Trusted island travel planning in Malaysia
Embassy Alliance is a licensed travel agent in the Perhentians and Malaysia DMC since 2005: island holidays, flights to Kota Bharu, jetty transfers, resorts, snorkelling and diving, planned and run by a local team on the ground.
Your local travel expert for Malaysia's marine park islands
The Perhentians are two islands in the South China Sea, about 20 kilometres off the Terengganu coast, and getting there is the part most people underestimate. There is no airport on the islands. You fly to Kota Bharu, transfer 50 minutes by road to the Kuala Besut jetty, then cross 30 to 40 minutes by speedboat, and the boats only run from March to October. What a good travel agent in the Perhentians adds is every link in that chain arranged in order: the flight timed to the last boat, the jetty transfer already waiting, the speedboat booked, and the right resort held on Perhentian Besar or Perhentian Kecil. Embassy Alliance has planned Malaysian island trips from our Kuala Lumpur head office since 2005.
A booking site sends you a resort voucher. A travel agent in the Perhentians makes sure the flight, the jetty transfer and the last speedboat actually connect.
We are a MOTAC-licensed Malaysian travel agency and destination management company, not an offshore call centre or a search engine reselling a room it has never seen. The Perhentians are a protected marine park with limited inventory, no roads, and only water taxis between the beaches, so the resort you pick and the boat you catch matter more here than they would on the mainland. When you plan with us you deal with one accountable team that contracts the resorts, books the transfers and lines up the dive and snorkel operators, so the trip holds together from the arrival hall in Kota Bharu to the last crossing back to Kuala Besut.
This page sets out how we plan Perhentian trips: the services we cover, the nearby destinations we reach from the islands, the travellers we look after, and the four steps from first enquiry to a confirmed programme. If you are comparing suppliers, read it as a working brief. When you are ready, send your dates and we build the plan around them. As a trusted tour operator in Malaysia, we plan the Perhentians leg and the wider country trip on one contract.
First-time visitors lean on our guide to the Perhentian Islands and an overview of everything you can reach when you travel across Malaysia.
Why a local agent
The five things a local team gives you that a global booking site cannot, on a marine-park island with no roads and a short season. This is the case for planning through people who know the crossings and the reefs.
Our team plans the Perhentians the way people who know the islands do. We know which resort on Perhentian Besar suits a family and which stretch of Long Beach on Kecil suits divers, how early the last speedboat leaves Kuala Besut, and why you should never plan an island arrival on the final flight of the day. That local read is the part a booking screen cannot give you, and it is what keeps a marine-park trip from unravelling at the jetty.
Twenty years of standing contracts with island resorts, licensed dive centres and the Kuala Besut boat operators mean rooms and boat seats when the Perhentians are close to full, which they often are in the short March to October season. When we call a resort we have booked for years, someone answers, and that matters most when a swell moves the boat schedule.
Every itinerary is built around your dates, your budget and whether you are here to dive, snorkel or simply sit on a quiet beach. A diver's week around Tokong Laut and Pulau Susu Dara looks nothing like a family's week of shallow snorkelling at Turtle Point, so we start from what you want and shape the resort, the island and the boat trips to fit.
Weather turns quickly in the South China Sea and boats can be held on a rough morning. A live local number is answered throughout your trip, so a delayed crossing, a missed connection at Kota Bharu or a change of plan is handled by a real person rather than an overseas ticket queue. On islands with limited ATMs and no roads, that support line is worth more than it looks.
Booking the Perhentians yourself means stitching together a flight to Kota Bharu, a jetty transfer, a speedboat seat, a resort you cannot inspect and a dive package, then hoping the timings line up. We compress that into one costed plan you approve and travel on. The research is ours, the trip is yours.
What we plan
Everything a full-service island travel agency should cover, from flights into Kota Bharu and jetty transfers to resort reservations, private snorkel boats, licensed dive centres and small incentive groups. Each service is run on our own operations, not subcontracted and forgotten.
Perhentian holiday packages built around your dates, with the flight to Kota Bharu, the jetty transfer, the speedboat, the resort and your snorkel or dive days in one price. Island-only breaks, family weeks on Perhentian Besar and combined mainland and island routes, all costed as one plan rather than a stack of separate bookings. Tell us whether you want reef sharks at Shark Point or a quiet beach, and we shape the trip and the budget around it.
