5 Best Daytimes Activities
These daytime activities in Penang turn your dreamy island getaway into a fun filled adventure, leaving you with plenty of stories to tell your mates back home. As with the majority of island holidays, the top choices for daytime activities usually revolve around the beach, with sunbathing and swimming certain take up a chunk of your time - and Penang is no different.
However, the island is filled with so much quirky character and culture that it has so much more to offer than just lying on the sand all day. Each of these daytime activities in Penang presents a different experience for travellers of all ages, whether you are looking for a relaxing activity or an adrenaline-charged afternoon. Read on to discover the best thing to do during the day on Penang.
Escape Adventureplay
A great alternative to the beach, Escape Adventureplay Penang is a firm favourite with outdoor adventure seekers. This popular Penang activity specialises in zip-lining (a pulley suspended on a stainless steel cable, tied between two trees on an incline), but they also host other fun activities for all ages such as a free fall from a 20m jump platform, an inner tube slide and tree rope swing. Entrance is RM60 for adults and RM45 for kids; open from Tuesday to Sunday, the park also operates on Monday when it is a public or school holiday. There is a free hourly shuttle service from a couple of Jalan Batu Ferringhi hotels, or from Georgetown guests can hop on the Rapid Penang bus 101.
Opening Hours: 09:00 – 18:00 Tuesday – Sunday
Address: 828 Jalan Teluk Bahang,11050 Penang
Tel: +604 881 1106
Location: Escape Adventureplay
Made In Penang Interactive Museum
Helping to shake off the idea that museums are boring, old fashioned places to store stuffy art (at least that is what most kids think), The Made in Penang Interactive Museum offers visitors of all ages a fun, exciting way to view artwork. Quirky and cool, its exhibits have clever 3D imagery features, for example, a portrait of the Penang Snake Temple, with a large 3D snake slithering out from the framework.
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The best part is that the way the artwork is done allows visitors to get up-close interactive photos with them – our favourite is of a ship and cannon which you can simulate an ongoing battle. The trick is that artists have creatively used different colours, textured contours and some props to create each unique photo.
Opening Hours: 09:00 – 18:00
Address: No.3, Pengkalan Weld, George Town, Penang
Tel: +604 262 6119
Location: Made In Penang Interactive Museum
East Wind Watersports
A watersports outfit set on the beach in front of Shangri La’s Rasa Sayang Resort & Spa, East Wind Watersports offers a good array of island seaside activities to sail, paddle, float, dive, motor, ski and surf under or over the sea. One thing that sets them apart from other beach vendors is their professionalism and safety-first attitudes – doing their best to calm the nerves of first-timers and keeping seasoned enthusiasts happy.
Opened in 2006, for the slightly less adventurous there are banana boat rentals available, plus you can try jet-skiing, kite surfing and parasailing. Solo parasailing trips are cheaper, but you can also try a double trip (two people on one trip) which is a better option for nervous novices.
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Tel: +604 886 1911 (Shangri La Golden Sands Resort)
Location: between Shangri La Rasa Sayang Resort & Spa and Shangri La Golden Sands Resort, Jalan Batu Ferringhi
A Day Trip to Pulau Jerejak
Located just off the island’s south-east is a lush tropical island with a rich and colourful historical past. Once a place where some of the country’s most dangerous criminals were banished, earning it the nickname ‘Malaysia’s Alcatraz’), Pulau Jerejak has been developed into a major tourist attraction, with a resort, a Spa and a number of recreational facilities available for visitors to this island.
The island’s jungle, one of the few remaining rainforests in Malaysia, is said to be more than 400 years old, and has hundreds of flora and fauna species to-date. There is a ferry service from the Pantai Jerejak terminal in Bayan Lepas, which takes visitors to and from the island daily.
Opening Hours: Daily, 06:30 – 22:30.
Return trip from the island : 07:30 – 23:30 (Ferry)
Tel: (604) 658 7111
Location: South-East Penang, Bayan Lepas
Ferry Rides
Penang Ferry Service is the oldest ferry service in Malaysia. The ferry terminal is conveniently connected with the railway station and bus terminal via covered walkways - a rare example of good public transport planning in Malaysia. Caution when using the toilets. The trip across the 3km channel takes about 20 minutes.
There's great photo opportunities both of the landscape and the birdlife that make the most of the free ride and the tourists handing out food. On a real humid day, this is one very inexpensive way of beating the heat as the cooler sea breezes flow through the relatively open ferry.
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Opening Hours: Every day, 6am - 12 Midnight (last departure will be at 11.30pm).
Tel: +604-310 2360
How to get there: You may take the ferry from Georgetown Ferry Terminal or Butterworth Ferry Terminal at Butterworth.
Location: George Town Ferry Terminal / Butterworth Ferry Terminal
