Visit the Perhentian Islands (Malaysia): dreamy beaches and stunning diving
Our practical guide to exploring the famous Perhentian Islands: best months to visit, diving & snorkeling guide, tips, and budget.
After living in Malaysia for 2 years and having already visited the beautiful Tioman island and Langkawi, it was finally time to visit the famous Perhentian Islands, nicknamed “The Maldives of Malaysia”!
And it didn’t disappoint!
Dreamy white sand beaches, amazing snorkeling and diving opportunities, we saw countless reef sharks, turtles, beautiful fish, corals and enjoyed 4 days of relaxation and lazing under coconut trees.
This guide to the Perhentian Islands is designed to be as practical as possible based on our experience. When and how to get to the Perhentian Islands, choosing between the Kecil or Besar Islands, how many days to spend in the Perhentian Islands, where to stay, etc.
If you have any comments or questions, don’t hesitate to ask them in the comments or directly by messaging us on Instagram.
The Perhentian Islands In a Nutshell
Key Takeaways from a visit to the Perhentian Islands:
– The best time to go to the Perhentian Islands is from March to October.
– To get there from KL, take a domestic flight to Kota Bharu, then take a taxi (Grab) to Besut (1h), from there take a 45min boat ride to the Perhentian Islands.
– The Perenthian Islands are most famous for their beautiful beaches and sea (ideal for snorkeling and diving).
– We recommend staying at least 3 days.
How to get to the Perhentian Islands?
The Perhentian Islands are located on the East Coast of Malaysia. They belong to the China Sea and not to the Indian Ocean, as we often hear.
The Perhentian Islands are made up of a small group of islands, only two of which are inhabited (Kecil and Besar). “Kecil” = small and “Besar” = large. See Map below:
Getting to the Perhentian Islands from Kuala Lumpur
Going to the Perhentian Islands from Kuala Lumpur is relatively easy and the most chosen option by visitors. It involves 3 steps:
Step 1. Take a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Kota Bharu
Take a domestic flight to Kota Bharu. The flight from Kuala Lumpur takes about 1 hour. We chose AirAsia to book our flight, though there are other companies flying there.
Step 2. Take a taxi/grab to Kuala Besut Jetty
Once you arrive at the small airport at Kota Bharu, you can easily get a taxi or order a Grab (the local ride-hailing company, a must-have app while visiting Malaysia or South East Asia) to get to Kuala Besut ferry terminal.
Kota Bharu is located 60km away from Kuala Besut, it takes about 1h to get there. We paid MYR 80 for one way. (It’s honestly super easy and convenient; there’s no need to order a taxi in advance.)
Step 3. Take a ferry from Kuala Besut to the Perhentian Islands.
It is from Kuala Besut that the boats head to the Perhentian Islands. Ferry are frequent from 8:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. (time when the last boat departs).
Ideally, you should take the first boats in the morning, as they only leave when they’re full. The round trip costs RM70/person for a crossing of about 40 minutes. You can also decide to take a one-way trip only.
You don’t have to book the boat trip in advance (though you can here), as once you reach the ferry terminal at Kuala Besut, you can buy your ticket there directly.
Simply tell the boat company where you are staying, and they will drop you there.
For the return trip, there are only four departures per day from the Perhentian Islands: 8:00 a.m., 10:00 a.m., 12:00 p.m., and 4:00 p.m.
As for us, we booked our stay at the Marriott Hotel Perhentian. And therefore, the ferry ride is included in their private boat.
Other ways of getting to the Perhentian Islands
While getting there from Kuala Lumpur to Kota Bharu and then to Kuala Besut is the most common journey, there are other options.
You can also drive directly to Kuala Besut and park your car at the ferry terminal. The drive from Kuala Lumpur takes about 6 hours.
You can also take a flight to Kuala Terengganu, which is located 100km away from Kuala Besut.
Final option, if you are visiting Redang Island, which is another stunning island in Malaysia, you can also connect to Perhentian by boat; the journey will take about 1h (but can be very costly).
When is the best time to visit the Perhentian Islands?
It’s important to choose the right season before setting off on your adventure. Malaysia has two seasons.
