Peninsular Malaysia (or West Malaysia) runs from Singapore to the Thai border with approximately 400 miles of coastline forming the eastern boundary of the famous Malacca Straits. On the Gulf of Thailand coast, the distance to the border is slightly less. Across the South China Sea, East Malaysia comprises the two states of Sarawak and Sabah, which lie on the northwestern side of the island of Borneo (Kalimantan).
The country is multicultural with approximately 60 percent Malay, 30 percent Chinese and 10 percent Indian population. Formerly a British colony, it is now an independent nation with conservative tolerant Islam as the predominant faith.
There are two seasons corresponding to the northeast and southwest monsoon, with May to October being the wetter season. Winds in the Malacca Straits are often fickle and strongly affected by the local landmasses of the Malay Peninsula and Sumatra.
Of short duration, but sometimes quite strong, squalls called ‘Sumatras’ are frequent. Thunderstorms are common and insurance companies often have to deal with lightning strike claims.
There are good road, rail and air links between all the coastal towns as well as Kuala Lumpur’s two major international airports, KLIA1 and KLIA2. International ferry services link Singapore and Indonesia with Johor in the south and at the northernmost Malaysian island of Langkawi, ferries run from Telaga Harbour to Thailand at Koh Lipe and Satun.
Yachts heading up the east coast of West Malaysia, or on to the Gulf of thailand, may enter Malaysia at tanjung Belungkor Ferry terminal or tanjung Pengelih at Pengerang Read more...
Lying to the east of Peninsular Malaysia is the island of Borneo. on the northwest side of this huge island are the two east Malaysian states of Sarawak and Sabah Read more...
Go
to top
Note that this website may not reflect the most recent updates to the printed book and the eBook. While every effort has been made to ensure that the information contained in this book is accurate, the charts of anchorages are based on personal experience and satellite imagery and are intended as a guide only. They should not be used for navigation. Please refer to Official Hydrographic Charts of the respective countries.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We believe you'll be OK with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Or you can go to 'cookie settings' and choose which cookies to allow. Privacy policy
Cookies are small text files that can be used by websites to make a user's experience more efficient. The law states that we can store cookies on your device if they are strictly necessary for the operation of this site. For all other types of cookies we need your permission. This site uses different types of cookies. Some cookies are placed by third party services that appear on our pages.
Necessary cookies help make a website usable by enabling basic functions like page navigation and access to secure areas of the website. The website cannot function properly without these cookies.
Marketing cookies are used to track visitors across websites. The intention is to display ads that are relevant and engaging for the individual user and thereby more valuable for publishers and third party advertisers.
Preference cookies enable a website to remember information that changes the way the website behaves or looks, like your preferred language or the region that you are in.
Photo by Bill O’Leary
The Donkey’s Ears’ of Gunung Semukut | Photo by Bill O’Leary
Photo by www.sabah.edu.my
