Penang in October

I'm considering travelling to Singapore in October and thought it'd be nice to visit some of the famed beaches of Malaysia whilst I'm in the area. I was thinking of Penang but after doing some reading I understand it is the rainy season at that time. So I was looking for first hand experience about whether it rains way too much to visit and if so if there are alternate, less rainy options that are a train or coach ride from Singapore (have maybe a week to spare). Cheers,

J

I don't know about rainy season, but I do know about beaches - definitely do not go to Penang if you're after good beaches! Loved Penang for its food and character, though.

Frankly, I don't give a hoot about the rain whenever I travel Malaysia - with the exception of east coast peninsula. Most of the time, the rain only last 2-3 hrs. Just nice for some coffee and noodles at the local eateries.

Raining season in Penang. Not to worry. Might not rain at all. Its raining cats and dogs now but its not the raining season yet.

Penang is great for food, history and culture but not great for beaches. When I was there in April I stayed in Gerogetown but took a bus to Batu Ferringhi and found absolutely no one on the beach because the huge amount of jellyfish made it impossible to swim.

The large hotels all face onto the beach and everyone stayed within the grounds and used the pools instead.

Interesting.

From your guys' experience, what are the nicest beach/resort areas near-ish to Singapore? In October? I'm from Canada so it doesn't have to be the best ever :)

Rainy season in Penang is a non-issue. It just rains a bit more than the rest of the year.

Closest nice beach island to Singapore is probably Tioman in southeastern peninsular Malaysia.

Thanks guys, I feel better about planning my trip in October. I also looked at Tioman, it looks very nice! Is it possibly less rainy there than Penang?