The name says it all, Monkey Island is a beach where monkeys live. If you visit Penang, this is one of the highlights that you do not want to miss. Be careful with plastic bags, food and drinks. The monkeys are only too happy to take it away from you. There is a small bar on the beach that sells delicious juices. So keep the monkeys in mind when drinking the juices. After drinking you can give the ice cubes and leftover juice to the monkeys. It is also possible to do a 2 kilometer (sounds little but is really nasty) hike to the top of the mountain. Here you can view the lighthouse. I personally would have skipped the climb because you can't see much of the view and the lighthouse doesn't represent much.

I don't know how people can say it's "peaceful". The beach is full of trash! This is a national park, there are no excuses! There's even a 50 ringgit entrance fee for "conservation". Really disappointing

A bit disappointed with this place. Took a boat ride over after hiking to Keracut. Rubbish strewn all over. Many of the shacks & benches are rotting away. Seem to have lost it's charm. Only positive is you can swim safely however doubt you'll have the mood. There are 2 options for food & drinks but expect to pay quite a bit. My advise is don't bother visiting & stick to Pantai Keracut. Hopefully once the pandemic settles it can return to it's glory days.

It’s very fantastic place. If you wanna go there, you can take a boat from Batu Ferenghi beach. It will take around 30 min to go there. And cost you around 150 and you can go up to 6 or 8 people in a boat. You can play with monkeys 😂. If you bring boll, you can also play there. The surface of this beach is awesome. Natural beauty around this amazing beach is beyond imagination and words can’t describe it. The boatman will wait there until you finish. But don’t forget to bring some foods as there’s no shops and whatsoever. You also need to be careful of your belongings because monkeys 🐒 might take and run away. Hope it gives your some overview of this beach. Have fun !!!

-> You can skip this beach. Yes, there are monkeys roaming around. Not as many as suggested on some of the pictures here. But the entire stretch of the beach is waste disposal site. To be fair, most (plastic bottles) have probably been washed on, but also the stands to buy food and beverages most likely contribute a lot to the waste lying around here. At monkey beach there are people who can hail you the return boat via Walkie-Talkie. Recommendation: go straight to Pantai Kerachut (= turtle beach) either by hiking or by boat.

Monkey beach is in the Penang nature reserve. Some of the walks are closed at the moment - but for 100RM for 2 we took the boat there and back. Go early on weekends as it can get a little busy. It’s a lovely setting with a few basic beach cafes. Lazy boys cafe sold me cold coconuts. And the cafe next to them made us lunch. Facilities are basic but it’s a lovely spot. Our friends then did the walk from the beach up to the lighthouse. Take suntan cream/ towels and a few extra sandwiches. And take your your own litter back home with you to dispose of properly. Unfortunately there is a lot of litter behind the beach cafes. For some reason we paid for the private boat rides but there was no park entrance fee. I would be happy to pay a fee in order to ensure this lovely nature reserve remains pristine.

When you are at the entrance of the park you go by foot or by boot to Monkey Beach. Unfortunately the walking path was not an option for me, because of landslide. I took the boat and after 5-10 minutes I arrived at the beach. It's so relaxing over there, I wanted to stay there forever. White beach, nice people, small place... I loved it!

If you have been Seychelles, where have the most beautiful beach in the world, please do by pass here. The people here only care about$$$, you need to pay rm100 for 1 boat here, and this site is quite boring, they don't care about environment protection, dirty and smell sick. #commercial

The trail is ‘CLOSED’ however it is still accessible and you CAN take it to avoid the exorbitant boat fees to monkey beach *** TOURIST BEWARE - a word of advice do NOT get scammed. A boat trip for 12 people would cost about RM80/way total, nothing more. I’ve heard of people paying upwards of rm400 for it! *** Some parts of the trail are damaged and you have to cross a couple broken bridges like this and jump over a few fallen down trees. There is also one small stretch where you are required to descend down a steep path (rope available on the side) Generally safe however avoid if you’re easily paranoid. Trail is well marked and obvious, you won’t get lost

I came here after MCO 3.0 in December 2021 and the beach seems used to be really crowded before COVID19 came. You need to park your car nearby the National Park entrance and either walk or hire a boat in order to reach here. At the beach, a lot of monkeys wanted you to feed them and once we fed they will come back for more. My advice, ignore them but be aware of your food located. The beach is long and the water is shallow really suitable for swimming. There is a way to lighthouse but you need to jungle trek. Bring your own food probably better.

