Visitors to Redang Island will board at the Merang Jetty for a 45-minute boat ride.

Upon arrival at Redang Island, visitor will be overwhelmed with the reception they receive. Crystal clear water and white sandy beaches are in abundance at Redang Island.

There are currently 17 resorts operating on Redang Island ranging from budget accommodations such as beach huts and chalets, to four-star hotels. Most of these resorts are located on the two main beaches at Teluk Kalong and Pasir Panjang on the eastern coast of the Island.

Redang Island is rich with diverse marine life in the surrounding waters. 80% of the species found in the “coral triangle”, an area bounded by Indonesia, the Philippines and Papua New Guinea. This “coral triangle” is known to have the highest number of marine species in the world.

Divers can select from a wide range of diving experiences at Redang Island. From Beach Dives, Shallow Water Dives and challenging Deep Dives, the diving sites are near the islands and easily accessible by speedboat. Dive centers can be found at most resorts and most dive centers offer PADI/NAUI certified courses.

There are three dive sites towards the north of the Island. Tanjung Tokong and Tunnel Point are the most popular of the northern sites. They offer divers abundant marine life with a maximum depth of 30 meters. Tanjung Lang, the least popular, has a maximum depth of 18 meters. The northern sites are the most popular sites among divers and are also the healthiest in Redang. They are located away from most of the resorts and in close proximity to the protected beach Chagar Hutang, which hosts SEATRU’s conservation efforts.

Pasir Panjang is a popular dive and snorkeling site. The beach is easily accessible and the house-reefs are good for snorkeling, beach dives and also discovery dives. Other popular snorkelling locations not far from Pasir Panjang are Pulau Paku Besar and Pulau Paku Kecil. These are popular snorkeling locations but have enough marine life to keep divers happy too.

In the vicinity of Teluk Kalong, Cina Terjun has become a photographer’s heaven. The sandy bottom at Cina Terjun is home to stingrays and scorpion fish and stone fish nestled amongst the reefs. Divers are almost certain to encounter eels and lion fish at this location. This spot offers divers an excellent location for day or night dives with a maximum depth of 18 meters.

The southern dive sites are among the most popular in Redang. Terumbu Kili is a rocky outcrop that appears above the water and slopes down to a sandy bottom at approximately 20 meters deep. It is one of the top dive sites in Redang. Pulau Ling and Batu Chipor were once the most popular dive sites in Redang. It still offers divers a rich biodiversity in marine life but both these sites are less visited due to the increasing traffic of large boats surrounding the area. Another popular dive site on the southern side of Redang is Pulau Ekor Tebu.

With the rich diversity of the marine life at Redang, the island has grown into one of the top dive sites in the world. Visitors to Redang Island can expect to have an enjoyable time whether they are there for relaxation or for adventure.

Did you know that Malaysia is actually made up of two completely different land masses separated by a huge stretch of the south China sea? – as actor Michael Caine would say: ‘not a lot of people know that.’ (well, ok he never actually said it, but everyone thinks he did. I digress…)

Well anyway, Malaysia’s capital – Kuala Lumpur – is on the western bit, where the majority of the population lives. There’s nothing wrong with the east; it too is blessed with fine beaches, forests and mountains. It’s just that most of the important things in any country tend to take place around the capital, right? So that’s where the power base and economic might tend to congregate.

On the resources front, Malaysia is a big exporter of palm oil, which is basically a type of vegetable oil. This brings in shed loads of income, but rubber, cocoa and tobacco also play a part. However, Malaysia is considered to be a newly industrialised country and isn’t restricting itself to traditional exports – it’s also the world’s leading exporter of computer disk drives of all things, and it’s tourism industry has plenty of room for expansion. Overall, although it’s having to face serious economic competition from China and India (who isn’t?) the economy is doing very well thank you, compared to neighbours like Singapore, Brunei and the Philippines. So what about property then?

Well, it’s a double-edged sword as they say. Over the last few months, rich buyers from Russia, India and Pakistan have been snapping up properties, and in doing so keeping the property market buoyant. However, this has been tempered somewhat by rising fuel and energy prices, which have made construction more expensive, and hence property prices aren’t as low as they could be. This is starting to exclude the local market from the prime locations, whose pay packets cannot compete with the new millionaire (or billionaire) types from abroad.

 
Nonetheless, it is still helping to steer the Malaysian economy in the right direction and in some ways perhaps that growth will be steadier and more sustainable than it would have been if it wasn’t restricted by the all pervading ‘credit crunch.’ Meanwhile the government has been busy on a social programme designed to repair and upgrade the homes of some of the poorest of its population. To achieve this, it’s been offering incentives to building companies to contribute to the scheme, including matching grants for each contribution to the project, which is called the ‘Amal Jariah’ programme. Will any company that gets involved be awarded a certain degree of government patronage in the future? Who knows? But so far, around 5,000 homes have been spruced up, with a target of 30,000. Good vote-winning stuff. 

