Pulau Perhentian Kecil
The Perhentians are two islands off the Terengganu coast with no roads, no cars and no cash machine, turtles at Turtle Point, reef sharks at Shark Point and the cheapest dive certification in Asia. Kecil for cheap and social, Besar for calm and comfortable, three or four nights, and shut from November to February.
Pulau Perhentian Kecil in a nutshell
Pulau Perhentian Kecil: what to expect
Every figure here is drawn from 214,000+ stops planned in Malaysia on Stippl.
Four nights on the Perhentians, and doing nothing is most of them. The half-day snorkel circuit covers Turtle Point, Shark Point, the coral gardens and Fish Point in one boat booked the night before, learning to dive is what the islands' whole economy is built on with twenty-odd operators at the bottom of the Asian price range, the Kecil crossing is a twenty-minute jungle path between Long Beach and Coral Bay, a kayak rented at Coral Bay reaches Romantic Beach, and the wind-turbine viewpoint is forty minutes uphill for the only wide view over both islands. Most travellers give the Perhentians 4 nights on Stippl.
The Perhentians are the longest stay in Malaysia, and the one with the hardest calendar. 67.1% of stops here run three to five nights, of everyone who plans them on Stippl, 11.41% are a single night, the version that regrets the boat, and only 1.60% of stops are no night at all, because the islands cannot be day-tripped.
Take the bus to Kuala Besut and the speedboat from there, withdraw cash on the mainland for everything including the diving, book the snorkel boat the night before through the chalet, and choose Kecil for cheap and social or Besar for calm and comfort. Skip November to February, since the resorts close and the boats stop, and skip carrying alcohol through the village, because Terengganu is one of the country's conservative states and the islands sit in it.
Plan Pulau Perhentian Kecil in Stippl
Day-by-day planning, stays and budget in one app, with every place from this guide already on the map.
Download the appWho the Perhentians are for
First-time divers
The islands' whole economy is dive shops, and this is one of the cheapest places in Asia to certify, with twenty-odd operators on two beaches.
Snorkellers
Turtles at Turtle Point, reef sharks at Shark Point and coral gardens on a standard half-day boat circuit, booked the night before.
Backpackers
Kecil is the budget island and the reason most people come, with 67.1% of Stippl stops here running three to five nights.
People who want to do nothing
Every guide says some version of this, and five days of lying still is the point rather than a failure of planning.
Travellers over Thai islands
The Thai islands without the party circuit: the same water, cheaper diving and fire shows on Long Beach as the whole of the nightlife.
Summer travellers
July and August are the peak of the only open season, and 5.98% of Perhentian arrivals on Stippl are still planned for the shut months.
Maybe not for you: anyone travelling between November and February, when the islands shut; anyone who needs a cash machine, reliable wifi or all-day electricity; and anyone expecting a wide choice of restaurants, since the beach kitchens all serve the same menu.
The best time to visit the Perhentians
The closed season
November to February
The north-east monsoon shuts the resorts, stops the boats and empties the islands, and an itinerary that puts them here is broken rather than wet.
The shoulders
March and October
Some places reopen in March and close in October, the crossings are rough, and the gamble pays off only in the second half of each.
The season
April to June
The calmest sea, the clearest water and the best of the diving, before the domestic holidays fill the boats.
The peak
July to August
The Malaysian school holidays, when the boats from Kuala Besut sell out and the Long Beach chalets are booked weeks ahead.
- Most travellers give the Perhentians 4 nights on Stippl, and 67.1% of stops run three to five. The snorkel circuit one day, a dive course over three, and the rest lying still.
- 5.98% of Perhentian arrivals on Stippl are still planned for the closed months. The single most trip-breaking mistake available in Malaysia, and the one this page exists to prevent.
- February is dry and still shut. The rain and the season are not the same thing here: the sea is rough, only some places have reopened, and the boats are not reliable until March.
- The boats sell out in July and August. A missed last boat from Kuala Besut means a night in the ferry town, so the crossing is booked with the bus rather than after it.
- Only 1.60% of Perhentian stops on Stippl are no night at all. The islands cannot be day-tripped, and three nights is the shortest stay that makes the journey worth it.
- The last boat sets the day. The water taxis start around half past nine and the ferries stop in the late afternoon, so an arrival after that is a night on the mainland.
Add your Pulau Perhentian Kecil dates and we'll flag the weather
Stippl shows the season, crowds and prices for every stop on your route.