To be here, you must register with Taman Negeri Authority, then either you use boat (about 30minutes, RM200/boat/10ps during covid-19, RM200/boat/20ps normal) or challenge yourself by number 11 vehicle (jungle tracking la 😁) 1 hrs ~ 3 hrs depending your ability.... Suggest you go by jungle tracking to enjoy the jungle & track...along the route, you will pass by USM marine research center... Be reminded, is a bit challenging for minor, senior citizens & those lack of exercises. Upon arrival, enjoy the beautiful beach, natural scenery away from concrete urban area. Picnic with group of friends is ideal here. Suggest you continue the journey to the lights House after rest and load carbo. The journey takes about 45~120 minutes. Usually visitors will did so.... Many will back to entry point by tracking too, but if you wanna feel the difference, see various rock shapes (crocodile/turtle....alike) then take a boat instead.

Nicely tucked away in one corner of Telok Bahang, you will need a boat ride to get here. Alternatively you can opt to hike across the hill, but that will take you about a good 45 mins. The view here is nice, but the authorities has some cleaning up to do. There were rubbish strewn all over several parts of the beach stretch. Other than that, it is still a nice place to chill and relax. Popular amongst tourist too.

There's a trail to Monkey Beach from the Penang National Park and it is quite a fun experience. The folks at the counter will tell you the trail has been closed due to a landslide but it's been that way for at least a year and it's fine to use the trail. The beach itself isn't too bad and there are food & drinks, and even tents for rent. There are plenty of boats to take you back to the entrance of the national park if you don't feel like trekking back. They usually charge around RM 40 - RM 50 for the trip back (for the whole boat, not per passenger), so if you have a couple of people with you, it's not really expensive.

For hiking - YES, for beach - NO. It's a nice hike in the jungle along the coast, but the actual beach is not good at all. You have a couple of cafes there. The prices are Okey. I would recommend to use a "student" entrance(20 my), because for foreigners it is 50 MY

Beware of the monkeys. Beach is much cleaner than expected from other reviews, and the water is the clearest I’ve seen in Penang. Would have been a lovely little day in paradise if we hadn’t been driven back to our boat by some very angry monkeys. We left our bags unattended (big mistake) because we hadn’t seen any monkeys. Turned around and our stuff had been taken up the trees including iPhone, money, bank cards. Because we were then trying to get them back the monkeys got very territorial and we would have had bites if it wasn’t for having aerosol on us. Whilst waiting for the boat one of the children got out a snack and the monkeys came towards us again very aggressive. I would advise take as little as possible (no food), keep everything on you at all times and have a form of spray on you just in case. Entire boat (doesn’t matter number of people) 100rm return which was strait forward and calm waters

Really there is a lot of monkeys here. They will not bother u unless u lure them with food. Once u reach here by hiking, u can always choose to rent a boat and go back to jetty. For local, it cost rm50 per boat and the ride is abt 10 min (vs 2hrs hike)....so u choose which option lol. I tot this area suppose to b forest reserved area but strange tht a lot of food stalls is allowed to setup here. Anyway, the beach is quite nice. Just the water is abit murky especially during high tide and strong wave time.

This is a beautiful beach but was littered with rubbish bottles and cans. Definitely needs proper maintenance and cleanliness.

Beautiful beach! If you walk fast it's just over an hour to walk there from the entrance. Just a shame that there are so many boats all day because the trail is "closed". There are a couple of small bars and campsites on the beach. Just a very nice place to relax after a long walk through the forest. Not alway many monkeys here though...

Great place for picnic/swimming with family/friends. Even for couples who enjoy scenic views of beach, coconut trees, sandy beach, cool water with fresh breezy wind. There are many activities to do here such as Banana Boat Ride, Doughnut Boat Ride, Paragliding, Jetski and Horse riding. There are food stalls nearby to get food and drinks in case if you don't wish to bring your own. The boat trip to reach here cost me Rm100 (return). The only thing you got to watch out is the monkeys around the beach, especially if you bring food and drinks. Overall it will be a memorable trip/picnic.

Nice and relaxing for someone that like an empty beach without much crowd... Reccomended to go in the evening right before sunset

it was really peaceful here except for the monkeys. but the monkeys were only at one area of the beach and we managed to find a secluded spot just to hang out and drink. we bought drinks from Tiger Monkey and the dude was really nice.

No crowds. Couples can enjoy. No more seeing.

Just 15 minutes boat ride from Tanjung bunggah to monkey beach ⛱️ we just chill there around 30 minutes while drinking some fresh coconut.

It's a nice place to chill, relax and enjoy for water sports and activities,..

