Hands down, one of the best beaches of Malaysia~Redang especially for families! The ocean water really is THIS color, we have not applied any filters to our pictures. Trust me Redang must be added to your bucket list.

Where is Malaysia?

Before moving to South East Asia, I never would have even thought about traveling to Malaysia with kids. But believe me, I was naive! Malaysia is for kids, it is the most family-friendly beach I have ever visited. Keep reading to find out more!

Why this place is one of the best beaches of Malaysia~Redang.

Remarkable ocean water that you will never want to leave.

First, let me tell you about the beach because it is the main reason we have braved the journey with our kids in tow. The water is absolutely amazing! There are not enough words to describe how perfect the ocean is in Redang.

The water is serenely calm, the waves slowly lap in and out. Its temperature is a perfect warmth, but I should start by stating that I am not normally the type of mom that runs straightaway into the water when we hit the beach.

I am more the type of mom and person who enjoys sitting in the sand with a cold Diet Coke in one hand and a book in the other. This is how I’d like to spend my days at the beach.

But when you take a toddler to the beach, there is no sitting down. So before I could even put my bag down, we were running into the water. I was pleasantly surprised that it was so warm. It actually made me want to get in farther, and this is saying A LOT.

I surprisingly wanted to stay in and swim longer than my kids! This is about the same rarity as my kids enjoying a meal I made for them. The water is that warm and that GOOD.

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Another reason I don’t normally enjoy swimming in the ocean is that you can’t see what is under you. It gives me the chills when you are swimming in the ocean and some unknown object brushes past my legs.

Well, Redang beaches take care of this problem too. The water is so clear, you can see straight to the bottom. So there are no surprise sea creatures running over your feet 🙂 In my opinion, this alone makes this one of the best beaches of Malaysia~ Redang.

Pristine white sand

The sand was perfectly immaculate. It was as white in real life as in the pictures, almost like the beach was covered in snow.

It is fine and smooth almost like the consistency of flour. I couldn’t get over how beautiful the contrast of the blue sea and the white sand are together.

All three of our kids had a blast playing in this sand. It was so fine, even some of the sand toys couldn’t catch it. Usually, our 10-year-old is an expert sandcastle builder (this is what you do while mom reads) and this sand was not a letdown.

The kids spent hours building and rebuilding castles and forts. Thankfully their dad is a big kid at heart, carefully helped them create the best castles. All of this meant I could sit back, relax, and take it all in. Once again I’m telling you this is one of the best beaches of Malaysia.

Snorkeling for kids

The snorkeling is out of this world. I have snorkeled quite a few places in the US and Mexico but it is nothing compared to this! There is an entire rainbow of color under the water.

The coral here is still alive and beautiful. This island does not have the publicity like the Maldives. But, I’ve talked to friends and people who have been to both places always say they prefer the quietness of Redang.

They say the scuba diving and snorkeling are equal to or better than the Maldives. Everyone agrees on one thing, the sea life and coral are incredible in Redang.

Once again, the water is pleasantly calm so you can snorkel without getting seasick (speaking from experience). This is great for kids because they can just lay on top of the water and not have to fight waves to stay afloat.

Has your child been afraid of snorkeling?

Our six year old has never wanted to snorkel in the past, she’s been afraid of venturing out and breathing through a snorkel is a new scary skill for her. But listening to big sister rave about the fish and coral, this time she was ready.

It was brilliant for her first time snorkeling. I insisted she wear the life jacket but she refused the snorkel.

Thankfully she didn’t even need the snorkel. She floated on top of the water with goggles and she was able to see everything without too much effort. Because the water is so perfectly clear.

She absolutely loved it and her favorite was watching, what she called the parrotfish swimming and eating off the bottom of the ocean.

One of the best parts for our kids were able to feed the fish with just our bare hands. It is one thing to swim with the fish around you, it is a totally different experience to hand feed them.

The kids giggled uncontrollably when the fish would nibble on their fingers. We ran out of food for the fish a lot faster than the kids would have liked, but it was tons of fun while it lasted.

