Best time to visit Perhentian Islands
Malaysia · Southeast Asia
All twelve months scored on daily temperature, rainfall, humidity and holiday crowding.
The year in Perhentian Islands
Tap a month for its page
- JanJPerhentian Islands in January: avoid
- FebFPerhentian Islands in February: avoid
- MarMPerhentian Islands in March: sweet spot, busy
- AprAPerhentian Islands in April: sweet spot, busy
- MayMPerhentian Islands in May: ok
- JunJPerhentian Islands in June: ok, busy
- JulJPerhentian Islands in July: ok, busy
- AugAPerhentian Islands in August: ok, busy
- SepSPerhentian Islands in September: ok
- OctOPerhentian Islands in October: avoid
- NovNPerhentian Islands in November: avoid
- DecDPerhentian Islands in December: avoid
- Sweet spot
- Good
- OK
- Avoid
- Busy
Dry season: Feb–Mar, 6 or fewer rainy days a month.
Plan this trip
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Where to stay
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Luxury
Things to do
Car hire
Travel insurance
Check whether your bank card or home insurance already covers this trip.
If the trip needs a visa, the travel agent or visa centre usually sells the cover it asks for.
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Month by month
No fare history for this route yet, so this ranking is climate and crowds only — the price column will fill in as the scanner collects.
| Month | Max °C | Rain days | Humidity | Sun h/day | Verdict | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 27° | 11d | 80% | 9.5h | avoid | closed: most resorts and the ferries stop for the monsoon |
| Feb | 27° | 5d | 79% | 10.6h | avoid | closed: most resorts and the ferries stop for the monsoon |
| Mar | 28° | 4d | 79% | 11.2h | sweet spot busy | busier than usual |
| Apr | 29° | 6d | 79% | 11.3h | sweet spot busy | busier than usual |
| May | 30° | 12d | 80% | 10.6h | ok | 30C max, 12 rainy days |
| Jun | 30° | 12d | 79% | 10.4h | okbusy | busier than usual |
| Jul | 30° | 10d | 79% | 10.1h | okbusy | busier than usual |
| Aug | 29° | 12d | 79% | 10.5h | okbusy | busier than usual |
| Sep | 29° | 13d | 79% | 10.0h | ok | 29C max, 13 rainy days |
| Oct | 29° | 19d | 81% | 9.6h | avoid | monsoon: 19 rainy days, 285mm |
| Nov | 28° | 22d | 83% | 8.1h | avoid | closed: most resorts and the ferries stop for the monsoon |
| Dec | 28° | 18d | 81% | 8.4h | avoid | closed: most resorts and the ferries stop for the monsoon |
Rain days are the days with at least 1 mm of rain, as a weather station counts them.
Weather read at Perhentian Kecil and Besar: ten years of ERA5 and ERA5-Land reanalysis, through Open-Meteo's open data.
A busy month is a crowded one, not a bad one — usually it is crowded because the weather is good. It is flagged rather than scored down, and crowds alone never make a month “avoid”: that is reserved for weather worth skipping.
How busy it gets
Then and now
Perhentian Islands's December days now average 27.5°C, 1.2°C warmer than in 1981–1990. 3 of 12 months are clearly warmer, 1 clearly cooler.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981–90 | 26.5° | 27.4° | 28.5° | 29.7° | 30.0° | 30.1° | 29.6° | 29.7° | 29.2° | 28.7° | 27.7° | 26.3° |
| 2017–26 | 27.1° | 27.2° | 28.1° | 29.3° | 30.0° | 29.8° | 29.6° | 29.5° | 29.2° | 28.8° | 28.1° | 27.5° |
| Change | +0.6° | -0.2° | -0.5° | -0.3° | -0.0° | -0.3° | -0.0° | -0.2° | +0.0° | +0.1° | +0.4° | +1.2° |
The average daily high, month by month, for the nearest ERA5 grid cell. Bold is a clear change; grey is within the ordinary spread between years. Every destination, ranked.
Getting there
Fly into Kota Baharu (KBR), then drive. The flights under Where to book are to Kota Baharu.
| Kota Baharu (KBR) | the drive is not measured yet |
|---|---|
| Kuala Terengganu (TGG) | the drive is not measured yet |
The drive from each airport is the road's, from openrouteservice.org by HeiGIT: typical, not a schedule.
How far Perhentian Islands is, and what it costs, depends on where you set off from — the months above do not.
- from Kuala Lumpur
- from Singapore
- from Ho Chi Minh City
- from Bangkok
- from Jakarta
- from Hong Kong
- from Manila
- from Kolkata
Open in Rome2rio for every way from to Perhentian Islands, flying or not.
