The Besut River at its mouth (kuala in Malay)

Kuala Besut is a small town in Terengganu, on the east coast of Malaysia. It is the gateway to the Perhentian Islands.

Get in

Kuala Besut is about 50 km south of Kota Bharu and about 110 km north of Kuala Terengganu.

By road

• From Kota Bharu there is a direct local bus service (City Liner #638) (RM 6, 1.5h). It's also easy to arrange a share taxi ride RM80 - virtually any guesthouse or hotel in Kota Bharu will organise this.You can also book the mini van (Doremi travel and tour telephone no +60 97479663 )from Kota Bharu to Kuala Besut. You are required to make reservation in advance especially during May- September. The fare is RM35 per pax.

• From Kuala Terengganu take any northbound bus and get off at Jerteh (110km). Continue from there another 17 km by local bus, taxi (10-20RM/car) or walk to Kuala Besut

• From Penang east-bound Mutiara Ekspress depart from Sungai Nibong ekspres bas (express bus) terminal (public bus 401 from Penang Jetty RM2) to Jerteh via Kota Bharu twice daily (09:00 and 21:00, RM46), sometimes to Kuala Besut depending on number of passengers going there. The journey requires around 6 hours. There is no direct bus from Butterworth to Kuala Besut! From Butterworth you can take two direct buses (Mutiara at 22:00 and S.P.Bumi 09:00 and 21:00) to Jerteh (RM42.70 vs RM42.00) and from there take local bus (?RM), taxi (10-20RM/car), walk or hitchhike for another 17km to Kuala Besut Jetty. You will arrive to Jerteh at 03:00-05:00 at the petrol station next to T junction of roads to Kuala Besut and Terengganu in middle of nowhere, so you will have plenty of time bargain with taxi drivers who are waiting there for you or for walk to bus station in Jerteh (1 km on main road). Easiest way from Penang to Perhentian is take GSM (Persada) direct bus which is departing from Komtar building in George town (in walking distance from tourist area Lebuh Chulia) directly to Kuala Besut jetty, where you will just walk few minutes to boat (1st you have to wait couple hours in travel agency because 1st boat departs at 08:00 and you will arrive there around 04:30, so you can buy speedboat ticket at any of agencies for fixed price 70RM/return if you don't have one already). Bus from Butterworth to Kota Bharu cost RM35, and from there it's only 50 km (90 min) to Kuala Besut by direct local bus (6RM).

Alternatively, you can go to Prangin Mall and ask any bus counter for a ticket to Kota Bharu (RM37 or RM38). When you arrive at Kota Bharu Bus Terminal. From KB Bus terminal, follow directions under "from Kota Bharu" above.

• From Kuala Lumpur there are few buses services going direct to Kuala Besut, namely Mutiara, Perdana, Sani and Mahligai. All buses depart from Putra station neae Putra World Trade Centre(PWTC). The cost is usually RM40.00, and they drop you off within walking distance of the jetty. The buses leave twice daily, 09:00 and 21:00 and arrive in Kuala Besut around 05:00. The first boat is at 08:00 (until then is pier gate closed!). Mutiara and Mahligai buses usually stop near the jetty. The trip is about 9 hours with only one stop at around 01:00 and 13:00.

Taxi drivers may try to take you to a travel agent of their choosing, who will pay them commission (which gets charged to you). If you are going to the Perhentian Islands and already have accommodation booked, just go directly to the jetty, or pick an agent of your own choice, but in the end you will pay 70RM for return ticket everywhere so it really doesn't matter which travel agency you will choose.

Tour operators in town can arrange transfers to Taman Negara (RM90), Cameron Highlands (RM75) and Kuala Lumpur (RM70). If you are returning from the Perhentian Islands you'll need to catch an early boat to make it in time, so advance reservations are recommended.

By rail

The nearest railway station is Tanah Merah, although most travellers opt for Kota Bharu's better-serviced Wakaf Bahru station instead.

By air

See Kota Bharu#By plane and Kuala Terengganu#By plane

See

Kuala Besut is the place to go to get the boat to the Perhentian Islands.

70MYR return everywhere. Also 5 MYR Park Conservation Fee to be paid. Lots of boats with life jackets, and no overloading as the KB Harbour Police do daily checkups

Eat

There are many good eating places.

Sleep

Yaudin guesthouse - RM20/night - Cheap but bad quality with holes in the bed sheets and lots of mosquitos or bed bugs. Better off getting into Kuala Besut early enough to go straight to the islands.

The Nan Hotel in KB is a good and basic with cold showers and fan only from 49 RM per room. Friendly hosts.

Go next

Bus station is less than 3 minutes walk from the jetty. Bus ticket can be purchase at the respective bus company ticket counter.

Taxis run everywhere, private mini vans runs to Cameron Highlands and Taman Negara, and big buses to KL and Kota Bharu and other places but not KualaTerengganu

Kuala Lumpur

There are express buses at 09:00 in the morning and 20:00-21:00 at night depending on destination and route.

Kota Bharu

Shared taxi depart at 9am, 1pm and 5pm. Cityliner buses #638 to the city centre of Kota Bharu leave at 07:30, 09:00, 10:00, 11:00, 12:30, 14:00, 15:00, 16:00, 17:30 and 18:30 (RM 6 per person).

Sungai Kolok (Thailand border)

Shared taxi is available 3 times a day, 09:00, 13:00 and 17:00.

Heading to Kuala Terengganu: From Kuala Besut the timetable is erratic, and approximate timetable is 07:00, 08:30, 10.30, 13:00, 14:30 and 16:30. The bus stop in Kuala Besut is located in the village near the market square around 1 km from the jetty. The yellow bus (SP Bumi) can actually be picked up along the main road from the jetty. Turn left at the end of the jetty and walk to the end of the main road, bus will stop on the corner just before the bridge. Service is limited on Friday with usually one in the morning and one at lunch time. The cost is 10.80MYR and it takes 2:20 hours from/to Kuala Terengganu.

KB is a hard place to get out of if you are going to Kuala Terengganu. The major buses don’t leave from KB to KT. They leave from Jerteh another town. Only an irregular local bus does this journey.

Only the Bumi (pronounced Boo-me) yellow and green bus does this trip - 2 hours and 10.5 MYR. Can be caught from the corner near the river bridge a few hundred metres from the pier. Ask the locals. Times for departure are a bit uncertain, and there are several scheduled departures during the day, but there so one around 10.30.