Our thanks to Gordon Millar of M/Y Tiger Balm for this update.

We have spent the last month in and around Kuala Terengganu and thought you might like some updated information on the harbour and Marina.

The marina has been re-named the RI-Yaz Heritage Marina and is part of the Ri-Yaz Heritage Resort and Spa (www.ri-yazheritage.com) and the marina manager, Hashim, can be contacted on his mobile +60199469702. The main telephone number for the resort is +609 6277888. Hashim and his staff are very helpful and the marina is inexpensive and well sheltered (although it is awake from the occasional ferry).

The harbour entrance bears no resemblance to the c-map chart. There is now a double breakwater, and the entrance is deep and easily negotiated as far as the marina, which is basically in a straight line (approx 265M) from the entrance. Beyond the marina, there is a buoyed channel close to the Southern river bank. There is a sandbank just north of the channel which is very shallow. The buoyed channel leads up to the fuel dock just before the bridge over the river. The fuel dock is accessible at high tide – the minimum depth is 1.3m at low tide. Hashim will ferry fuel to the marina at a nominal charge, which is easier. There is plenty of space to anchor at the harbour entrance, and while we were here, there were a couple of yachts anchored just off the marina mega/superyacht dock which seemed to use the marina for dinghy docking without a problem.

Clearance is straight forward with the Marine department and customs on the waterfront in town which is a short taxi ride or can be accessed by dinghy. Immigration is a 15 to 20-minute walk from the marine department. There are a couple of areas where a dinghy can be left close to the town if you do not want to use the taxi service. Taxi’s into town do not use meters and charge between RM30 to 40 for a round trip.

Terengganu town has a large number of hardware stores, and a couple of stores dedicated to fishing boats, which can supply more specifically marine items. There is Giant Hypermarket, just across the bridge on the right, and a couple of other supermarkets in town. This is a largely Muslim area so there is little (read none) in the way of nightlife, bars etc. That said it is a very pleasant area and very quiet.

There are good medical facilities with a government hospital, and a smaller but very well equipped, private hospital – Terengganu Specialist Hospital.

The island of Redang and the Perhentian Islands to the north provide excellent cruising with many anchorages and beachside restaurants. The water is literally crystal clear and there is abundant sea life – turtles everywhere!

All in all a very pleasant alternative to the West Coast of Malaysia and Phuket.

Gordon Millar

M/Y Tiger Balm

Update from Steve Trip September 2010

The C-map update of Feb 2010 now shows the harbour at Kuala Terengganu accurately with the breakwaters and marina. The latest Navionics chart does not.