Meanwhile, there has been some disquiet in the Sabah peninsula where some complaints from property investors have been surfacing regarding the re-sale of units. The country’s Daily Express newspaper (the independent national newspaper of east Malaysia) reports that there have been ‘numerous complaints by house buyers on the requirement of getting consent from the developer before they can sell or get a new loan from the bank.’ The result being that ‘when house buyers are unable to get consent from the private developers that have wound-up they have to go through a tedious process to get consent from the appointed receivers.’ This has yet to be fully resolved, and is proving to be something of a headache for prospective buyers in that region.

In general though, investment property in Malaysia is still on the up. It’s excellent infrastructure, tropical climate, exotic culture, great sports facilities (like golf, diving, and other water sports) beautiful beaches and well-designed holiday resorts, are all contributing to Malaysia’s current success and future prosperity. And not a lot of people know that…

Divided into two gated communities, covering 290 acres, Sentosa Cove has a members-only marina, berths for mega yachts, and W Hotel in the works. On the island there are 2 championship golf courses, and there are plans to build a resort featuring a casino and a Universal Studios theme park.

Of the 2,500 homes planned for completion, some of the more exciting projects include:

- An 18-villa community on Sandy Island, one of the manmade islands in the Cove, where villas will range in size from about 6,500 square feet to 12,000 square feet. Each will come with a boat berth and a private pool. Claudio Silvestrin, the architect, designs Georgio Armani’s stores.

- A 20-unit apartment development that will be the only property facing Sentosa Golf Club’s Tanjong Course. Each 6,000 square foot unit will have its own pool and an estimated price tag between 9-10 million Singapore dollars (about 6.25-6.95 million US).

- The Pinnacle Collection, a planned 20-story condominium structure that will be the tallest building on the island and will offer panoramic vistas of the South China Sea, the Southern Islands and the city skyline.

Although land sales in Sentosa Cove started off with a bust back in 2003 (in the midst of the SARS epidemic), land prices have since jumped from 350 Singapore dollars per square foot to 1,799 dollars per square foot.

Analysts estimate that Singapore’s property market will increase by as much as 30 percent this year. So far, Sentosa Cove has outpaced the rest of the Singapore market in appreciation, in part because it is the only place in Singapore where foreigners are allowed to buy landed properties.

But is it all enough to consider Sentosa Cove the world’s most desirable address? Developers in Dubai might have something to say about that.

More on Sentosa Island:

Sentosa, which means peace and tranquillity in Malay, is a popular island resort in Singapore, visited by some five million people a year. Attractions include a two-kilometre long sheltered beach, Fort Siloso, two golf courses and two five-star hotels.

The island has an area of 5 square kilometres. It lies just half a kilometre (a quarter of a mile) away from the southern coast of the main island of Singapore. It is Singapore’s fourth largest island (excluding the main island). 70% of the island is covered by secondary rainforest, the habitat of monitor lizards, monkeys, peacocks, parrots as well as other native fauna and flora. Significantly large portions of land are currently being added to Sentosa due to land reclamation.

Sentosa has a stretch of sheltered beach of more than two kilometres in length on its southern coast, divided into three portions: Palawan Beach, Siloso Beach, and Tanjong Beach. These beaches are artificial, reclaimed using sand bought from Indonesia and Malaysia.

Sentosa Island is a short 15 minute drive from downtown Singapore, which makes the island a desirable location to own a home.

The tiny, but thriving, Islamic Sultanate of Brunei perches on the north western coast of Borneo, completely encircled by the East Malaysian state of Sarawak which divides it in two.

It has a population of 350,000, nearly seventy percent of which is made up of Malays and indigenes from the larger ethnic groups like the Murut and Dusun the rest are Chinese, Indians, smaller indigenous tribes and expats.

The national language of Brunei is Bahasa Malaysia, as spoken in Malaysia. English is also widely spoken.

They enjoy a quality of life that is quite unparalleled in Southeast Asia, with the literacy rate a staggering 93 percent of the population. Education and healthcare are free houses, cars, and even pilgrimages to Mecca are subsidized taxation on personal income is unheard of and the average per capita salary.

The explanation is simple oil, first discovered in 1903 at the site of what is now the town of Seria. That said, the problem remains that Brunei is more expensive than neighbouring Malaysia or even Singapore hotel prices in the capital are at least double those in nearby Kota Kinabalu or Miri.

Most travellers still end up in Brunei either because of an enforced stopover, or as a stepping stone to either Sabah or Sarawak. In the latter case, however, it can work out cheaper to take an internal MAS flight between Miri and Labuan or Kota Kinabalu rather than bussing it through Brunei.

Bruneis climate, like that of neighbouring Sabah and Sarawak, is hot and humid, with average temperatures in the high twenties throughout the year. Lying 440km north of the equator, Brunei has a tropical weather system, so even if you visit outside the wet season usually November to February theres every chance that youll see some rain.

The food in Brunei is very similar to that of Malaysia, though unlike Sabah and Sarawak youll find a good deal of Indian and Bangladeshi dishes here. Alcoholic drink is illegal.