Rawa Island Resort is a wonderful place for a family holiday. We really loved the time we spent there. It is a great place to take the kids to unwind and explore the ocean at a safe distance.
The drive to Rawa is fairly easy from Singapore. We arranged a taxi through Michael. +60 19 716 8850 (Text works fine.) The drive was about 2 1/2 hours, and involved switching to a Malaysia taxi once you cross the border, but the price was fine, $170 SGD each way for our family of four.
We traveled with another family, and it was a great place to reconnect with our friends from the States. We stayed in a beachfront cottage, which had two double beds, perfect for our family. The cottages had air conditioning, and weren’t elaborate, but they suited us just fine. The bathrooms are rustic, but fully functional with hot water.
There were hammocks galore, anyone who wanted a hammock could have one. There were decent beach chairs set up throughout the beach.
The beach was picturesque. We strolled it, collected sea shells, played in the water, and snorkeled. The snorkeling was amazing. We saw a sting ray, numerous sea anemones, clown fish, many brightly colored fish, sea cucumbers, brain corals, and so much more! We also rented a paddle boat from the surf shop and paddled around the swimming area. From there we would jump off and put our faces in the water to see the corals in the deeper areas. All of us, including my 9 year old, loved the snorkeling.
The food was fairly good. The seafood buffet on Saturday nights is great. The food is served buffet style, but there are plenty of choices and everyone seemed happy with what they were eating. It was both Malaysian food and Western food, although the Malaysian food was better.
We also took a hike to the top of the island and saw the stunning view above. You could see all the way to Tioman island. It was breathtaking. It was also a decent length hike. It could be done by my 9 & 11 year olds, had they been willing to leave the fun on the beach.
There is a pool room, an ice cream stand, a beach bar, and a TV room. There wasn’t much in the way of a kids club or any organized activities for children. This was the only area in which I felt that Rawa really could have done better. They have a spa, although we didn’t try it.
As for the rooms, I did enjoy having the beach chalet, but I think I could have also been totally happy with the hillside rooms. You get plenty of beach time regardless. We will definitely go back again.
As far as value for money, we found Rawa to be the best value of all of the Malaysian and Indonesian islands we had been to. It is less expensive than Batu Batu and Nikoi (although not as luxurious either), and more expensive than Sea Gypsy and Telunas.
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