were standing taller than them. This felt rather unfriendly to me. The customer service was good though.

The room was a big disappointment. It was smaller than I remembered, had no TV (I distincintly remembered they had one all those years ago), the toilet was dirty (no water had been thrown on the floor and it was sandy) and most importantly, NO HOT WATER.

I’ll let you all digest that fact, and end the review of Kapas Island, Part One, end here. Nite!

Categories: Reviews, Travel