See Malaysia toursPrivate boat trips and guided snorkel days with your own skiff and a local guide: Shark Point for blacktip reef sharks, the Sea Bell Coral Garden, Turtle Point and the quiet coves you cannot reach on foot. Nothing shared with a full boat, nothing rushed. A half-day covers the main snorkel stops around the two islands; a full day adds a beach drop, a jungle-trail landing and lunch on a quieter bay.
See Malaysia toursMeet-and-greet at Sultan Ismail Petra Airport in Kota Bharu, the 50-minute road transfer to the Kuala Besut jetty, and the 30 to 40 minute speedboat across to your resort, arranged as one connected leg. A named driver waits in arrivals and we time the pickup to the boat, so you are not left at the jetty watching the last crossing leave.
Perhentian transfersResort reservations across both islands, from the family resorts at Teluk Pauh, Teluk Dalam and PIR on Perhentian Besar to the beach places along Long Beach on Perhentian Kecil. Inventory is limited and the season is short, so we hold standing agreements and match the resort to the trip: a dive base near the house reef, a quiet family bay, or a room close to the boat jetty. Because rooms sell out in the May to August peak, we book early and confirm before you commit.
Hotels in the PerhentiansGroup travel handled end to end: resort room blocks across both islands, boat logistics timed around the Kuala Besut crossings, dive and snorkel operators booked ahead, and a coordinator on the ground. From a family of twelve to a dive club of thirty, the moving parts stay coordinated by one team, which matters when there are no roads and every transfer is by boat.
Small corporate groups and reward trips rather than city conventions: a dive-club charter, a leadership retreat on a quiet Perhentian Besar bay, or an incentive week for a team that has earned it. We arrange the flights into Kota Bharu, the jetty transfers, a resort buy-out where the numbers suit, and a single point of contact for changes, all within the March to October window when the boats run.
The Perhentians are an incentive and small-retreat destination, not a convention floor. We stage resort buy-outs, team-building around snorkel and dive programmes, and reward trips for high performers, with the ground logistics run by our own team. For full conference and exhibition capacity we plan the meeting on the mainland and use the islands as the incentive reward that follows.
MICE & business tourism in MalaysiaPlanning a trip to the Perhentians? Get a free, custom itinerary from a local team.
Beyond the islands
The natural second legs and mainland stops within reach of the islands. We build these around your island stay with the flights, transfers and boats already handled.
Neighbouring island
A second Terengganu marine-park island with bright white sand and a slightly more resort-led feel than the Perhentians. Often paired as a two-island snorkel and dive trip for travellers who want more than one reef.
Sample: a combined Perhentians and Redang island week with all transfers.
The mainland gateway
The Malay-heartland state you pass through to reach the islands, with Kuala Terengganu's Chinatown, the Crystal Mosque and riverine fishing villages. Worth a night on either side of the island stay.
Sample: a night in Kuala Terengganu with the Crystal Mosque before the islands.
East-coast island
A larger, jungle-covered duty-free island further down the same coast, with its own dive sites and a more developed spread of resorts. A natural second island for a longer east-coast trip.
Sample: a two-island east-coast itinerary combining the Perhentians and Tioman.
Down the east coast
The east-coast capital of Pahang, with the Teluk Cempedak beach, the Sungai Lembing tin-mine trail and easy flight links. A practical mainland stop when combining the islands with a wider east-coast route.
Sample: an east-coast road route linking Kuantan with the island leg.
West-coast contrast
The duty-free archipelago on the opposite coast, open all year while the Perhentians close for the monsoon. The relaxed west-coast alternative when the east-coast season has ended.
Sample: a Langkawi beach week for travel in the November to February monsoon.
The arrival city
Most island trips start with a night in the capital before the connecting flight to Kota Bharu. The Petronas Twin Towers, Batu Caves and the city's food are an easy first or last leg.
Sample: a Kuala Lumpur city night bookending the Perhentians island stay.
There is more within reach. Explore more destinations across Malaysia.
Who we serve
Divers, families, couples and small groups all plan through the same local team, with the itinerary shaped to who is actually travelling.
Calm, shallow snorkelling at Turtle Point, a family resort on Perhentian Besar and a pace that works with children, away from the busier Long Beach nightlife.
