| How
long does it take to get to Tanjong Leman? |
| Is it
safe to leave my car at Tanjong Leman? |
|
Is there
a boat schedule from Tanjong Leman and how long is the boat ride? |
| Do you provide life
vests? |
| Do I pay the boat
driver? |
| Do
your bus services from Singapore and Johor Bahru only run at weekends?
|
| Do I pay the bus driver? |
| Do we have to pay a
deposit? |
| How and when do we pay? |
| Do we need to bring any
Malaysian Ringgit? |
| Does
Pulau Sibu have the same
weather as Singapore and Johor Bahru? |
| Do we need to bring
beach towels? |
| Is there anything we should
bring? |
| Can we plug in electrical
equipment in our rooms? |
| Do you have air
conditioning? |
| Do you have hot water? |
| Do hand phones work at
Sea Gypsy? |
| Do you
serve alcohol? |
|
Do you
cater for babies & children? |
|
Is baby sitting available? |
| Can you cater to
vegetarians or people with special diets? |
| Do you cater to parties? |
| Do we need to take Malaria
tablets? |
| Sandfly |
| |
|
How long does it take to get to Tanjong Leman? |
| - by car from Singapore 3 hours |
| - from Johor Bahru 2 hours |
| - by car from Kuala Lumpur 5
hours |
| - by bus and taxi from Singapore 3.5 hours |
| |
| Is it safe
to leave my car at Tanjong Leman? |
| Yes. We've been leaving cars at Tanjong Leman for
15 years and to date we've never had any problems. (Apart from guests forgetting
to turn their lights off and finding a flat battery on return. You have been
reminded, switch off!) There is a RM8 per day parking fee. |
 |
| |
| Is there
a boat schedule from Tanjong Leman and how long is the boat ride? |
- - Daily at 2 p.m.
- - Fridays and the eve of any Public
Holiday 2 p.m., 6
p.m. and 9 p.m.
- - Saturday 9 a.m. and 2 p.m.
|
- Note: Your boat time must be
booked when making a reservation as they do not operate if we have no guests
arriving or departing.
|
- Departure from Sea Gypsy
- - Daily
at 1.30 p.m. (after an early lunch)
- - Saturday at 8.30 a.m. and 1.30
p.m.
- - Sunday at 1.30 p.m., 3 p.m. and
4.30 p.m.
|
- Non scheduled
boats may be requested, subject to availability. A single surcharge
of RM120 will be added to your invoice for any non scheduled boats.
|
| The journey takes 15 to 20 minutes. |
| |
| Do
you provide life vests? |
 |
| Life vests, in 6 different
sizes from baby to extra large, are provided and must be worn by law. |
| |
| Do I
pay the boat driver? |
| No, the boat charge is put on your Sea Gypsy
bill. |
| |
|
Do
your bus services from Singapore and Johor Bahru only run at weekends?
NO. |
|
Bus departs Somerset & Grange car park, off Orchard Rd: |
| - Sunday through Thursday 11
a.m. for a 2 p.m. boat to Sea Gypsy. |
| - Friday 6 p.m. for a 9 p.m.
boat to Sea Gypsy. |
|
Arrives back in Singapore: |
| - Sunday departs Sea Gypsy
on 3 p.m. boat, arrives Somerset 6.30 p.m. |
| - Monday through Friday
departs Sea Gypsy on 1.30 p.m. boat, arrives Somerset & Grange at 5 p.m. |
|
Bus departs Perling Mall car park, Johor Bahru: |
| - Sunday through Thursday 12
midday for a 2 p.m. boat to Sea Gypsy. |
| - Friday 7 p.m. for a 9 p.m.
boat to Sea Gypsy. |
|
Arrives back in Johor Bahru: |
| - Sunday departs Sea Gypsy
on 3 p.m. boat, arrives Perling Mall 5.30
p.m. |
| - Monday through Friday
departs Sea Gypsy on 1.30 p.m. boat, Perling Mall 4 p.m. |
| |
| Do I
pay the bus driver? |
| No, the bus fare is put on your Sea Gypsy bill. |
| |
| Do
we have to pay a deposit? |
| No. We send you a Confirmation Sheet detailing
your booking and the exact charges. You fill it in with your credit card
details and fax it back to us to confirm your booking. No booking is
confirmed without the signed sheet. We do not put any charges on this card,
we simply hold it in case of a "no show" or last minute
cancellation. |
| |
| How
and when do we pay? |
| You pay on departure from Sea Gypsy. We accept
Visa or MasterCard, most currencies or personal cheques from any Singapore bank. |
| |
|
Do we
need to bring any Malaysian Ringgit? |
| Yes. Everyone needs some small change for a RM5
jetty fee at Tanjong Leman. The jetty is owned by a private company and they
make the charge. If you are driving your own car from to Tanjong Leman you will need
some Ringgit for the tolls and RM8 per night for the parking fee. There are some stalls at Tanjong Leman so you may
like to bring money for a drink and they also charge to use the toilet. |
| Note: if you
bring Singapore $ cash it is quite normal for the tolls and tickets
booths to charge S$1:RM1, i.e. you get ripped off! |
| |
| Does
Pulau Sibu have
the same weather as Singapore & Johor Bahru? |
| No, thank heavens! Hard to believe but although
Pulau Sibu is so close it has much more sun and much less rain. Quite often it
can be raining all the way up the East Coast on the mainland but it is still
sunny on the island. I live in Johor Bahru during the week and am finding it
hard to tell that the monsoon is over this year!? |
| |
| Do we
need to bring beach towels? |
| No. We supply all linen. |
| |
|
Is there
anything we should bring? |
| Adults: no. |
| Children: your bucket and spade because you
naughty things are always leaving ours below the high tide line so they get
washed out to sea. You lose them faster than i can buy them! Although if you
can't bring one I'm sure we'll find one for you. |
