Bubu Resort

Bubu Resort puts you directly on Long Beach, with the sea in front, gardens around the accommodation and the practical comforts needed when diving has taken the useful strength out of your legs. Air conditioning, ceiling fans, bottled water and room service all make the return from the water rather less heroic than it might otherwise be.

The resort's website is in English, so English-speaking guests can deal with the essential information before travelling. That confirms the audience the resort is set up to welcome, while the languages spoken by the hotel team are not stated. With beachfront dining, sun loungers and a spa on site, the rhythm here is straightforward: dive, eat, sit down, and decide whether moving again is genuinely necessary.

Families have a room option with two extra-large beds, while couples can choose accommodation with a garden outlook, partial sea view or direct sea view. The resort has 34 rooms, giving the place a more contained feel than a large mainland hotel.

You are on Perhentian Island, Malaysia, at Long Beach on Pulau Perhentian Kecil. The resort has direct access to a white-sand beach, with loungers and parasols ready for the hours when your dive computer is safely back in the room. Long Beach is effectively at the door, around 50 metres away.

If you fancy a change of sand, Romantic Beach is about 0.5 miles away on foot, Coral Bay Beach about 0.7 miles, Pantai Cendrawasih Beach about 0.8 miles and Isabelle Beach about 0.9 miles. That gives you several walks to work through without turning the holiday into an expedition with a clipboard.

The practical route involves reaching Kuala Besut Jetty and then taking a boat for around 35 minutes to the island. The nearest listed airport distances place Kota Bharu Airport about 32 miles from the jetty and Sultan Mahmud Airport about 45 miles away; Kuala Terengganu Airport is around 62 miles from Kuala Besut Jetty.

The room choice comes down mainly to what you want to see when you open the door. Couples who want the sea in the frame can look towards the Premier Deluxe room with sea view, while the partial-seaview option keeps the same extra-large bed without making the outlook the whole point of the booking. For a small family group, the Deluxe Garden Room gives you two extra-large beds and more sensible sleeping arrangements than trying to negotiate a single bed between everyone.

Inside, the rooms are simply furnished rather than dressed up as theatrical beach villas. Air conditioning and a fan give you two ways to cool down after hot, salty hours outside, while bottled water is useful when you return dry-mouthed and sun-warmed. The en-suite bathroom has a shower, towels, toiletries, a bathrobe and a hairdryer.

Certain rooms add a private balcony or a garden view. A seating area and desk give you somewhere to sort the day's photographs or check tomorrow's plans, and daily housekeeping keeps the practical side under control. The rooms are non-smoking, with hardwood or parquet flooring and a wardrobe for the clothing that will otherwise migrate onto every available chair.

Breakfast is included and served at Mahi-Mahi restaurant, with a buffet covering continental, Full English and Irish, vegetarian, halal, Asian and American choices. The stated breakfast window runs from 7.30am to 10.30am, which gives you a proper meal before the boat rather than forcing you to make a personality out of a biscuit.

There are two main restaurants to choose from. Santai Restaurant works with international dishes, seafood and Western food, including lobster, fresh fish and rib-eye steaks cooked on the grill by the beach. The World Cafe serves Italian and Asian food for breakfast, lunch and dinner, with an open-air rotunda leading straight towards the sand and a beachside barbecue as one of its signatures.

The Terrace handles the evening drink rather than just the refuelling operation. Complimentary evening cocktails are served there, alongside an extensive wine list, hand-crafted island cocktails, freshly pressed juices and gourmet coffees. The World Cafe is also around a ten-minute walk away from the accommodation area, giving you another setting when dinner needs a little change of scenery.

The beach is the main piece of furniture here. You can settle into a sun lounger beneath a parasol, take a stroll along Long Beach or claim a patch of sand and allow the day to become pleasantly unproductive. A garden, terrace, sun terrace and picnic area add a few alternatives when you want to leave the shoreline without going indoors.

Grape Tree Spa offers massages and facial treatments, which is the useful sort of luxury after several days of hauling yourself in and out of boats. It gives you somewhere to book a treatment while your partner is still happy to remain horizontal, a perfectly respectable division of labour on a diving holiday.

For a more active afternoon, the tour desk can arrange jungle trekking, island hopping, fishing trips, a sunset cruise, Secret Beach outings and water-taxi journeys. Snorkelling, canoeing, fishing and other water-sport facilities are available at an additional charge. The beach, rather than a packed programme, remains the centre of the day.

Airport and land transfers are available through the resort, followed by the boat journey from Kuala Besut Jetty to the island. The resort can arrange the airport shuttle and boat or land transfers on request, so you can organise the connection before arriving rather than attempting to solve island logistics with luggage in one hand and a phone losing signal in the other.

Check-in runs from 3.00pm to 9.00pm, and check-out from 7.00am to 11.00am. Children of any age are welcome, and a cot can be requested for children aged up to two. There is no age requirement for check-in. Pets are not allowed, and cash is not accepted for payment at the property.

WiFi is free across the resort, while luggage storage is available if your boat and room times do not line up neatly. Room service, packed lunches and daily housekeeping cover the useful gaps around a day spent away from the resort. The property also has 24-hour security and a safety deposit box.