Little Saigon
Memory of the boat people.
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A small island off the Terengganu coast that holds one of the most moving human stories in the region: from 1978 it became a camp for Vietnamese refugees fleeing after the end of the Vietnam War in small boats, the so-called boat people, until some called it Little Saigon. About two hundred and fifty thousand refugees passed through the camp over the years it operated, and at its peak it held some forty thousand people on an island of barely two hundred and sixty hectares; most were later resettled in other countries, and the camp closed in the early 1990s. Nature has reclaimed the island, and what remains of the camp are memorials and gravestones on the hillside, ruined buildings and sunken boats underwater that divers visit, while former refugees and their children come back to see their past. Its clear water is good for swimming and snorkelling. There are no scheduled boats, so visit on an organised tour or a chartered boat from Merang jetty; trips often include snorkelling. Trips stop in the monsoon from about November to February.
Memory of the boat people.
On the hillside.
Snorkelling over history.
Off Merang, about sixteen kilometres from the coast north of Kuala Terengganu
On an organised tour from Kuala Terengganu or by chartered boat from Merang jetty, as there are no scheduled boats; most trips include snorkelling and a visit to the memorials.