Where: Penhentian Islands is located on the East coast of Malaysia.
How to get there: Fly, Bus or Drive, & Ferry.
Flying:
- Fly from Kuala Lumpur (Terminal 2) to Kota Bharu Airport ~1hr.
- Catch a taxi/shuttle from Kota Bharu Airport to Kuala Besut Jetty
- Grab/Shuttle. Recommend chatting to any other tourist and splitting. 80RM, ~1hr.
- Public bus, last one leaves at midday. ~20RM, 1.5hrs.
- Ferry from Kuala Besut Jetty to Penhentian Island. Ticket from Seven Seas, 70RM return, ~30mins.
* If you’re booking accommodation or diving packages, they often include your ferry ticket.
* I would not recommend staying in Kuala Besut as there is very little to do or see and accommodation is scarce.
Drive:
- Drive straight to Kuala Besut Jetty and find a place to park.
- There are many parking lots available upon arrival.
Public Bus:
- Book your ticket with EasyBook from your closest bus terminal (Kuala Lumpur will be ‘TBS’) to Kota Bharu Terminal.
- Catch a taxi/shuttle from Kuala Besut Jetty
- Grab/Shuttle. Recommend chatting to any other tourist and splitting. 80RM, ~1hr.
- Public bus, last one leaves at midday. ~20RM, 1.5hrs.
- Ferry from Kuala Besut Jetty to Penhentian Island. Ticket from Seven Seas, 70RM return, ~30mins.
* If you’re booking accommodation or diving packages, they often include your ferry ticket.
* I would not recommend staying in Kuala Besut as there is very little to do or see and accommodation is scarce.
Before you go:
Cash, ensure you have it. There’s no ATM on the island. You can do cash advance (pay by card, get cash) but it costs.
Power, electricity is limited between 5pm and 9am in most places. Restaurants and businesses will be able to let you charge your phone or laptop but your accommodation won’t have power or AC during the day.
Beer, pack a 6 pack or two before you head over. It’s expensive on the island and limited places sell it. But at the same time, you’ll have to be prepared for warm beers.
Upon arrival:
You’ll be dropped at the main Jetty for Long Beach (or other location if you’re aiming for somewhere else). You can walk from the Jetty around and follow the beachside looking for your accommodation.
Attractions/Things to do:
Bars, there were two main bars on Long Beach. One little bar at the far end which is great for a sit down beer. The other was a wannabe beach night club midway. Choose your vibe!
Food, there is plentiful of food options. Long Beach will provide most of the good sit down places. Lunch is limited during the day with less cheaper options available (15-20RM) but dinner can be had cheap with 8RM burgers etc.
As the sunsets and the lights turn on, there will be a fire twirling shoes on for many bars/restaurants.
Island/Snorkelling Tours are on offer everywhere here and completely worth it. A great way to visit a bunch of the most popular places and enjoy a casual swimming day out.
Recommendations:
Crocodile Restaurant. I cannot recommend this place enough. For a nice western dinner, suitable for a good feed or date romantic date night, it has meals made from scratch with fresh produce and a selection of wines, including wines from Australia. It is a family owned, built and ran operation providing secluded accommodation, a romantic restaurant and the perfectly located cocktail bar.
It’s a 30min walk away Long Beach by taking the path to Carol Bay, continue along Coral Bay Beach until it ends and make your own path until you find the path which keeps moving around the island with the ocean on your right. It’d be good to wear steady shoes but thongs are fine. I’d recommend a torch for the return. Grab a traveller beer from the cocktail bar for the return walk.
Adventures:
Carol Bay is a 10 minute walk between the two places. It’s easy, but would recommend decent things or shoes. It’s a small beach and a lot quieter for a relaxing time. See map here.
Staircase to Heaven Hike. 1.5hr return. Walk along Long Beach until you see XX, walk past the houses, a generator room and eventually you’ll feel like you’re following a clay based path with huge washouts in the middle and power lines along it. Follow the path, you can’t really get lost until you reach the wind turbines. Follow the fence right. Check out the jungle spiders above!
At the fence line, follow it to your right and keep it on your left. When you’re on the opposite side, keep an eye on your right to swing under a bar onto a path and follow it directly towards the ocean and down the stairs for it to open out to a beautiful view. Half the stairs are closed due to rust and falling apart.
Diving, I choose Angel’s Divers. I purchased a 4D3N package for 1,000MYR (~$350AUD). This included a private room, with A/C (lifesaver) and 6 dives. The crew were great, the gear was a little tired but it covered the basics.
Carol Bay Quivers Dive is an option on the Carol Bay side. A friend completed their Open Water and Advanced Open Water. I did a dive with them and they have great gear, great instructors and a great location. A 10min walk from Long Beach.