About The Island Of Pulua Tiga
Credit: About.com
PULAU TIGA, Malaysia - The tropical island bursts with color. Orange and pink sunsets. Blue-green waters. And purple neon.
"Survivor Bar," says the sign at the new Pulau Tiga Resort, which Malaysia hopes to turn into a hit tourist destination by capitalizing on the fact that the CBS Survivor TV reality show, which premiered this week , was filmed here.
"A lot of Americans don't even know where Malaysia is," laments Noredah Othman, a marketing manager for the area's tourism bureau.
Millions more will as they watch 16 Americans, "marooned" on the island to film the 13-episode show, do such things as eat worms and jungle rats in a series of games over 39 days. Contestants gradually vote each other off the island. The sole survivor wins $1 million.
By the shore of Pulau Tiga: The tropical island off Malaysia is becoming remotely familiar to viewers of CBS' 'Survivor' series. (CBS)The resort hopes to open in a month. The gift shop is already stocked with "I survived Pulau Tiga" T-shirts. Several props used in the show, including a replica of a B-52 fuselage, were saved to serve as points of interest, and resort workers are quick to point out the contestants' campsites and even the now-covered pit they used as a toilet.
In addition to marketing the resort as a water-sport and jungle retreat, manager Bonnie Alberto says he may run guests, especially high-achieving business types, through Survivor-like contests. Otherwise, he says, "after two or three days, they might get bored."
Located off the coast of Sabah state in Malaysian Borneo, Pulau Tiga is a tropical island with thick jungles, white-sand beaches and coral reefs.
It's remote location, though, 90 minutes by car from Sabah's capital of Kota Kinabalu and then 30 minutes by speedboat, is a deterrent. Last year, only about 170 international tourists visited.
Initially planned to have 30 beds, the resort was expanded to 80 after CBS chose Pulau Tiga and needed more housing for the crew. Proceeds from Survivor funded much of the resort's construction.
While remote, Pulau Tiga wasn't uninhabited, as CBS first claimed. Pulau Tiga National Park employees, now numbering 17, have lived on the island for years. The island-wide park even rents out a chalet and dormitory that sleeps 16.
The Survivor contestants also weren't exactly marooned. More than 100 CBS crew and support staff were on the island during filming, including three medical personnel. The contestants were confined to a separate part of the island, however. Except for some props and a few piles of wood, few signs of the filming remain. Styrofoam boulders brought in were removed, as were the contestants' shelters.
Park rules threaten three-year jail terms for anyone who disturbs so much as a rock, but allowances were made for Survivor.
Club Med it is not, but surviving Pulau Tiga Resort as a tourist won't be tough - unless one is squeamish about rats. Despite attempts to trim the hardy population with traps, "they keep coming back," says Terence Lim, resort project manager.
The resort, just off the beach, has four air-conditioned cabins, which include hot showers, refrigerators and decks. Another 23 cabins, hastily constructed to accommodate the CBS crew, have ceiling fans and cold showers.
Dormitory-style rooms also are available. Lodging costs will range from about $30 to $92 per night, Lim says.
Meals will be taken in the central lodge, which includes the dining deck, Survivor Bar, a video room and a game room. Malaysian, Chinese and American meals, probably served family-style, will cost about $5 each.
Part of the 2,000-acre island is fringed by coral reefs, which are good for snorkeling. The island lacks roads, but 7 miles of hiking trails pass a 5- foot-wide volcano that gently oozes mud and follow the shore past three main beaches.
Macaque monkeys and harmless lizards move around the jungle - and sometimes the resort grounds. Insect repellent is a must.
Ten minutes away by boat is nearby Snake Island, a small dot of land named after its population of poisonous sea snakes, which move about mostly at night.
Also close: a quarter-mile-long sand spit that juts into the sea, offering a glorious spot to sunbathe, swim and picnic.
It is truly uninhabited.