The Perhentian Islands, like the rest of the islands in Malaysia, experience the dry season and the monsoon season.
The first season is between March and October: it’s the best season.
The second season is between October and February: the islands will be mostly closed and hardly accessible.
Hence, it’s best to plan your trip during the dry season. It will be warmer, the sea will be calmer, and restaurants and hotels will be open.
Map: Choose Kecil or Besar Island?
There are two distinct Perhentian Islands, each with different characteristics. Depending on the type of traveler you are, one or the other will suit you better.
Pulau Perhentian Besar is the big island, and Pulau Perhentian Kecil is the small island as you can see in the map above.
Note that there is no roads and therefore no cars on the island! Everything has to be done by boat, also called “water taxi”.
Pulau Besar
Besar is the quietest island. Here you may find slightly more expensive options compared to the smaller island.
Besar has beautiful beaches. It’s home to Turtle Beach, a beach known for its many turtles which, you can observe while snorkeling, and where turtles come to lay their eggs.
Pulau Kecil
This is a more lively island. Especially on Long Beach, with fire shows and fireworks almost every night! Long Beach has many restaurants serving fresh fish and a few bars.
On Pulau Kecil, you will find more budget-friendly hotels and backpackers’ options.
Having said that, it’s also home to the only 5-star hotel, the Marriott Perhentian. This is where we decided to stay during our stay on the Perhentian Islands.
Pulau Kecil is also famous for one of the best beaches in Perhentian called Romantic Beach (exact location).
In conclusion: it doesn’t really matter which island you choose. During diving, snorkeling and island hopping trips you will anyway get to experience both islands. You can also get water taxi very easily to explore various beaches on both islands.
Best things to do on Perhentian Islands
Like Tioman Island or Langkawi, the Perhentian Islands are places to relax on beautiful tropical beaches with turquoise waters, and where exploring the seabed is one of the main activities on the two islands.
1. Relax on the most beautiful beaches
Of course, that’s why we’re here! There’s no shortage of amazing beaches on the Perhentians, and they are still relatively unspoiled, with no cars or roads. So it’s the perfect environment for sunbathing, reading, or relaxing in the shade, in a lazy mood.
Some of our favorite beaches on the Perhential Islands.
- Long Beach: On Kecil is the best known and usually the liveliest and most festive. We spent 1 evening there, we ate at the World Cafe – Bubu Villa it was perfect. We ate grilled seafood by the beach, it was perfect! After that, we enjoyed the fire shows and the fireworks on the beach starting around 9:30 pm.
- Romantic Beach: We were lucky, as the Marriott Hotel has direct access to this stunning beach, which is also one of the most beautiful on the island. There are no restaurants or anything on the beach, it’s just great to relax and swim.
- Turtle Beach: simply wow! Our favorite beach on the Perhentian Island. It’s so pristine there. It felt like paradise!
- Rawa Beach: while Besar and Kecil are the only 2 inhabited islands, there are actually other islands which you can explore. 1 of them is Rawa, which is also home to a stunning beach with turquoise water.
2. Go on a snorkeling trip
If you’ve never seen sharks in the wild before, the Perhential islands are the best place to do so. The Perhentians are home to many reef sharks (harmless to humans, of course)!
There are a few spots where you can see them; the most famous one is Shark Point. The best way is to book a snorkeling trip and let your guide show you the way!
Our snorkeling trip to the Perhentian Islands was probably one of our best experiences so far! At some points, we were surrounded by a dozen reef sharks! A memory we will cherish forever, though it can be really scary at first.
During our snorkeling trip, we saw many turtles, beautiful corals, and so many fish. It was perfect!
We booked our trip with Matt, you can see his Instagram here, he is a legend! Feel free to contact him during your trip to the Perhentians. He is also an experienced free diver!
Note: we booked a private snorkeling trip, as we enjoyed being by ourselves when exploring the sea. So for us the cost was MYR 550 for a 3 hour private tour. However, you can also join a group tour, it will be much cheaper (less than MYR 100 per pax), but you will have to share the boat with 20 other persons…
3. Go island hopping
During our 2nd day, we decided to explore the uninhabited islands. So booked our 2nd trip with Matt again, and left at 9am.