Between the great snorkeling for kids, the calm and clear water, the white sand, what more could you ask for? This is easily one of the best beaches of Malaysia~Redang if not of the world.

Serene and Peaceful

Since the island is only accessible by boat, the entire island is so quiet and peaceful. During the day the island is bustling with activity. People are coming and going by boat and kids are running around playing everywhere.

We visited Redang in June and we practically had the beach to ourselves for our entire trip! It was amazing and the ideal way for our kids to enjoy the beach worry-free.

But at night the boats stop running and everyone wraps up their day. The island grows quieter and quieter as the night goes on. If you happen to wake up early you will be met with absolute peace and quiet.

One of the best things as a mom is that I didn’t have to worry about my kids getting running into the street. Since there were no cars at all in the part of the island where we stayed, the kids could run and play without inhibitions.

Beautiful resorts all-inclusive are available at a fraction of the price.

The resort was stayed in was great! We stayed at the Laguna Redang Island Resort.

This resort was very kid-friendly with ice cream by the pool, lots of activities, and a good-sized kiddie pool. If you got tired of the beach you could spend the rest of the time by the pool with a waterslide and kids area. They also had other activities for the kids and families.

Eat to your heart’s content kids

The best part for mom and dad is that this resort is all-inclusive, so all our meals were included. Also, most of our activities were included even our snorkeling gear and boat tours were included. We did have to pay extra for snacks, drinks, and treats, but even for a resort, the prices were reasonable.

The meals are served buffet style and they serve three meals a day. Our kids LOVED the pasta bar. They still talk about it even months later.

The resort features a very large buffet with a wide variety of local and Asian food. It overlooks the cove with the white sand beaches and blue waters.

They do have a couple of western options but there was always something that we could find. There were always good options for our kids like pancakes for breakfast, chicken nuggets, and the legendary pasta bar.

It was so nice as a parent to not have the dreaded “where are we going to eat” argument with the kids every meal. I would definitely recommend picking an all-inclusive when traveling with your kids. This really simplifies family mealtime.

Activities are included as well

It always seems like we end up spending so much extra money on little activities to keep our kids entertained on vacation. Thankfully at the Laguna Redang, you don’t have to pay extra for activities.

Included in your reservation, they will provide snorkel gear. You can even go out on a tour to another island for more snorkeling for free. They also have a handful of land activities as well such as archery and Zumba on the beach.

Overall you will stay busy all day without spending a lot of extra money. The only thing we did spend money on was family karaoke in a private room, which was only about $10 for our entire family for about an hour.

This is another reason why this is one of the best beaches of Malaysia~Redang.

Swim with sea turtles

This is one of the main reasons we will be going back to Redang. You can literally swim with the sea turtles all around you. Also, there is a conservatory that helps protect the baby sea turtle eggs and if you are lucky you will get to see the baby sea turtles hatch.

Unfortunately, when we were there, the conservatory was closed so we weren’t able to see them. The good news is that just give us a reason to go back!

We don’t have a GoPro or waterproof camera but my husband put an old phone in this case and took it snorkeling with him. Here is a 4 pack of phone cases so you can take some great underwater shots too.

They are also good to put a wallet or credit cards in to protect. Here are some of the pictures we took with our phones in the phone case.

What to take to the beach for toddlers and kids

Sun protection

My top favorite travel gear for my toddler and kids is their rash guard. This was life-changing for me. I no longer have to worry about slathering sunscreen all over my kids. Now I just insist they wear their rash guards and put a light coat of sunscreen on their legs and face. 

That leads me to my next must-have which is quality sunscreen. There is a lot of buzz about sunscreen and whether or not it’s doing more harm than good. When traveling, it is difficult to always find the same brands that you are used to at home. So, whatever brand you prefer, just don’t forget to pack it so you have it ready to go!

Toys for the sand

Sand toys will save you when you want to relax at the beach with a toddler. Don’t forget to pack a few sand toys for them. Sand toys can take up a ton of space in your suitcase so keep these to a minimum.

