There is nothing to say about the island itself: It is beautiful like on a picture postcard.

But, the "resort" is by far not worth its price. Sure, you always have to consider the extra-effort to bring food and beverages on the island. But still, it is much to expensive for such simple chalets. The owner is in my opinion to self-confident with its price - you pay twice for the sea, the sand and the view.

The worst: When we woke up at night, we saw a rat running around in the middle of our chalet. No overstatement: it was a big, fat jungle-rat - at least 11 inches (just the body). We switched on the light and clapped in our hands, but it didn't go away. It obviously was used to people. Only after we made more noises, it disappeared. After this, we left the island because for this price, rats are an absolute no-go. - When we talked to the staff, they were quite rude to us. They didn't believe us and the didn't understand, why a rat should be such a big deal. Well, I tell you why: Because it spreads diseases and because rats will definitely also run around in the open restaurant kitchen of the resort.

Afterwards we tried to get our money back for the other nights we had booked in advance. The owner was understanding and sorry and affirmed to manage the payment. But it took over four weeks (!) before we received the money. How non-professionel is that! Such a resort has to know how to transfer money from Malysia to Europe. Only after we were very insistend and offered ever more possibilities for the transfer, we finally received the money.

All in all, we were looking for paradise but didn't find it on Rawa.

had an overall good experience and no major complaints. personally found alang's to be an ideal choice for a quick escape from city life with a bunch of like minded buddies. with a good balance of relaxation/unwinding and let your hair down on party nights. facilities were basis but of working (and usually) good condition. doors could not be locked which would not be a major concern when nothing goes wrong. water was clear and marine life was decent. we did manage to get loads of close ups with the famous anemone fishes, sea urchins, couple of parrot fishes and even manged to spot a young black tipped shark that sort of got stuck among the corals during low tide.

music was great and i have to admit the rustic resort atmosphere/theme was also a major pull factor. crowd was small and friendly with very endearing resident dogs for company. food was as mentioned were repetitive but tasty (tab bit salty for personal preference) and religious saturday bbq night was delicious (plus al fresco dining by the beach was purfection!).

had a couple of mosquitoes for company so do bring some repellent if its a concern. activities were limited (snorkel, volleyball and suntanning) and you could consider walking over safaris for more recreation such as diving, kayak, tennis or badminton (do not expect jet skis!) . boat transfers unlike previous reviews were thankfully a breeze and no waiting time was needed.

the fruit bat population was a robust & 'chatty' crowd but did not bother us as we were staying at the A frame rooms which were at the other end of alang's. meals start at 9am, 1pm and 8pm (if i remembered correctly) which was generally an hour or so later than safaris and wished i had brought some snacks to tide through each meal (guess i had my holiday appetite). mixed fruit drink and rawa special are highly recommended.

Very good weekend getaway, for around S$220, everything included.
(minibus from Singapore to Mersing, boat transfer, all meals, accommodation)
Highlights:
The beach looks JUST like this picture
The food included is awesome
Beach BBQ on Saturday night, if you go on weekend – squid, Rawa fish, huuuuge prawns, bbq chicken, green salads, spaghetti, etc…
Super clear water – very good snorkeling
Private little beach, if you just walk around the rocks in the picture (to the left)
There is a path to the top of the mountain for the sunset (steep stairs!), we could see the sun setting on one side, and the moon on the other – very awesome!
There are 3 cute little dogs walking around, nice ones, not wild dogs…no cats begging for food either.
Staff is super friendly, there is a Dutch girl who is your hostess, and several others you can get to know, talk with
Bathroom is nice, water was sometimes cold, but then warm at one point woo hoo
Mosquitoes were not so bad, a few bites, but ok
Snorkeling gear is free
There is a slide into the water off the pier
This resort is great if you want a party weekend, music playing until 3-4am, but very quiet if you would like to enjoy during the weekdays.

Everything is wrong and troublesome with this resort.

First off it's not a resort, think back packers with several wooden buildings priced based on their proximity to the beach. There is no air-con, no amenities such as your usual toiletries, no one changes your bed-sheets and no reception/concierge.

Booking can only be done through the internet, their website do provide an email for you to contact them or a system for you to key in your bookings but NONE of them work!! You're best bet is call them on the numbers they provided and ask for a valid email. They are pretty accommodating with your requests but be prepared to be charged with outrageous prices. I've requested for a birthday cake to be prepared since it's impossible to bring a birthday cake to the island when you're going to be traveling on a speedboat. At the end of the trip I was billed for RM200 for a lousy butter cake with lots of cream and coloring.

We're a group of 9 adults going into the resort for the weekend(friday to sunday) so we were given one of the biggest room on the site. It's the upper tier of a large A-frame building with a mezzanine floor which host a double bed but only accessible by a ladder. The door has no lock whatsoever, its just 2 bamboo made panel conveniently called a door. Our bathroom is on the ground floor where we have to climb stairs whenever we have to go to the toilet even if its in the dead of the night.

The roof of the A-frame is made of weaved leaves or "atap" and it rained when we were there so the whole room was leaking!! Especially the bed on the Mezzanine floor!! When we inform the staff and request for a room change or at least a bed change.. They ask us why we didn't move the beds ourself when it was leaking? How do they except us to move the bed on the Mezzanine floor to anywhere when there's only space for the bed and a lil walking space up there?

Apart from our room's issue, We noticed that We can directly look into the bathroom of the unit below us and see everything of their shower area!! So whenever we walk down or up the stairs we kept our eyes averted elsewhere.

When we walked around the site we noticed that almost all the buildings roof have been covered with a plastic sheet telling us they know about their leaking problems but our A-frame just didn't get covered with one so we got to bear with the leaking, wet beds and rain just because of our luck?

Loud music should be expected as soon as the dinner is served. and I do mean loud! Our A-frame is the furthest away from the Bar/Restaurant/Reception and yet the music can be heard inside our room as if it's being played right there in our room!! If you're a light sleeper, expect no sleep until it's 4am... If you're a party animal... rock on?

Food is... looped... it's the same menu over and over again.... Breakfast is a choice between scrambled eggs or paper thin pancakes.... toast, coffee or tea is served along with breakfast... Lunch and DInner is pretty much the same except when they are doing BBQ for dinner. You get a choice of seafood as mains or chicken. Their sides are pretty good if you're okay with a more western palette.

There is absolutely no water sports to speak of... The resort seem to adopt for the concept of " The sea is there embrace it creatively "... The staff of course would tell you, you can use the water sports utilities at the resort next door which is Rawa Safari Resort; Don't get your hopes up. We went to the resort and the staff promptly told us they don't rent out or let guest from other resorts to use their facilities.

Bills are to be settled by cash before you depart the island on their speedboat. Do be prepared to be completely soaked after the boat transfer back to Mersing jetty because it's a speedboat with too much passenger on board. They will tend to overload the boats with passengers because of their very inconsistent availabilities of boats and everyone wanting to leave the island at the same time-frame. So DO NOT hesitate to accept garbage bags from the boatman to wrap up your belongings because you will be thankful when you are completely soaked and your phones/wallets/ ipads/ cameras are safe.

The island itself is pretty amazing. It's what you'd imagine a paradise on a tiny island will be like. But sadly in this case, you have to choose the right place to stay. Alang's rawa is definitely not the place if you're expecting a less stressful get-away. With their prices, you could have a more idyllic weekend elsewhere. I would have gladly paid more to stay next door if I ever return to the breath-taking island. At least I'd be not stressing bout rain/leaking/no door lock/loud music/ wet and dangerous boat transfer.