This beach is really good for kids and also adults who want to swim and relaxing minds. But we just sad about cleanliness of the beach. Its really waste of the beautiful panorama of the beach. Beware of monkeys there guys!🤣

As you saw on the picture and video below, beautiful view of beach 😍😍😍 can swim over there but, be careful with JELLYFISH ya!

Very nice boat trip, beautiful place, make appointments with your boat skipper,- otherwise you’re stuck to that place. It’s quite plastic polluted, so please bring your own bag and collect some of the trash. Thank you ❤️

A amazing adventure. Spent the entire afternoon on the beach and you can even hike up to their lighthouse which only takes about half an hour(slow pace). There are plenty of monkeys and even a few resting spots to quench your thirst with coconut drinks and even canned drinks provided by the resorts. Make sure to not carry important belongings around them as they would snatch away whatever that’s in your hands. The trip to monkey island only costed RM100 per two and fro ride from land. (Per boat)

The hiking path is closed because some bridges and paths are destroyed. Boat is some 120 ringgit (return). The beach is awesome and (idk why nobody ever mentions is ) it has bioluminescent algae !!Stay till it’s dark !

Beautiful beach. Cute dogs that will bath and cuddle with you. Good food and drinks but not overly commercial. Enjoyed it more than turtle beach, also because you can actually swim here. Had a good time.

Went to monkey beach with a few mates in April and was told by the national park staff that the beach was safe for swimming. Went for the swim, around 150m from the shore and got stung by a jellyfish. The water was also murky so couldn’t see anything. Luckily it wasn’t a box jelly fish and it wasn’t serious health consequences however we noticed many jellyfish in the ocean on the boat ride again This beach is not fit for swimming. Would not visit again.

Good place for tour, but if consistently situation like now closed road to lighthouse, then recommend you just in here for 1 hour.. more than 1 hour, you waste your time

Went there. No water sports. But makan at a very lovely lazy boy cafe and met the shop owners they were super friendly and nice. They were very hospitable and showcased true malaysian hospitality. They also do rental for their tents.

Best beach in Penang. Take your food and drink better. If you will not hike, visit it 4 PM until sunsuit.

One of the best beach to visit in Penang...Just Few minutes boat ride to reach monkey beach....Many sub beaches also there to visit...

The dirtiest beach in the whole Malaysia! So much rubbish both in water and on land. It's also incredibly deserted. You see about 15 businesses, or at least their remains, but only one operating. No point in going here at all. NP should do something about it, after paying 50 MYR pp to them.

Beach is nice at early morning. Alot of live shell can catch. Gov must made up this area, clean up all time . Such a dirty and no maintenance

Don't waste your money and time here. Wild monkeys and dangerous people are around here. They suggest you dangerous ways in the forest and then laugh at you.

We hiked in the forest instead to the Monkey beach. The forest is very nice and mostly clean. The beach was beautiful. We came back by boat and spotted eagles. Be careful with the macaques in the forest! They grab any plastic bag or bottle. Don't take food with you and hide your drinks in backpacks.

If you’ve ever wanted to experience what it was like to be stranded on a desert island then this is the place for you. Unless you camp, there’s not a whole lot to do here. There are some eating/drinking establishments, and yes, there are monkeys. The coast was easy to walk in and the sand bar goes out pretty far. Yes, the dock you must walk across to access the boat is really sketchy, but if this overweight dad can make it safely across, then so can you.

I’m writing this review because I feel bad that the monkeys are getting a bad rep 😅 TL;DR: If you’re coming to monkey beach, come prepared to feed the monkeys 🍌🐒 We came with a bunch of bananas and had the time of our lives! The monkeys were incredibly adorable and gentle — they would take the banana from our hands politely and run away to their comfy log to munch on them 🥹 We also found some gorgeous shells on this beach too (last photo) 11/10 would recommend giving this beach a visit when you’re in Penang!

It's a very beautiful place at Penang island. Specially speedboat view is awesome, the blue color water surrounding by the green hills.

(Translated by Google) Many monkeys..not suitable for fatigue (Original) Monyet banyak..tidak sesuai untuk berlelah

Nice place to relax with family,

Sorry, didn't take any photos here..

Nice place to hangout with your dear ones. Either you took ferry or go by trekking your choice. Beach is nice and calm, so you can just relax and swim too.

