There’s not many places I have discovered that provide a sheer sense of utmost tranquil, serenity and deepest calm than Pulau Kukup island, the largest uninhabited mangrove island in the world.

For a day, I discovered this gem sitting discreetly a kilometer away and a 5 minute boat ride from the pristine coastline of the fishing village Kukup on the west coast of Malaysia.

The island has received international recognition with a status of “Wetland of International importance”.

Having arrived early around 7am, I noticed this predominantly Chinese fishing village awakening in the morning silence oblivious to the view ahead. Almost nonchalantly their day brought recurring challenges of bringing more shoals of fish from the whole array and fleet of small boats and trawlers alongside commercial ferries floating on the quiet waters.

Kukup village boasts a whole community living on floating wooden homes held by a series of wooden pillars. Amidst, are the famous fresh fish restaurants and one main ferry terminal which runs the one hour journeys to the local Indonesian island of Pulau Karimunbesar.

But immediately facing the harbour sitting majestically is Pulau Kukup, a five minute boat ride away for the cost of a few mangoes.

Local folklore speaks of a tale of 5 celestial princesses, one of whom fell in love with a sailor and both eloped here.

A curse set upon them saw the island submerged by the sea and disconnected from the main coastline. Upon re-emergence it became covered by mangroves with many explorers and locals attempting to settle here have been unable to.

As we stepped on the islands we were met by a couple of female Malay receptionists who charged us the international fare of five pounds and pointed us into the heart of the island along the established trail. She handed us a leaflet of do’s and don'ts, wishing us good luck quietly whispering as an afterthought the words that we were the only ones on the island.

The trail took us deep for a few kilometres surrounded by a scenery lush with an abundance of tall coconut, papaya and banana trees.

The echoing sounds from a whole array of birds, cockatiels and mangroves with the passing waters home to an abundance of animal life.

The stillness of the air was only broken the piercing cries of playful monkeys in the distance and the swaying of trees each sounding its own tune to the cool breeze in paradise. A real sense of Jurassic Park ran deep in our veins but the more we progressed closer to the waters to see the magical colourful fish, 5ft long river snakes and more, our fears subsided.

In the heart of the island the 5 level tower enabled us to walk right to the top up to the 100ft tree levels for an amazing view.

The loneliness of the lovers could be felt by us and more impressive was the feeling of calm, of being in some far flung place touched by a sense of inner peace, calm and harmony with nature.

The world couldn’t care less for them and likewise to the lovers we couldn’t care for the woes of the world too as we were distanced from our woes for the few precious hours here.

This is a gem of an island hidden far south from the heart of Malaysia, still afloat akin to the Chinese homes, holding its own, untouched, undisturbed and remaining loyal to mother nature in its purest sense.