Describe your trip, get a Pulau Perhentian Kecil itinerary in seconds
Everything in this guide is already in Stippl. Tell the planner how long you have and what you like: it builds the route, the days and the travel times, and you edit whatever you want.
Things to do in the Perhentians
Photo by adiprayogo liemena via Pexels
Photo by Teh Yu Song via Pexels
Photo by Bernd 📷 Dittrich via UnsplashThe half-day snorkel circuit
Turtle Point, Shark Point, the coral gardens and Fish Point in one boat trip booked the night before through the chalet, with the turtles close to reliable and the sharks harmless.
Learning to dive
The islands are a certification factory in the good sense, with twenty-odd operators and prices at the bottom of the Asian range, and the course takes three days.
The Kecil crossing
The twenty-minute jungle path between Long Beach and Coral Bay, which is how you see the middle of the island and how you change beaches.
Kayaking to Romantic Beach
Rented at Coral Bay and paddled north to a beach with no path to it, and back before the afternoon wind.
The Besar jungle walk
Turtle Beach to Teluk Keke, the two quietest beaches on the bigger island, reached on foot through the forest.
The wind-turbine viewpoint
Forty minutes uphill from either Kecil beach for the only wide view over both islands and the strait to the mainland.
The beaches of the Perhentians
Long Beach
The busy one
Cheap chalets, dive shops, beach kitchens and fire shows after dark on Kecil's east side, with the most beds and the most people. For company and the cheapest beds.
Dive shops and the cheapest beds on foot, but the noise until the generators go off.
Coral Bay
The quiet west bay
Calmer water, fewer beds and the sunset on Kecil's west side, twenty minutes over the jungle path from Long Beach. For quiet on the backpacker island.
Calm west-facing water and the sunset, though fewer kitchens and an early night.
Petani Beach and the south
Kecil's cut-off end
Almost nothing built, the island's most comfortable rooms, and reached by water taxi rather than on foot. For comfort without leaving Kecil.
Near-empty sand and the best rooms on the small island, but a boat to everything.
Besar's main strip
The resort shore
Resorts and chalets along one shore of the bigger island, with families, an older crowd and higher prices. For a proper resort and calm evenings.
Resort chalets and calm evenings, and the jungle walk to the quiet beaches, at a price.
The village
The working island
The fishing village on Kecil's south-east, where the cheap warungs are and the residents live, eaten in rather than slept in. For eating.
Warungs priced for residents, and the one place on the islands to cover up.
Kuala Besut
The ferry town
The mainland jetty where the buses arrive and the boats leave, not a destination, and the place you sleep if you miss the last boat. For a missed boat.
The boat in the morning, and nothing else to stay for.
See every Pulau Perhentian Kecil neighbourhood on one map
Save the areas you like and Stippl plots your days so you're not crossing the city twice.
Where to stay in the Perhentians
Kecil for cheap and social, Besar for calm and comfortable, and that split is the single clearest piece of accommodation advice on the islands; the beds are basic everywhere, the electricity runs on generators for part of the day, and the July and August rooms go weeks ahead. Most travellers give the Perhentians 4 nights on Stippl, and the chalet books the boat and the snorkel trip.
Long Beach
Cheap chalets and dorms behind the sand, €12 to €50 a night.
Coral Bay
Chalets and a few better rooms on the west bay, €20 to €70 a night.
Petani Beach and the south
The island's most comfortable rooms in a handful of resorts, €60 to €150 a night.
Besar's main strip
Resorts and family chalets along the shore, €40 to €180 a night.
The village
A homestay or two among the fishing families, €15 to €30 a night.
Kuala Besut
Budget hotels by the jetty for a missed boat, €12 to €35 a night.
What to eat in the Perhentians
Local home-style cooking priced for residents rather than tourists
Tourist-priced all-day menus at the beach kitchens
Discover food spots in Stippl
Find restaurants and markets on the map, save them to your itinerary, works offline too.
Perhentian customs and what not to do
Terengganu is conservative
The islands sit in one of the country's most conservative states, and beachwear belongs on the beach rather than in the village or on the boats.
Alcohol stays on the beach
It is available at the beach bars and is not part of village life, so it is not carried through the kampung.
The reef is the reason
No touching, riding or chasing the turtles and no standing on the coral, because the marine-park status is why there is anything to see.
Rubbish leaves with you
Waste handling on the islands is limited and visible, and the sensible visitor takes what they brought back to the mainland.
