Comparison No. 2 of 6
Comparison · Islands
The best islands in Malaysia
Twelve islands off Peninsular Malaysia, ranked on water and reef, choice of stays, length of season and how hard they are to reach.
Order is editorial, not paid. An editor ranked these islands. Nobody paid to be on this list.
| No. | Island | Boat from | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pulau Redang | Merang jetty, Setiu | Clear water |
| 2 | Pulau Perhentian | Kuala Besut jetty, Besut | Choice and budget |
| 3 | Pulau Tioman | Mersing jetty, Mersing | Size, all year |
| 4 | Pulau Lang Tengah | Merang jetty, Setiu | Quiet |
| 5 | Pulau Kapas | Marang jetty, Marang | Short trip |
| 6 | Pulau Rawa | Mersing jetty, Mersing | Families |
| 7 | Pulau Tenggol | A'King jetty, Kuala Dungun | Diving |
| 8 | Pulau Pangkor | Marina Island jetty, Lumut | All year |
| 9 | Pulau Sibu | Tanjung Leman jetty, Mersing | Resort dive bases |
| 10 | Pulau Aur | Mersing jetty, Mersing | Remote diving |
| 11 | Pulau Tinggi | Tanjung Leman jetty, Mersing | Snorkelling |
| 12 | Pulau Besar | Mersing jetty, Mersing | Short hop |
A dash means we have not yet checked that fact against an operator.
1. Pulau Redang
The clearest water of the twelve in season, a long beach of resorts and scheduled flights from Subang.
Redang has been a marine park since 1994, and PADI puts visibility at often 20–30 m. Most resorts sit on Pasir Panjang and sell full-board packages with snorkel trips. Berjaya Air flies from Subang. The catch is price and season: you pay for a package rather than a room (the conservation charge, tourism tax and jetty fee are extra), and most resorts close from November to February.
- Best for
- Clear water
- Season
- Mar–Oct
- Boat
- 45–60 min
- Charge
- RM30
2. Pulau Perhentian
Two islands, more than 80 places to stay and a shared boat cheap enough to go room-only.
Perhentian Besar and Perhentian Kecil sit about 20 km off Kuala Besut, 30–45 min by speedboat at RM40 one way in 2026. Visibility is usually 10–20 m, sometimes up to 30 m. The catch is the close season, which starts in October, and the return boats: only three or four a day go back to the mainland.
- Best for
- Choice and budget
- Season
- Feb–Oct
- Boat
- 30–45 min
- Charge
- RM30
3. Pulau Tioman
The biggest island here, with villages, a road, an ATM and ferries that keep running in the monsoon.
Tioman is about 20 by 12 km, a marine park since 1994 and duty-free since 2002. Ferries take about 2 h from Mersing. Some resorts stay open all year. The catch is the crossing: sailings follow the tide, and only Tekek and Juara are linked by road, so most moves are by water taxi.
- Best for
- Size, all year
- Season
- All year
- Boat
- 1 h 30 min–2 h 30 min
- Charge
- RM30
4. Pulau Lang Tengah
A small marine park island between Redang and the Perhentians, with a few resorts and no village.
Lang Tengah covers about 1.3 km², has no roads and no ATM, and green turtles nest on it from about April to October. One resort counts 12 dive sites within 15 minutes. The catch is the single boat a day, mid-morning from Merang: miss it and you charter.
- Best for
- Quiet
- Season
- Feb–Oct
- Boat
- 45–60 min
- Charge
- RM30
5. Pulau Kapas
The quickest east-coast island to reach, 10–20 min from Marang, with reef a few metres from the beach.
Kapas sits about 6 km off Marang and works as a day trip or a chalet stay; the return boat is about RM40. There are no roads, only a footpath. The catch is the water: visibility is usually lower than at Redang or the Perhentians because the island is close to the mainland.
- Best for
- Short trip
- Season
- Feb–Oct
- Boat
- 10–20 min
- Charge
- RM30
6. Pulau Rawa
A small Mersing island where a resort says it stays open all year and you can snorkel off the beach.
