South East Asia

[Applejack87]

Hi , we are torn on where to holiday next Summer , we are now thinking Singapore /Malaysia or Singapore /Bali
We have one 13 year old
Any tips or advice please ?

Both Malaysian Borneo and Bali have decent weather in the summer - ie not wet.
Singapore is expensive - land of the plus plus - but lots to do - gardens by the bay, zoo, night safari, universal studios, botanical gardens, some interesting museums, little India etc and the food is great.
Bali - recommend Ubud for fabulous restaurants, great temples etc - avoid Kuta.
Java is also worth a look as decent weather then too.
Malaysian Borneo - great for wildlife, national parks, long houses etc - I prefer Sarawak to Sabah.
KL - not that exciting in imo although the petronas towers at night are stunning. Traffic can be horrendous especially when it rains.Malacca is interesting. Penang also nice for a couple of days.

You could fly to Singapore, have a few days in the city & Sentosa then head north to KL. depends if your 13yo likes city sight seeing, shopping etc. If you want a bit of a beach relax look at flying to Langkawi which is an hours internal flight north from KL. it's a beautiful island & from there you can do a day trip to several Thai islands.

Singapore / beach in Malaysia is better. Bali isn’t really that great.!

We are going next summer and doing Borneo (flying to Sandakan) for Sepilok orangutans / sun bears / monkeys and Kinabatangan river cruises and going to Perhentians off Malaysian east coast for turtles / baby sharks / snorkelling / scuba - Tioman is nearer to Singapore for similar.

Thankyou for your replies , I'm not getting good comments on Bali so we are thinking Malaysia , its a once in a life time trip so we need to be sure .Is the weather too hot in both places in July/Aug?

I've not been yet but this is a guide to weather in Malaysia in August:

www.selectiveasia.com/malaysia-holidays/weather/august

It's hotter than we normally do but the Malaysian peninsula part we will be on an island so by the sea and will be there mostly for swimming / snorkelling / turtles / baby sharks etc. Borneo part I might struggle with heat but the wildlife is amazing. People have different preferences with weather though - we prefer less hot normally and don't mind some rain so Costa Rica in August (c27C) worked well. Others prefer almost no rain and hotter. Depends what you are doing too - if you spend a lot of time in sea or pool or not.

Thankyou for the info , such a big decision my oh wants to book ASAP , I’m thinking maybe now give Bali a miss your holiday sounds brilliant

beach in Malaysia is better

That depends entirely where you go in Malaysia, and at what time of year. The different sides of the peninsula have entirely different climates, and those climates are different from Borneo and Sarawak. Anyone giving you advice about Malaysia without specifying which bit, is not exactly being helpful.

I love Penang, but the beach isn't good and there are loads of jelly fish. It's the wet season on that side of the peninsular. The East coast has the best weather in our summer.

But it's absolutely the best time of year to go to Bali.

I'd skip Bali, I really hated it.

How long are you going for and what do you like to do? I think Malaysia can give you a really good and varied holiday and is much cheaper than Bali and Singapore (though if you really want to do Singapore you could spend a few days there). I'd suggest the following itineraries that you could mix and match as you'd like

Kuala Lumpur - up to one week (spend time relaxing at hotel with a pool, go hiking at FRIM/other rainforest areas, visit the bird park / botanical gardens, check out the museum of Islamic arts, go shopping at one of the malls, go to the aquarium, see the petronas towers, visit Menara KL, visit temples, go shopping at central market for nice souvenirs)

East coast islands - 4 days 3 nights scuba diving/snorkelling in clear water with lots of fish (note that the east coast islands of Redang, Perhentians and Tiomman are in a marine park so there's no water activities like jet-skiing etc.)

Borneo

• 2 days 1 night at Sandakan visiting the orangutan sanctuary and sun bear sanctuary
• 2 days 1 night visiting the Kinabatangan river to see animals in the wild (I really recommend doing the non-wildlife activities as well like batik painting)

Penang - 3 days 2 nights exploring Georgetown. You can see temples, eat local food, go up Penang hill, maybe visit a water park (Escape Penang might appeal to your teenager)

Malacca - 2 days 1 night wandering around. In my opinion similar to Penang but not as much to do

Langkawi - up to one week beach holiday. It's not a marine park so you can do sea activities like jet skiing, banana boats etc. You can go on snorkelling trips but its a real trek and the quality is not the best. There are non-beach tourist things to do in Langkawi like the cable car, feeding eagles, boat rides through the mangroves.

Let me know if you want any more information about Malaysia!

I agree re Bali. Sadly most of it is a rubbish tip. Kuta is awful. It's a shame. We live in SE Asia and have been once. Probably never again. The temples were beautiful but the bus parks and tourist shops selling tat were all around.
If you're flying all the way from the UK there are far better places to see.
( Vietnam/ Cambodia and Thailand get my vote)

Thankyou so much for your time & recommendations , Vietnam :Cambodia & Thailand sound great but I’m just a bit concerned about the rainy season in a July we were thinking around 10 days

Koh Samui is dry in our summer Op.

I'm not sure why Bali is getting so much hate, I enjoyed it and will go back, it's got temples, good food, pubs and shops, I admit the beaches are a bit crap but it really depends if that's the reason you're going.