Tips on Pulau Tioman Warnings or Dangers – Stay Safe!

Pulau Tioman Warnings and Dangers

Before traveling to Pulau Tioman, make sure you educate yourself on potential dangers. This way, you can prepare yourself and do what you can to avoid undesirable situations.

The Monitor Lizards

Lizards on Pulau Tioman can become not only big but dangerous. The Monitor Lizard can grow up to five feet long. The main problem with these large lizards is tourists tend to feed them by throwing pieces of chicken and meat from their meals, which brings the lizards closer to humans. Due to this, these large lizards are not afraid of humans. Generally the lizards are harmless and can be fun to see, but if these large animals feel threatened they can attack. So, just keep an eye out for these giant lizards and keep your children at a safe distance.

Sand Flies

These are little flies that hang out around the beach, and can be quite nasty. The flies aren’t the size of your common house fly, nor do these flies make the sound of mosquitos. Often times you don’t know the sand flies are there until they swarm you. Running into the water is one way to avoid sand flies, but make sure you have bug repellant with you. These sand flies bite and the bites are especially itchy. If you are bitten do whatever you can to avoid scratching as it is easy for the bites to become infected. Try to shower after going to the beach in order to reduce the irritant of the bite and wash away any bacteria left over.

Unofficial Ferries

When booking ferries around the island, make sure you link up with a reputable service provider. Many booking services will take some money up front when you book the service and then accept the rest of the payment when you arrive for the tour. Unofficial ferries may take your money and then not be around when you show up for the tour. The best way to locate official ferry service providers is to talk with your hotel and have them recommend you a ferry.

Be Prepared To Pay High Prices

This is a tourist area of Malaysia, which means many of the service providers charge more than what something might go for in other areas of Malaysia. You can shop around (such as for renting a kayak), but for these kinds of services, you’ll almost always pay more.

Editor’s note: The information contained on this page was compiled using real traveler reviews about warnings and dangers in Pulau Tioman.