Rawa is 20–30 min by boat from Mersing jetty and lies inside the Sultan Iskandar Marine Park. Rawa Island Resort has a shallow house reef and a PADI dive centre, and says it is open all year; Alang's Rawa runs from March to November. The catch is that you can only stay on a resort package, and both resorts are cashless.
- Best for
- Families
- Season
- All year
- Boat
- 20–30 min
- Charge
- RM30
7. Pulau Tenggol
A rocky island of dive sites off Dungun, with about 20 sites and the occasional whale shark.
Tenggol is about 45 min by speedboat from Kuala Dungun, with little beach and two resorts. Visibility is up to 20 m in season, and whale sharks are most often reported from August to October, though never promised. The catch is that there is no public ferry: each resort runs one boat a day.
- Best for
- Diving
- Season
- Mar–Oct
- Boat
- 45 min
- Charge
- RM30
8. Pulau Pangkor
Open all year, 10–15 min by ferry from Lumut, with a town, a bank and rooms sold without packages.
Pangkor has about 11,000 residents, has been duty-free since 2020 and draws over a million visitors a year. Ferries run about hourly from 07:15 to 19:15 from Marina Island, about RM10 one way. The catch is the water: Pangkor is not a marine park, and its beaches get crowded at weekends and on public holidays.
- Best for
- All year
- Season
- All year
- Boat
- 10–15 min
- Charge
- –
9. Pulau Sibu
A marine park island off Tanjung Leman, with two resort dive bases.
Sibu is 20–40 min by resort boat from Tanjung Leman jetty and has been a marine park since 1994. Rimba Resort runs snorkel trips to nearby islets and has its own dive centre, as does Sea Gypsy. The catch is the season: Rimba closes from about December to Chinese New Year, and other resorts may close too.
- Best for
- Resort dive bases
- Season
- Feb–Nov
- Boat
- 20–40 min
- Charge
- RM30
10. Pulau Aur
The most remote island here, about 76 km east of Mersing, chosen by divers for its offshore reefs.
Aur has about 20 dive sites and visibility often of 15–25 m in season. Divers can also come on a day boat from Mersing. The catch is getting there: about 2 h by speedboat, with no fixed public timetable, so you book a resort package and let the resort arrange the boat.
- Best for
- Remote diving
- Season
- Mar–Nov
- Boat
- 2 h–2 h 30 min
- Charge
- RM30
11. Pulau Tinggi
A quiet marine park island off Tanjung Leman, with snorkelling at nearby Pulau Mentigi.
Tinggi is 30–45 min by speedboat from Tanjung Leman. Snorkel trips go to Pulau Mentigi, where the seabed shows at low tide. The catch is choice: few stays are clearly trading. Snorkelling is the main water activity, so ask the resort whether diving is offered.
- Best for
- Snorkelling
- Season
- Feb–Nov
- Boat
- 30–45 min
- Charge
- RM30
12. Pulau Besar
About 30 min from Mersing, with a few resorts that sell full-board packages.
Pulau Besar off Mersing (not the Melaka island of the same name) is in the Sultan Iskandar Marine Park, and its resorts open from about March to October. The catch is thin information: no dive source gives a visibility figure, and snorkel boats need a group of four to eight.
- Best for
- Short hop
- Season
- Feb–Oct
- Boat
- 30–60 min
- Charge
- RM30
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How we ranked
We cannot rank islands on beauty, so we ranked them on things we could check. First, the water: whether the island is a marine park and what dive operators publish about visibility in season. Second, the stays: how many places are open and selling, and whether you can book a room without a package. Third, the season: how many months the island is open, and whether anything runs from November to February. Fourth, the trip: how long the boat takes, how often it runs and what it costs. Facts come from operators, the Department of Fisheries, dive operators’ guides and 2026 news reports, checked on 8 November 2026.
This list ranks 12 islands off Peninsular Malaysia. Pulau Langkawi, Pulau Tengah and our Sabah guides (Mantanani, Lankayan, Selingan, Gaya, Tiga and the Semporna islands) have their own pages but are not ranked here yet, and Penang is not covered. The “Best for” column is our one-line reading of each island, not a score.