Everything you expected from a tropical island is less than an hour away from the east coast of peninsular Malaysia, right on Redang Island. Most of the resorts are lined up along Pasir Panjang (Long Beach), arguably one of the best beaches in whole Malaysia. The most impressive one is supposed to be Teluk Dalam (Deep Bay), with the Berjaya Beach Resort.
With excellent water visibility and spectacular coral reefs, that make 21 popular dive sites with 3 depth profiles, Redang is hailed as a scuba diving and snorkelling paradise. Together with surrounding islets, they’ve received marine park status in the early 90’s and human activity in the area is strictly controlled in order to protect the ecosystems. Afterwards the place has experienced a tourism boom and nowadays became a very popular weekend destination. The blockbuster Chinese comedy Summer Holiday , shot here, has contributed to Redang’s popularity.
Notice: There are no banks or ATMs on Redang.
Getting There
Things to see and do
Hotels & Resorts
Getting there
By AIR
Berjaya Air offers daily flights from Kuala Lumpur (70 min) Subang Airport and Singapore (90 min) Seletar Airport to Redang Island. Air Asia and Malaysia Airlines have several daily flights (50 min) from Kuala Lumpur to Kuala Terengganu. Firefly has daily flights from Kuala Lumpur (Subang Airport) and Penang to Kuala Terengganu.
By SEA
From Kuala Terengganu – Shahbandar jetty
The Shahbandar jetty is in the city of Kuala Terengganu itself and is within walking distance or a short drive from the bus terminal and a thirty minute drive from the airport. Taxi services are readily available or your resort can arrange a land transfer from Kuala Terengganu airport or bus terminal.
Resorts either have their own scheduled boat transfers or make use of the common ferry operator. Ferry transfers cost around RM95 return and take up to one and a half hours. There are two to three departures daily (09:30, 12:00, 17:30) and more during peak season. Ferries only depart during daylight hours.
From Tanjung Merang jetty
Tanjung Merang is a small fishing village 45minutes north of Kuala Terengganu and the jetty is few minutes outside the village. Local buses and taxi services are available from Kuala Terengganu or your resort can arrange a land transfer from Kuala Terengganu airport or bus terminal.
Speedboat departures from here are usually pre-arranged with your resort and take 40-50 minutes. It is also possible to charter a boat from Merang to Redang, though this may be costly.
By BUS
From Singapore buses depart from the Lavender St bus station and are operated by Transnational. Tickets cost around SGD 40 and the journey takes around 10 hours. Buses depart early in the morning or late evening for overnight journeys.
From Johor Bahru buses depart from the Larkin bus station. Several choices are available, including Transnational, Damai, Adik Beradik and Cepat express. Tickets cost around RM 40 and the journey takes just under 9 hours. Buses depart early in the morning or late evening.
From Kuala Lumpur buses depart from the Hentian Putra bus station. Several choices are available, including Transnational, Damai, Konsortium, Plusliner, Sutera and Mutiara. Tickets cost around RM 30 and the journey takes around 7 hours. Buses depart early in the morning or late evening.
From Penang buses depart from Komtar or Butterworth bus stations and are operated by SP Bumi or Atieza. Tickets cost around RM 35 and the journey takes around 9 hours. Buses depart late in the evening.
From other major cities the coach service is also available.
By CAR
From Kuala Lumpur take the east bound highway (East Coast Expressway) in the direction of Kuantan. From Kuantan, take the coastal road (highway 3) north, in the direction of Kuala Terengganu. The journey should take around seven hours.
From Singapore / Johor Bahru take the Plus highway north. Exit at Yong Peng. Follow highway 1 to Labis and Segamat, highway 12 to Kuantan, then use either highway 14 to KT or coastal highway 3 via Kemaman, Paka and Dungun.
From Penang take the East-West highway 4 towards Kota Bharu via Grik and Jertih. From Kota Bahru, proceed south on highway 3 to Merang or Kuala Terengganu.
Snorkeling
Three day / two night packages offered by resorts include at least three snorkelling excursions in the vicinity of Redang.
A popular stop for the snorkelling outings is the Marine Park Headquarters on Pulau Pinang (not to be confused with the urban Penang on the West coast). The jetty and the artificial reef structures are covered in coral and thanks to the fact that visitors often feed the fish. There is a wreck nearby lying at around 8-10 metres deep but as part of it protrudes above water, it can be partially explored without scuba equipment.
Scuba Diving
The island is situated within the so-called coral triangle (with Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and the Philippines at the corners), which has the highest density of marine species then anywhere in the world. Most dive sites are within minutes from the resorts by boat.
Underwater Gallery
For those that want to try scuba diving for the first time or those that want to expand their skills, there are plenty of PADI/NAUI dive centres on Redang, mostly located within the resorts, which can offer training and certification.
Examples of interesting places:
- Tunnel point – stacked boulders create tunnels, expect to see gorgonian fans, bumphead parrotfish, barracudas, jacks and nudibranch.
- Tanjung Tokong – look out for turtles (the site is close to the turtle conservation project), jacks, snappers, napoleon wrasse, fusiliers, nudibranch and flatworms. Be careful with rough seas.
- Chek Isa – accessible from Pasir Panjang and popular for night dives with plenty of nocturnal species such as eels, squids, lobsters and cowries. Angelfish, parrotfish, wrasses, groupers and scorpion fish are also often found here
Jungle Trekking
The dipterocarp forest that covers the majority of the island is home to rare species of orchards and largest mangroves along the Redang River.
There is also a great variety of small fauna, including the elusive mouse deer, macaque monkeys, lizards and bats.
You can explore this side of Redang by taking one of the well established jungle trails that cross the island, in the company of a guide or on your own. One trail stretches from behind the Coral Redang Island Resort on Pasir Panjang to the Berjaya Resort in Teluk Dalam and the other connects Pasir Panjang to Teluk Kalong where the Redang Kalong Resort and Mozana Chalet are situated.