| Babies: your baby alarm. |
| |
|
Can we
plug in electrical equipment in our rooms? |
| Mmm, difficult. Preferably not but low voltage
stuff is OK. Certainly NO HAIRDRYERS! (Don't worry ladies we all go for the
natural look at Sea Gypsy.) Baby alarms are fine. If you need hot water for baby
bottles we prefer to give you a thermos of hot water. We can boil and clean
bottles and teats for you. We will also boil and cool water for you to make
formula. So no electric kettles please but camera chargers are OK. |
| |
|
Do
you have air conditioning? |
| Absolutely not. The whole idea of Sea Gypsy is to
be by the sea, have the windows open and listen to the waves and the breeze in
the palms. We have large overhead fans and 24 hour electricity. |
| |
|
Do you have
hot water? |
| No. On the other hand it's never really that cold
as we store it in black tanks that absorb the heat. Most of our guests just put
on a swimsuit for breakfast and then head straight for the beach. By the time
they're ready to shower for lunch a cool shower is welcome. |
| Note: We have our own well and
the water is delicious to drink. |
| |
|
Do hand
phones work at Sea Gypsy? |
| Not everywhere but there are "sweet spots"
where signals can be found. Communication via text messaging is best. |
| |
|
Do you
serve alcohol? |
| Yes. We have a fully stocked bar. Plenty of
cold beer in the chiller, a comprehensive wine list and delicious cocktails that actually taste of alcohol
because we make them all from scratch! |
| Note: We charge corkage for
anyone bringing their own alcohol. |
| |
|
Can
you cater to vegetarians or people with special diets? |
| No problem. We always ask
when people make a booking if they are vegetarian or allergic to any
food. It's amazing how many people are nowadays. We don't like to be
caught on the hop as we can't exactly pop down the road to the shops! |
| |
|
Do you
cater for babies & children? |
| We certainly do. We provide
everything from cots to bed guards, baby baths (hot water can be
delivered in a bucket from the kitchen) to booster stools to reach the
sink, from training toilet seats to hooded baby towels. We also provide
high chairs and booster seats in the restaurant, along with interesting
colouring sheets & crayons. Our dedicated Kids Club & Family Coordinator
will make sure you have all you need, including a choice of 2
baby menus and 1
toddler menu for you to order
freshly cooked baby food at what ever time of day you require.
Children's tea is served daily at 6pm,
Kid's Club is daily from
9.30am to 12.30pm and afternoon activities are written up on the "what's
on board" daily. Oh, almost forgot, the
Dive Base teach
Bubble Makers from
the age of 8 years plus rent out boogie boards and paddle skies that
kids love. |
|
Is baby sitting available? |
| Baby minding is available
from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. only. What's the difference between baby
sitting and baby minding? The minder will simply come and get you if
your children wake so that you can go back to the chalet and deal with
it. Children must already be in bed asleep before the minder takes over.
The minder goes off duty at 11 p.m. Parents wishing to use this service
must bring cash and pay the minder direct, RM15 per hour.
Baby alarms will work between your chalet
and the dinning room & bar area. |
| |
|
Do you
cater to parties? |
| Absolutely. Just let us know what the occasion
is. We have a wonderful pastry chef here in Johor Bahru that can make the most
amazing cakes in any shape, size or form. We're always happy to decorate the bar
and restaurant for theme parties or fancy dress is also fun. Office Christmas
parties are popular at the beginning of December. |
| |
|
Do we need
to take Malaria tablets? |
| No. This is a non risk area
for Malaria. All beds have dipped mosquito nets. Ten years of constantly
cleaning the land means we only see mosquitoes at sun up and sun down
despite being surrounded by jungle. Although I'd love to advocate herbal
repellants for our environment I'm afraid chemical ones really work
best. We recommend Off, or it's equivalent. |
| |
|
Sandflies |
| Oil is the answer to the Sandfly. Repellants,
no matter what they may claim, really seem to have no effect. Oil stops them
completely. It is irrelevant what oil, cooking, baby, etc., but we recommend
sun oil to avoid being cooked. Do not substitute it for your regular sun
lotion simply put it on over the top. The best tip in the world for Sandflies
is to by a bottle of spray on tanning oil, pour a little out and add a small
bottle of Tee Tree Oil and a few drops of liquid disinfectant (e.g. Detol).
spray this on and no sand fly will touch you! The recipe comes from
Australia, where they really know about sand fly problems, and is known
as bush oil over there. (Amazing what I've been finding out since Richard
started boarding school in Perth!) |
| Note: This is a great tip
if you are traveling anywhere in the world that has Sandflies. My first
encounter was in West Africa about a hundred years ago (or so it seems). Don't
forget the mainland jetties are quite often the place where you get attacked and
not the actual beach that you are going to. If in doubt put the oil on your feet
and ankles before you get there. |