After returning to the mainland from Perhentian Kecil, we headed to Pulau Kapas, which is a couple of hours further South from the Perhentians. 
 
Getting there:
 
From Kuala Besut the bus timetable is erratic, so after taking the 8am boat off the island we aimed for the 10 .30am bus to Kuala Terengganu. All the info we could find was a little vague about the best place to pick up the bus, but after asking several locals we went with the majority and headed left at the end of the jetty and to the end to the main road. The 'virtual' bus stop was evident from the other backpackers hanging around at the corner by the hardware store/bridge area and the bus did eventually arrive around 10.30.
 
From Kuala Terengganu it was another bus to Marang (not to be confused with Merang). 
 
After almost 3 weeks on the islands we needed to stock up on supplies, so Phill hunted down a supermarket whilst I hung out with the bags in McDonalds (note: it's Ramadan and nowhere else was open, and I only had a portion of criss cross fries - still shameless!).
 
The next bus to Marang wasn't until 3pm, so with the risk of missing the last boat to Pulau Kapas we negotiated a taxi (30 RM v's 5RM for the bus) and arrived there with time to spare.
 
The island
 
It's just 10 minutes by speedboat to Kapas island, so a popular place for day trippers . Fortunately as it was mid week it meant we avoided the locals, and although our first two choices of accommodation were fully booked, we secured a room at the far South of the island. 
 
It's possible to walk the full length of the West coast (where all amenities are located) in approx 30 minutes, so wherever you stay everything is easily accessible.
 
This island is beautiful, but in my view, it suffers from the repercussions of tourism and the lack of care that also exists on the Perhentians. There is now a solar plant located along one of the beaches, so sustainable electricity is readily available, removing the need to rely on noisy, polluting petrol generators. This is really good for the long term future of the island. It's just a shame the chosen location is directly along what is already an over developed beach, when they could have built it inland.
 
A lot of the accommodation is aimed at budget backpackers but there are some more exclusive (Asian style) places to stay including the very luxurious Gem island resort over on the Gemia island, just a few hundred metres by taxi boat.
 
We had hoped to kayak over to Gemia and check out the turtle hatchery that they have there, but unfortunately had no luck renting any equipment. There is a dive shop on the island, offering courses and dives, and most places rent snorkeling gear. The shop with kayaks insisted it was closed when we went there and everywhere else either had nothing available, or only allowed use by their own guests .
 
Overall, our experience on this island left me with a deflated feeling. It may have been brought on by having already spent a fair while on the Perhentians, but I just wanted to leave as soon as we got there and then there was little encouraging us to stay!
 
The main problem was that there was very little to do, which may be ideal for some. The beaches are really lovely and the sand is much more powdery than the Perhentians, but the water doesn't offer anything special as there is little coral left.
 
I also think their attitude towards conservation is non-existent here, as boats crash through the coral and rocks to deposit visitors at their chosen destination/beach. 
 
We found turtle tracks on a couple of the more Northern beaches, and potential nesting areas, but none of this is acknowledged here, and there is quite a lot of rubbish. The hatchery on Gemia island apparently collects the eggs, hatches them, and nurtures the young for a time to give them a better chance of survival to adulthood. But I only stumbled across this info after trawling the web, so it's not common knowledge .

Update 9/8/13: the turtles are now released as soon as possible once they are hatched, following advice received from those involved in the Juara Turtle Project on Tioman Island (I am currently volunteering at the Juara project - 'More islands and a nesting turtle for my bithday').
 
Aside from this, I worry for the future of this island. It just isn't being looked after. The steps that take you from beach to beach are in need of maintenance or they will one day fall onto the rocks below and there are a lot of derelict and abandoned resorts/buildings which are starting to take over the tiny space along the beaches.
 
Everyone comes here to lay on the beaches or snorkel, but both those things are at risk if action isn't taken. This place has potential to recover but I do not see how this is possible the way things are.
 
If you are headed there, note:
 
There is no ATM.Alcohol is not available in most places.The mosquitoes are like rotweilers, with a well known 'mosquito hour' before sunset, that chases you inside or into a deet wallowing stupor .This place may leave you deflated!
 
***
 
Kuala Terengganu
 
Having been in the state of Terengganu for almost a month now, it only seemed right that we should stop by the state capital. 
 
Kuala Terengganu is just a short bus ride from Marang, costing a mere 2.50 RM, and a good way to break up our journey back to Kota Bahru.

Spending any time on the mainland during Ramadan does however make things a little frustrating. Fortunately Kuala Terengganu has a great heritage Chinatown offering tasty food and an interesting area to wander when most other things are closed or just too orientated towards the Malay to be worth a visit (sorry, but I've seen enough markets selling nothing but Muslim apparrel for this trip). Although the central market near Chinatown is definitely worth a look.
 
The promised view from Bukit Puteri (200m hill) was a little disappointing after having to pay the cheeky 1RM fee and was over run with mosquitos. The gardens at the top were petty and well maintained, but the nice shady seating areas had lazy staff laying around all over them, which didn't improve the ambience and gave visitors nowhere to sit and enjoy the view away from the scorching sun . So we only spent a few minutes looking at the few historical artefacts, and the small fort at the top, before making our way back down again.
 
There are a couple of important and famous mosques here and a renowned state museum which comes highly recommended. Unfortunately we didn't have the time to visit these.
 
There is little else worth mentioning about this town, other than the numerous banners encouraging visitors to Terengganu, which incidentally encompasses a logo which centres around a turtle. It seems a little contradictory to use such a logo when the state currently remains unable to regulate the consumption of endangered turtle eggs - see my earlier post here. 

Perhaps I am starting to get a little carried away on the subject of conservation, and turtles in particular, but it seems I'm not the only one who feels this way - see recent article: http://www.turtleconservationsociety.org.my/sale-of-turtle-eggs-makes-mockery-of-conservation-efforts/