Before you go
Type G plugs at 240 V. Drives on the left. The currency is the Malaysian ringgit. UK Foreign Office: avoid all but essential travel to parts. Global Affairs Canada: Exercise normal security precautions (with regional advisories). US State Department: Level 1: Exercise Normal Precautions. Everything for Malaysia: cost of living, languages, emergency numbers and health.
Being there
On arrival
- Paying — Cards work in most shops, restaurants and hotels, but DuitNow QR codes are even more common; visitors from 21 countries, India, China, Japan and Australia among them, can pay them with the Touch 'n Go eWallet, signing up with their own phone number and a card from home. Take cash to rural areas.
- UPI, for visitors from India — Not accepted for paying here; bring a card that works abroad.
- Tipping — Not customary; many air-conditioned restaurants add a 10% service charge, shown as ++ on prices.
Getting around Perhentian Islands
- Apps — Rides: Bolt, Grab. Maps: Google Maps, Apple Maps. Messages: WhatsApp.
Walking is the main way to travel around Kecil or Besar to travel between beaches on each island. There are many walking tracks that connect the beaches as an alternative to water taxis. More on Wikivoyage
From the Wikivoyage article on Perhentian Islands, written by travellers and licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Help
- Emergency — police and ambulance 999 · fire 994. From a mobile, 112 also reaches an ambulance.
TravelCharika is not an emergency service: we cannot call for help or send anyone. Numbers can change; if one fails, ask someone local or your hotel.
- Hospitals near Perhentian Islandsa search on Google Maps
- Pharmacies near Perhentian Islandsa search on Google Maps
Your embassy — : how to reach your embassy or consulate abroad. A guess from your city, : a city is not a passport.
Put together by hand from the sources listed, checked 3 October 2026. Apps, cards and rules change, so check before you rely on one.
Sources (19)
- gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/malaysia/getting-help
- travel.gc.ca/destinations/malaysia
- grab.com/my/transport
- bolt.eu/en/cities/kuala-lumpur
- mcmc.gov.my/skmmgovmy/media/General/IUS-2022.pdf
- reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/digital-news-report/2026/malaysia
- tngdigital.com.my
- tngdigital.com.my/international-tourists
- kliaekspres.com/offers/our-offers/get-25-off-your-klia-ekspres-airport-transfer-with-visa-card
- developers.google.com/maps/coverage
- apple.com/ios/feature-availability
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klang_Valley_Integrated_Transit_System
- en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Malaysia
- en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Kuala_Lumpur
- pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2286608
- nipl.com/uploads/Press_Release_NPCI_International_signs_agreement_with_Payments_Network_Malaysia_81a168b227.pdf
- paynet.my/about-us/media-centre/press-release/payments-network-malaysia-and-india-npci-international-sign-agreement-to-enable-cross-border-qr-payments.html
- nipl.com/uploads/NIPL_Razorpay_Curlec_partner_to_introduce_UPI_in_Malaysia_1dd408c92b.pdf
- nipl.com/uploads/Towards_Greater_Digital_Public_Good_NIPL_Q1_Newsletter_168a7608b4.pdf
Perhentian Islands in pictures
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Vyacheslav Argenberg, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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Fizysam, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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Fizysam, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
What Perhentian Islands is like
The Perhentian Islands (Malay: Pulau Perhentian) are a small group of islands approximately 10 nautical miles (19 km) off the north-eastern coast of West Malaysia in the state of Terengganu. The islands are protected as part of the Pulau Redang National Marine Park. More on Wikivoyage
- Worth seeing
- There are no monuments, museums, viewpoints or other above-ground sights whatsoever on the islands; however, the beaches are a sight in themselves. More on Wikivoyage
- Worth doing
- Activities on the Perhentians are basically limited to scuba diving, snorkeling, sea-kayaking, sunbathing and turtle conservation volunteering. More on Wikivoyage
- Getting in
- The most common way to get to the Perhentian Islands is by speed boat from Kuala Besut. More on Wikivoyage
- Staying healthy
- There is a small medical reception in the fishing village. It has a friendly staff of a doctor and a couple of nurses, and offers basic medical help at low cost. More on Wikivoyage
From the Wikivoyage article on Perhentian Islands, written by travellers and licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the full article has far more. The numbers above are measured; this is experience.
Around Perhentian Islands
Also in Malaysia
- Cameron Highlands best Mar, Jun, Jul
- Ipoh best Jan, Feb, Jul
- Kuala Lumpur best Feb, May, Jun
- Kuching best Jul
- Langkawi best Jan, Feb, Jul
- Malacca best Jan, Feb, Jul
- Penang best Jan, Feb, Jul
Nearby
- Ko Lanta Thailand · 446 km
- Phi Phi Islands Thailand · 482 km
- Phú Quốc Vietnam · 497 km
- Ko Samui Thailand · 498 km
Kind of place
Perhentian Islands is in Malaysia, Southeast Asia. Distances are great-circle, so a short one can still be a long way round.
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