Pulau Lalang, Pulau Sembilan - The Search For Blue Tears

How often does Facebook memories remind you of a wonderful trip and you go “Oh my god, I miss the trip so much!” or “Hey, I miss these guys”?

My 2016 trip to Pulau Sembilan is one of those memories which have been giving me wonderful nostalgia since 2017. The idea of going to Pulau Sembilan was from CK whom I met from my East Cost Road Trip back in March 2016. Since the road trip back then was so much fun, all of us (MJ, CK, Richard, Sherry, Arthur, Charmaine, and myself) decided to go for another Cuti-Cuti Malaysia. Without having to apply for any leave, a 2D1N Blue Tears trip sounds like a great idea. With three new friends (Peang, Lloyd and Wei Hsiang) joining us, we formed a group of 10 people.

How are you guys doing?

About Pulau Lalang and Pulau Sembilan

Pulau Sembilan is an archipelago of nine islands (Pulau Lalang, Pulau Rumbia, Pulau Agas, Pulau Batutimbul, Pulau Payong, Pulau Nipis, Pulau Batutimbul Rosa, Pulau Saga and Pulau Buluh) located at the West coast of Perak, Malaysia. Sembilan literally means “Nine” in Malay.

Pulau Lalang, Pulau Sembilan

Although you can see blue tears on all nine islands, the most famous one is Pulau Lalang, which is also the only one opened to public. However, Pulau Sembilan is under the conservation of the State, so only registered travel agencies are able set up their base and bring tourists to the islands. 

About Blue Tears

This amazing spectacle known as Blue Tears, first become popular in the Matsu Islands of Taiwan. The glowing waters are caused by certain algae called dinoflagellates, which produce a glowing light when the water they are living in is disturbed by motion. They can actually be found in most of the world’s oceans but are generally too small and dim to see. However, during the warmer summer months in more temperate waters, they can grow in higher concentrations. These algae technically glows due to the presence of the bioluminescent which they produced when disturbed by the motion of the waves. In short, they produce the glow as a defence mechanism.

Photo credit: Malay Mail

Therefore, contrary to popular belief that the Blue Tears phenomenon represents a sign of pollution, it actually represents balanced ecosystem. The presence of these glowing fluorescent plankton means the water is fertile, as they only reproduce and bloom when there is enough nutrient. Although Pulau Sembilan became popular after the sightings of abundance of these blue fluorescent plankton, it is now decreased significantly due to poor management and irresponsible tourists. This has resulted in the closure of the island in order to restore the ecosystem. More on that at the end of the post.

*Note: Pulau Sembilan has been closed indefinitely with effect from 1 Apr 2017. Reopen date yet to be confirmed*

How To Get There

Whichever tour operator you choose, the meet up point will be Kampung Sungai Burung Jetty at Bagan Datoh (also spelled Bagan Datuk). It is 3 hours from either Kuala Lumpur or Ipoh, 4 hours from Penang, 5 hours from Melaka and at least 7 hours from Singapore. If you are not driving, you can take a bus to Teluk Intan and then take grab or a taxi to Kampung Sungai Burung Jetty.

We booked our tour with Nine Island Agency and below is the meet up point:

Tour Operator: Nine Island Agency Sdn Bhd

Address: No.6, Kampung Sungai Burung, 36100 Bagan Datoh, Perak, Malaysia

They do have a set departure time, so you will need to arrive before that. They don’t wait for latecomers so do arrive earlier to avoid being stranded on the village. Once you arrive at the meet up point, payment will be made in cash and they will confirm the number of passengers. You will then be led to the dock (about less than a km away) passing by some seafood restaurants (this is where you will be having your lunch on the day of your return).

Kampung Sungai Burung

Each boat can charter about 10-15 people and everyone is given a life jacket. The boat ride is a bit bumpy but only take 30 to 40 minutes so it’s nothing unbearable.