The generators set the hours
Electricity runs for part of the day on most of Kecil, the wifi follows it, and the fire show on Long Beach is the whole of the nightlife.
Do
- Withdraw cash on the mainland for everything, including the diving
- Book the snorkel boat the night before through your chalet
- Walk the jungle path between Long Beach and Coral Bay at least once
- Pack repellent; the sandflies on some beaches are real
Don't
- Arrive between November and February; the islands are shut
- Touch, ride or chase the turtles, or stand on the coral
- Carry alcohol through the village
What a Perhentian trip costs
Budget
€17–39
A cheap chalet on Long Beach, a warung meal in the fishing village and the half-day snorkel circuit.
Mid-range
€43–80
A chalet on Coral Bay or Besar's main strip, a beach-kitchen meal and a day of diving.
High-end
€130+
A resort on Besar's main strip or the quieter south end at Petani Beach.
Track what you actually spend
Set a daily budget per country and log expenses in any currency while you travel.
Fun facts about the Perhentians
Perhentian is the Malay word for a stopping place. Which is what the islands were for trading boats running between Bangkok and Malaya, and why bus stations across the country carry the same name.
The Perhentians' entire tourism economy switches off for four months a year. And switches back on in March, which is why so much of the infrastructure is rebuilt each season.
Kecil is the smaller Perhentian island but carries the larger share of visitors. The naming misleads: small means the backpacker one, and big means the resort one.
There is no cash machine anywhere on the Perhentians. Card acceptance is patchy, and the diving is paid in notes carried over on the boat from Kuala Besut.
The Perhentians have no roads and no motorised transport at all. Distances are walked on jungle paths, and anything further goes by water taxi from about half past nine.
11.41% of stops on the Perhentians on Stippl are a single night. The boat makes it a stay, and the single-nighters are mostly the ones who arrived as the season closed.
Local tips for the Perhentians
It all starts at Kuala Besut
There is no airport on the islands and no fixed link, and the jetty on the mainland is the single point of entry, reached by bus from Kuala Lumpur or Kota Bharu.
The fare rose this year
The return crossing costs more than the older guides say, and the ticket is bought at the jetty rather than online.
The boats sell out in summer
July and August fill the crossings, and a missed last boat means a night in the ferry town rather than on the island.
The sea is the risk
Crossings in the shoulder months are rough, small boats in swell are how people get hurt here, and there is no hospital or decompression chamber on the islands.
Sandflies on some beaches
Mentioned often enough to pack repellent, worst on the quieter sand at dusk, and the reason the long trousers come out after the fire show.
Four nights, and never first
Only 0.81% of the Stippl trips the Perhentians appear on start here and 11.41% of stops are a single night, because the boat makes it a stay.
Perhentian questions, answered
No. The islands are shut, the boats do not run and the resorts are closed from November to February, and this is the single most trip-breaking mistake available in Malaysia. 5.98% of Perhentian arrivals on Stippl are still planned for those months, and almost none of them happen.
Yes. February is dry and the sea is still rough, only some places have reopened and the boats are unreliable until March, because the rain and the season are not the same thing here. April to June is the calmest water, and 11.41% of Perhentian stops on Stippl are a single night, many of them the February gamble cut short.
Kecil is cheaper, livelier and the backpacker island; Besar is quieter, more expensive and better for families, and most people who ask this want Kecil. Put the island into Stippl with the beach named, then ask people in subreddits like r/malaysia whether Long Beach or Coral Bay suited them.
No, on either island, and card acceptance is patchy, so the cash for everything including the diving is withdrawn on the mainland before the boat. The dive course alone is a few hundred euros in notes, and the chalets and the beach kitchens are cash too.
Bus to Kuala Besut from Kuala Lumpur or Kota Bharu, then a thirty-to-forty-five-minute speedboat, with no airport and no bridge. The last boat leaves in the late afternoon, and an arrival after it is a night in the ferry town.
Four, and three at a push: most travellers give the Perhentians 4 nights on Stippl and 67.1% of stops run three to five, because the boat makes it a stay rather than a visit. The snorkel circuit takes a morning, a dive course three days, and the rest is lying still.
Every guide is written by the Stippl editors and checked against the trips our travellers actually plan. Spotted something out of date? Let us know.
Plan Pulau Perhentian Kecil in Stippl
Day-by-day planning, stays and budget in one app, with every place from this guide already on the map.
Download the app