Sand & Sandals Desaru Resort and Spa is a contemporary casual and relaxing resort located in the heart of Desaru, Johor. It provides an ultimate gateway for romantic couple retreat, an excellent location for family reunion, dream beach wedding, blissful honeymoon, as well as a family-friendly vacation.
Formerly known as Pulai Desaru Beach Resort & Spa, Sand & Sandals Desaru Resort and Spa has been rebranded, revamped and opened in Mar 2017. This resort is very popular among the locals because it’s set on Desaru Beach, one of the most beautiful beaches in the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia, overseeing the panoramic views of the South China Sea.
Truth be told, I’ve been wanting to visit Desaru for a long time. My first trip to Desaru was 20 years ago when I was studying in UTM, Johor. It was such a memorable trip to me. So, when I stumbled upon the resort brochure in a travel agency recently, I told V that we must make a trip there soon. And after a few website clicks, we’ve landed in this beautiful resort. Yay me! 😎
Getting to Sand & Sandals Desaru Resort and Spa
There are several ways to get to Desaru:
- Driving – It’s about 1.5hr drive from Singapore via Senai-Desaru Expressway
- Private Taxi
- Bus
- Ferry – It’s just 30mins from Changi Ferry Terminal to Tanjung Belungkor Ferry Terminal. From there, you can arrange for a transfer to Sand & Sandals Desaru Resort (~20 mins).
Personally, I find that the easiest way is to travel by ferry – which we did! The journey is just half an hour. We took the 9:30am ferry from Changi Ferry Terminal (not Changi Point Ferry Terminal, they are different places!). The ferry operator is Limbongan Maju Shd. Bhd.
It’s a small ferry with a capacity of about 60 people. Frankly, I’ve always been sea sick on smaller boats, but this ferry is quite stable despite its small size. And thankfully, I had NO seasickness at all!