If you’d like to pack just the bare essentials, pack a shovel and a small pitcher then you’ll be able to dig moats and your toddler can pour water in them for hours.

Get comfortable at the beach

Our 2-year-old did get tired of sitting in the sand and being in the sun. We did not take a toddler beach chair for her, but I wish we had. If I had planned ahead better, I would have packed this toddler beach chair from Amazon. It would have saved us a lot of tears 🙂

A small beach towel or blanket for you to rest on and to keep sand from getting into your bag and dry clothes. 

Baby powder is a great tool to use to remove sand. After you have dried off, just rub baby powder and the sand will easily brush right off. This is great for kids that have sensory problems because you can quickly remove the sand with very little effort. 

Don’t drink the water without this.

In Malaysia, you can not drink the water directly from the sink. Make sure to pack one of these water bottles that will filter any water and make it drinkable. The LifeStraw water bottle will filter water from any source. You can even fill it up from the river and it will turn it into drinkable water.

Drinking water at the beach. As an inexperienced mom, I would always forget to pack drinking water when we would go to the beach. This was a HUGE mistake. You and your kids will get thirsty.

Not to mention it is extremely important that you all stay hydrated in the sun. Sometimes being in the water gives you the sense that you don’t need to drink. Please make sure that you and your kids are staying hydrated.

Check out our essentials for traveling to Southeast Asia

How to get to Redang Malaysia

Like any other best-kept secret, getting there is a bit of a journey. If you are coming from outside of Southeast Asia, you will need to fly through either Kuala Lumpur (KUL) or Singapore (SIN) international airports.

Then you will take a smaller plane to the Kuala Terengganu (TGG) airport. This is a small airport that is easy to navigate. Once you land, you will need to get to the Merang Jetty or the Shahbandar Jetty to board the ferry/boat. Check with your hotel on which jetty they would like you to use.

We arranged all ground transportation and boat transportation through our hotel. The made it very easy.

At the airport in Kuala Terengganu

Arriving at the airport, I was pleasantly surprised at how small the airport was. After flying through major airports like Singapore or Tokyo, this small airport was like a breath of fresh air.

Our bags arrived quickly. Since we had flown from KL, we didn’t have to go through immigration. So, after we got our bags, we simply went to a counter for our hotel and they took us straight to a bus that would take us to the jetty.

The bus ride was longer than expected, about 30 minutes. But it wasn’t bad, it was a nice air-conditioned bus that was very comfortable.

Once we arrived at the jetty it was a bit confusing and chaotic so I was very happy that we had pre-arranged everything with our hotel. Because we didn’t have to worry about purchasing our boat tickets at the jetty.

The bus driver directed us to the correct counter where we picked up our boat tickets (which were already paid for through the hotel).

We had to wait about 10 minutes for the boat to arrive.

**Pro tip~the boat only leaves a few times a day. Make sure to check what time your hotel’s ferry leaves and give yourself enough time to get from the airport to the jetty (about a 20-minute ride from TGG).

On the boat

It is quite the process to get to Redang but trust me, it is worth it! The island is only accessible by boat so make sure to arrange your boat transportation before you arrive.

It is about a 45-minute boat ride out to the island. But the kids didn’t mind at all. The boat had comfortable seating and a small outside deck if you needed some fresh air. My kids were happy to watch the cartoons that were playing on the tvs in the boat.

When visiting Redang, always arrange transportation from the airport to the jetty through your hotel. It can be confusing on which jetty to go to and which ferry to take.

So make the arrangements through your hotel and everything will be so much easier.

Wrap up on one of the best beaches of Malaysia.

In the end, it is so worth the journey! Sometimes the journey is more fun than the destination. In the case of Redang, I’d say the whole thing is worth it. From start to finish we all had a blast!

It is by far one of the best beaches of Malaysia~Redang and you won’t regret your journey there at all. Enjoy a family vacation on the beach and the best diving or snorkeling in the world.

I can’t wait to go back to Redang and I tell anyone that will listen about how awesome this place is. It is the perfect place for families looking to take a relaxing beach vacation.

Looking for more beach vacations in Malaysia?