Desaru



Desaru is a coastal town in Kota Tinggi District, Johor, Malaysia. The town houses the integrated beach resorts with water theme parks, golf courses, hotels and villas facing the South China Sea. It is also known as the Land of Casuarinas because of the casuarina trees along the beaches. The small town of Bandar Penawar, about 2 km inland, serves as the area's transport hub.

Understand
The Desaru Coast stretches along the 22 km of beach. By admittedly high Malaysian standards, the greyish beach with often murky water is nothing special, but it's the closest beach to Johor Bahru and that's what originally kicked off tourism here.

Since the 2010s, major investments have been made in the area's once dire hotels with an eye to attracting visitors from nearby Singapore and further abroad, with mixed success.

Climate
Like all of Malaysia's east coast, Desaru is highly seasonal, with monsoon winds and rains lashing the coast between November and February. There is still plenty of sunshine even during the rainy season, but waves are high and it rains more. The "good" season is thus from April to October, with June to August being the busiest months, when the waters are inviting and the sand fine.

By plane
The town does not have its own airport. The nearest airport is the Senai International Airport in Senai, 70 minutes away, which has flights to most Malaysian cities and a few regional destinations.

Singapore's far larger Changi is not far as the bird flies, but unless you can time a connection with the ferry (see below), the complicated logistics of cross-border transport mean that you should budget at least 3 hours for the trip.

By boat
Batamfast operates one daily return ferry from Singapore's Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal to Desaru Coast Ferry Terminal. Travel time is around 90 minutes and tickets are S$70/118 one-way/return. Previous ferry services from Singapore to Tanjung Belungkor no longer operate.

Pre-COVID, an alternative was to take a bumboat from Changi Point Ferry Terminal in Singapore to Pengerang (Tg Pengelih) for S$10 per person, and then hire a taxi from the Pengerang terminal to Desaru. This should cost around RM40 one-way. The schedule is flexible - boats leave whenever they have 12 passengers - but be prepared to queue for a couple of hours at weekends. These services, too, have been suspended for time being.

By bus




Alternatively, you can take a non-express bus from Larkin Bus Terminal (Maju 227 or Causeway Link 66) or JB Sentral Terminal (Transit Link 41, Maju 227, Causeway Link 6B) to Kota Tinggi's bus terminal (duration about 1 hr; Maju 227 one-way fare from City Square RM4.80; average frequency of Maju 227 is 15 min), and then take another bus from Kota Tinggi to Bandar Penawar (duration max. 1 hr, one-way fare RM4.50, frequency every 90 min). You can also take a cab from Kota Tinggi directly to Desaru Resort, this will cost you approximately RM35.

By car
Take the Senai-Desaru Expressway and its bridge across the Johor River from Johor Bahru to Desaru which takes around 30 minutes. From Kuala Lumpur, take the PLUS Expressways southbound and exit at Senai Utara. From there take the E22 expressway until the eastern end, which terminates at Taman Desaru Utama.

Get around
There is no public transport in Desaru, and as of 2023, Grab does not operate in the area.

If you find yourself stuck with no bus to take you to Bandar Penawar, try asking the staff at the restaurant to call you a taxi. They know a lot of taxi drivers and most likely will love to help both you and their driver friend. The price should be around 15 RM to Bandar Penawar or 40 RM to Kota Tinggi.

Do


Desaru is a semi-developed resort area and there are a lot of things to do while you are there. Take advantage of the nice wide beach, and of the shallow and clear water. All 22 km of it is open to all, even the stretches in front of the hotels, but most locals congregate at the public beach, which provides a carpark, a few barbeque pits and grotty toilets.

Snorkeling is a good option, but don't expect banks of colorful fishes and wonderful sea creatures. Scuba diving here is out of the question, although some of the resorts do arrange trips out to Johor's northern islands.

One thing you can definitely try is surfing. If wind is good, the waves are quite OK, and especially the lack of jellyfish and sharks makes it an attractive location. During December, January and first half of February (monsoon season), the waves are almost constantly high, but do expect the water to be a little cold. There is a company that rents surf boards for RM 20/hour and provides surf lessons for RM 100. The same company rents jetskis.

Excursions to see the fireflies (api-api) in the Sungei Lebam river are very popular. While it's possible to arrange yourself, this would require bumping about dirt roads to find the dock and then cruising around a pitch-black jungle river, so it's much easier to join one of the hotel excursions. The best time to go is after rain on a new moon.

Learn
The ELS Performance Golf Academy.

Eat


If you have your own wheels or join one of the hotel-arranged "excursions", the fishing village of Sungai Rengit, some 30 km away, has a few seafood restaurants. (Oddly, the much closer Tanjung Balau does not have any.) There are also a few basic restaurants in Bandar Penawar.

Resort restaurants
Many of the nice signature restaurants are in the resorts, although non-guests are always welcomed to the eateries.

Sleep
accommodation in Desaru caters to various segments of tourists, from the traditional and classic style accommodation to the modern. Most of the accommodation is generally divided into two areas, the Bandar Penawar town areas and the beach front resort area in Desaru.

Splurge




Resorts
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 * {{sleep
 * name=Lotus Desaru Beach Resort & Spa | alt= | url=http://www.lotusdesaru.com | email=rsvn@lotusdesaru.com
 * address=Lot 1854, Jalan Desaru | lat=1.56417 | long=104.25042} | directions=
 * phone=+60 78842800 | tollfree=
 * checkin=14:00 | checkout=12:00 | price=MYR 265
 * lastedit=2023-06-03
 * content=Water Park features Giant Coconut Fall, Lazy River, Aqua Play, Stone Bridge, Tipping Coconut with kiddy slide, poolside grotto, and relaxation gazebos.

Respect
Desaru is a beach popular mostly with the locals. As such, especially if you go outside the resorts, you will see a lot of Malays bathing with long pants and t-shirts, a good way to both fend off the sun and to maintain modesty. For visitors, toplessness is not appropriate, but a normal bikini for girls and shorts for guys is ok.

Go next

 * Kota Tinggi &mdash; visit the famous Kota Tinggi waterfall, the local Kota Tinggi museum, and do some simple Malaysian shopping
 * Pengerang (Sungai Rengit) &mdash; seafood restaurants at the southeastern tip of Johor
 * Johor Bahru and Pasir Gudang
 * Singapore &mdash; an hour and a world away