You can see 3 islands:
- Pulau Susu Dara. It takes about 30 minutes to reach the island. There is a beautiful snorkeling spot there, where we swam for almost 1 hour, looking at various fish. You can see the Napoleon Fish there.
- Bird Temple Island. The name is because in the evening, hundreds of white birds stay on the island. It’s a great place to snorkel and also to walk around and enjoy the view of the turquoise water.
- Rawa Island: This is home to one of our favorite beaches in the Perhentian Islands. We enjoyed another hour chilling on the beach, swimming, and snorkeling. We were practically the only ones on the beach! It was perfect.
4. Scuba Diving
Scuba Diving is obviously the main draw on the Perhentian Islands.
As we stayed at the Marriott, they also have their own diving center (YBD), which offered all kinds of scuba diving trips but also PADI certification.
Having said that, there are many companies offering diving opportunities around the island. This is the easiest thing to find on the Perhentian Islands.
And if you are lucky, you may even see Whale Sharks!
5. Visit Redang Island
Redang island is also on our list of the best islands to visit in Malaysia. Unfortunately, we haven’t been there yet.
However, it is possible to explore Redang Island from Perhentian. We actually didn’t know about this before going to the Perhentian Islands. But we saw many companies offering a day trip to Redang, and our guide Matt also suggested this.
However, our time on the Perhentian was a bit too short for us to explore Redang Islands. If you decide to stay 4-5 days on the Perhentian Islands, then you can consider adding this day trip to your itinerary.
It takes about 45min to 1 hour to reach Redang. In Redang, you can explore multiple beaches and snorkeling points.
Where to stay on the Perhentian Islands?
Based on our experiences, what we saw during our stay in the Perhentian Islands and according to our friends who also went there, we’ve listed our top 3 recommendations.
1. The Marriott Perhentian Hotel
For us, this is the best hotel on the island (but probably one of the most expensive too). We wanted to treat ourselves, so we decided to opt for this option. It would probably cost you over MYR 1,200 per night, including breakfast and boat transfer.
However, the hotel is brand new (opened in 2024), has direct access to Romantic Beach, and has its own scuba diving center… We loved it!
2. Bubu Villa
This place was recommended to us by a friend of ours. It is located on Long Beach. We didn’t stay there, but we ate at their restaurant, World Cafe. The hotel is great, right by the beach. If you like to be where the action is, then Bubu Villa seems perfect.
3. Perhentian Island Resort
This traditional yet comfortable hotel is located right on the beach at Besar, the big island. You can snorkel right in front of the hotel and have the chance to see turtles. They also offer diving options, which makes it one of the best places to stay on the Perhentian islands.
Things to know before your trip
- There are no ATMs on the islands, so remember to withdraw enough cash for your stay. Most places do accept credit cards, but it is still recommended to take some cash with you!
- We don’t recommend visiting the Perhentian Islands during the Monsoon season. The sea will be rough, it would be impossible to snorkel, and crossing from Besut to Perhentians can be really tough!
- Like most tropical places, there are mosquitoes. Bring some mosquito repellent.
- Bring sunscreen! The sun is really, really strong, and it’s even easier to get burnt during a boat trip. We saw so many tourists completely sunburnt! No jokes, guys.
- The Perhentian Islands are located within the Terengganu Marine Park, a marine protected area in Malaysia. A fee is therefore charged in addition to the initial ferry price. So don’t worry, it’s not the local trying to rip you off. Everyone pays this tax, even locals, although it’s a bit less for them.
- Interestingly enough, we had a very good internet connection throughout the entire stay on the Perhentian Islands with our local sim cards. Wifi is also provided in most hotels.
In Conclusion
We loved our short getaway to the Perhentian Islands. In terms of quality of hotels, it’s probably not comparable to the Maldives and their famous villas on the water, but the sea was equally beautiful!
If you are visiting Malaysia, we therefore highly recommend a visit to the Perhentian Islands. It is also easily reachable from Kuala Lumpur, it would take you half a day to get there.
If you have any questions, feel free to comment below, or reach out to us by email or Instagram. We respond to all your enquiries!
For more posts related to Malaysia, check out this link here.