(Translated by Google) We "walked" in here from Taman Negara. The journey takes about two hours. The road seems to pass through two sandy beaches. Because of the rain, the hillside roads become muddy roads! My teammates and I slipped and fell, and the whole body was muddy! Also in the second half the road is very sloping and super slippery! The point is that a lot of stairs/stairs are rusty, or they will be broken off completely, which is super dangerous😤 Warm reminder: If you are a novice, try not to walk after rain! Afraid of happiness and sadness! Be careful! (Original) 我們是從Taman Negara“走”進來這邊，路程大概要兩個小時，路途好像會經過兩個沙灘，因為雨天的關係，山坡路都變泥巴路！我和隊友都滑倒，中到整身都是泥巴！還有在後半部路很斜而且超級滑！重點是很多的階梯/樓梯都生鏽要不然就是整個斷掉，超危險😤 溫馨提醒：如果是新手，下過雨盡量不要走去！怕樂極生悲！還是小心好！

Not good at All , so empty and no food just u can do is to go tight house

Nice to enjoy

(Translated by Google) Nowadays due to the lack of visitors, the monkeys are all hungry. Every visitor in the mess. The shops closed in a quiet atmosphere. It is not appropriate to bring children now. Monkeys reign supreme. (Original) Waktu sekarang oleh kerana pengunjung kurang, monyet semua kelaparan. Setiap pengunjung di kacaunya. Kedai2 tutup suasana sepi. Tidak sesuai bawa anak2 sekarang ni. Monyet bermaharaja lela.

Private beach.. Nice to relax without distrup others.. Nice view.. Surrounding greenish hill... So beautiful place in penang

❤️

Very quiet and cozy place

Not to prefer to come here to release u tension

(Translated by Google) The place is nice to relax, but it is not worth sitting more than two or three hours much (Original) المكان جميل للاسترخاء ولكن لايستحق الجلوس اكثر من ساعتين او ثلاث ساعات بالكثير

Nice places...

Not too crowded which is good during this pandemic

(Translated by Google) Awesome place. You can get there by land or by boat. I had the opportunity to sail by boat. On the spot, a beautiful beach, lots of attractions, payment only in cash. Good food. It's worth visiting this place. (Original) Zajebiste miejsce. Można się tam dostać lądem albo łodzią. Ja miałem okazję płynąć łodzią. Na miejscu przepiękna plaża, dużo atrakcji, płatność tylko gotówką. Dobre jedzenie. Warto odwiedzić to miejsce.

A place what "Peaceful" mean

Staff there will tell you there’s a landslide to get you to take the speedboat. But in actuality it’s accessible by hiking. Don’t bring food tho. Lots of monkeys who will harass you if you do.

Nice place to enjoy the wilderness. There are many water activities such as parasailing,jetski and banana boats.

The water is not so clear. Monkeys are scary.

As is the name, there's a lot of monkey there. We've ordered a set of BBQ contains chickens, sausages, breads, fruits, satay and a fish but be careful as you may have to fight a few monkeys while you're eating. Hahaha. There's also coconut water but a bit expensive if you ask me. Here, you can go for a dip, jet skiing, and also hike up to the lighthouse.

Feel disturb by the monkeys. No proper care on the island.

(Translated by Google) Public facilities are not maintained (Original) Kemudahan awam tidak dijaga

(Translated by Google) Public facilities are not maintained (Original) Kemudahan awam tidak dijaga

So great place to visit this pictures token by me on 8 July 2020

if you are looking to have a great time with friends this is the place to go. the monkeys will make sure u have lots of laughing moments.

Boat ride is a must if you ever want to visit the Monkey Beach, (although I think that going through boat is the only way). Cutest little beach ever, having a great outing with friends is the way to go! Overall cute little beach and relatively clean! Riding horses are also an available option as well!

Not bad laa .. But seems like normal beach .. Nothing much to be expected .. "Indah khabar dari rupa"

(Translated by Google) Lots of monkeys ... But the beach is beautiful ... (Original) Banyak monyet... Tapi pantai dia cantik..

Nice beach and hiking. You can also eat delicious food here

Loved it!

There are two ways to get to the beach, either by taking a boat or by hiking, I visited the place first time in November 2018, the second time was yesterday, the difference is very clear, the place now became more crowded with the stalls and tables, there is no more space for any activities, while we were there some people cutting trees from the near by bushes, I guess there are freeing more space for more stalls... I also noticed that monkeys became more aggressive... They kept annoying us all the time... They also managed to steal some of the belongings looking for food. Also, if you take the boat back, usually they won't drop you on the beach, you rather need to walk around 100 meter over a wooden old bridge that needs maintenance, which can be little scary... In conclusion, I don't recommend the place, there are better options for half day beach trips

Privacy and Security

(Translated by Google) Lots of illegal shops ... (Original) Banyak sgt kedai2 haram...