This is where you board the boat

*Note: Pulau Sembilan has been closed indefinitely with effect from 1 Apr 2017. Reopen date yet to be confirmed*

The package

The tour operator we chose was Nine Island Agency Sdn Bhd which CK found online. I can’t remember the exact price of the package, but it was somewhere around RM270 or RM290 for 2 days 1 night. The package includes boat transfer to and from the mainland, sleeping tent (with minimal bedding), and 6 meals.

Steamboat dinner

Supper

A total of six meals is included in the package - A lunch, afternoon tea, steamboat dinner, seafood porridge supper is provided on the island on the first day. Breakfast is also included on the second day before we return to the mainland and we have one last seafood lunch in a seafood restaurant (on the mainland) as well. Quite a steal isn’t it?

Seafood lunch

Other Activities

Besides sighting blue tears at night, you can also do snorkeling, jungle trekking and beach sports such as volleyball. After arriving on the island, we went to check out the island before joining the snorkeling excursion.

White, soft sands

Saw a swing

MJ and Arthur

CK and Lloyd

Best shot of the day

Sunset

Sunrise

The guided snorkelling trip will end before lunch, and your whole afternoon will be free and easy. To pass time, you can either play beach volleyball or join a guide for jungle trekking where you hike to the peak of the island.

Volleyball match on the beach

Is that my muscles?

It was a fun thing to do

We were all fun people, so of course we had to do them all. As we only decided to join the hike at the very last minute, we ended up hiking in swimsuit and slippers. Luckily, the hike was easy and we had no problem trekking with slippers or barefooted.

Jungle trekking

Hiking in swimsuit

Found a wasp nest

Except Richard and Sherry, all of us went for the hike

Not So Lucky With Blue Tears

The main highlight of the trip is obviously the blue tears. Unfortunately, we weren’t so lucky that day. Contrary to the photos we’ve seen from past trips, we only managed to see as little as one to two tiny blue tears after waiting until midnight. We spend the whole night on the beach drinking beer and sharing love stories while waiting to a miracle – lots and lots of blue tears. Some of us waited till dawn, some of us gave up and went back into the tent. None of us see any more blue tears that night. 

Epilogue

Although the 10 of us fully expected to see abundance of blue glowing plankton as shown on the photos shared on the internet, luck were not on our side that weekend, even though we stayed up all night. Perhaps, we came at the wrong time, wrong season, or it could have been the sign of these algae moving away from the coastline due to their habitat being disturbed (Hope that’s not the case!)

Pulau Lalang

Nonetheless, we enjoyed our time on that island. There's no abundance of blue tears, but it's a memorable trip where we got to know each other a little bit more. I made new friends and rediscovered old ones. I also played beach volleyball for the first time and did jungle trekking in swimsuit... now, that's some virgin experience there, isn't it?

Never know I'm such a mountain girl back then

Hopefully, we'll be able to see "abundance of blue tears" in the future. But for now, let's have abundance of fun and enjoy each other’s company.

Maybe one day when it reopens, I'll be back

*Note: Pulau Sembilan has been closed indefinitely with effect from 1 Apr 2017. Reopen date yet to be confirmed*

The closure

Over the concern for conservation, Perak has instituted an indefinite ban on tourists visiting Pulau Sembilan, which kicked in from 1st April 2017. This decision comes into effect as overcrowding had brought negative effects to environment sustainability. Despite the state having imposed a 120-visitor per daily limit, there were visitors who trespassed the island with unauthorised boats.

The overcrowding will destroy the natural habitat of the algae, which may subsequently drive the algae away from the islands’ coastline, one of the only seven known locations in the world to sight the blue tears. This is evident by the decreasing blue tears that is sighting in recent years. Besides that, the pristine white sand of the beach is also reported to show discolouration, a sign of pollution.

With the travel ban imposed, the state government will monitor movements to the islands with cooperation from marine enforcement authorities. Although Pulau Sembilan is rumoured to be reopened in December 2018, the state government had spoken that it will remained closed indefinitely until further notice.