A quiet bay, a private snorkel boat and a beach dinner, planned away from the backpacker crowd on Perhentian Kecil.
Small reward groups and dive-club charters with resort buy-outs, retreat logistics and a single point of contact, run inside the March to October season.
Educational marine and reef trips with vetted boat operators, clear safety ratios and snorkel programmes built around the marine park.
The best rooms on the islands, private boat charters, a dedicated guide and discreet logistics for guests who want the quiet end of the Perhentians.
Independent travellers who want a private, flexible island plan: their resort, their dive centre, their boat days, with support on call throughout.
Dive clubs and series groups with room blocks, boat logistics and a coordinator, handled as one operation across both islands.
Corporate & incentives
The Perhentians are a small marine-park island group, not a convention city, so we plan them as incentive rewards, dive-group charters and team retreats. We run the ground side end to end, inside the March to October season when the boats run.
A whole small resort on Perhentian Besar taken for one group, so an incentive trip or retreat has the beach, the boats and the dining to itself.
Reward weeks for high performers built around snorkel days at Shark Point, a dive course and a beach gala dinner to close.
Chartered boats and pre-booked dive operators for clubs working Tokong Laut, Pulau Susu Dara and Terumbu Tiga, with tanks and guides arranged ahead.
Off-grid leadership retreats on a quiet bay, with the flights to Kota Bharu, the jetty transfers and the crossings handled so the group simply arrives.
One operations team owning the flights, road transfer, boats and resort, all inside the March to October window when the crossings run.
Why Embassy Alliance
A licensed local operator, not a reseller. These are the things that separate a real local travel agent from a booking screen.
Our team is in Malaysia, not offshore, and we work with our own operators on the Perhentian coast. The person who quotes your island trip is the one who plans it and stays reachable during it.
Operating as a Malaysia DMC and tour operator since 2005, with the island resort and boat-operator relationships that only come with time.
Account managers working in English and Russian, briefed on your group before the first boat leaves Kuala Besut.
A MOTAC-licensed agency working with licensed dive centres and insured, contracted boat and resort suppliers.
Every plan is built to brief around your dates, whether you dive, snorkel or want a quiet beach. We do not resell an off-the-shelf group departure.
We work directly with travellers and as the ground partner for overseas agencies, on net trade rates.
A live number throughout the trip. When a boat is held or a flight moves, a real person answers here in Malaysia.
How to book
No long forms and no obligation. Send a brief and we do the planning work.
Tell us your dates, number of travellers, budget and whether you want to dive, snorkel or simply relax, by form, email or WhatsApp. There is no cost to ask.
We return a costed itinerary with the flight, transfers, resort and boat days, usually within one business day for leisure trips and 24 to 48 hours for groups.
We adjust the plan until it fits, then confirm on a clear quote. Because the season is short and rooms are limited, we book early once you approve.
Your driver waits at Kota Bharu, your boat is booked and your resort is briefed, and our team is on call throughout for anything the crossing or the weather throws up.
Talk to a Perhentians travel expert
Tell us your dates, group size, budget and whether you want to dive, snorkel or relax. We build a costed Perhentians travel plan around it and reply within one business day, in English or Russian.
Kuala Lumpur head office
Suite D-18-03, Menara SuezCap, KL Gateway
No. 2 Jalan Kerinchi, 59200 Kuala Lumpur
We reply within one business day, in English or Russian.
Prefer to talk first?
“What stood out was that the Embassy Alliance team genuinely knew the destination. The guides corrected my assumptions in the briefing; the routing they suggested worked better than my draft.”
Bespoke Travel Consultant
UK-based luxury travel
By the numbers
Years operating across Malaysia, Singapore and the UAE
Guests hosted on EA-operated programmes
Hotel and resort partners on standing contracts
FAQ
A travel agent in the Perhentians gives you one accountable team for a trip with a lot of moving parts: the flight to Kota Bharu, the 50-minute road transfer, the speedboat from Kuala Besut and the right resort on Perhentian Besar or Perhentian Kecil, all timed to connect. Embassy Alliance contracts the resorts and boats rather than reselling a room it has never seen, so you save the work of assembling the journey yourself and you have a real person in Malaysia if a boat is held or a flight moves.
