Luxury Malaysia Voyages

Kota Kinabalu sits between jungle-clad Mount Kinabalu, Borneo's granite giant, and a necklace of coral islands just offshore. Drop the marina and tender to the Tunku Abdul Rahman park to snorkel over clownfish and drift past reef sharks, or venture inland to canopy walkways and roaring waterfalls beneath the sacred peak. Time it for KK's famously fiery sunset over the South China Sea, cocktail in hand on the aft deck. Borneo's wild beauty, in effortless comfort.

Trade the tide for the tropics of the Malaysian capital. Ride to the summit of the Petronas Twin Towers, climb the rainbow steps into the Hindu shrines of Batu Caves, and lose an afternoon among the spice-scented lanes and street food of Chinatown and Little India. Docking at Port Klang puts this glittering metropolis within easy reach, while SeaDream's intimacy means no queues, no coach convoys, just you and a curated run at Malaysia's greatest hits.

A quiet Malaysian state capital on the South China Sea coast, known well beyond its size for a genuinely excellent Malay dining scene, keropok lekor fish crackers and nasi dagang among the local specialties worth seeking out at the waterfront night market. Traditional boat-building and songket weaving, a hand-loomed brocade once reserved for royalty, are still practiced in workshops around town. A relaxed, unhurried introduction to Malaysia's less-visited east coast.

Kuching is Borneo at its most beguiling, a graceful riverfront city of white rajah forts and golden domes. Journey to Semenggoh to watch semi-wild orangutans swing in for the morning feeding, or trek Bako National Park's mangrove boardwalks in search of the pot-bellied, big-nosed proboscis monkey found nowhere else on Earth. Visit an Iban longhouse, then feast on tangy Sarawak laksa at the day market. The rainforest island of legend, explored and back aboard by nightfall.

An archipelago of 99 jungle-clad islands wrapped in Andaman blue. Soar the SkyCab and cross the vertiginous Sky Bridge over the rainforest canopy, cruise the Kilim geoforest park past eagles and limestone karst, then toast a duty-free sundowner on a deserted strand. Island-hop the calm bays by boat, swim off empty beaches and take in an overnight under some of Malaysia's darkest, starriest skies.

This private rainforest island is pure SeaDream territory. Emerald Bay's powder sand routinely tops world's-best-beaches lists, while century-old hardwood forest hides the spa retreats and hornbills that made the island a legend. Drop the marina and kayak the mangroves, snorkel the warm shallows, or simply float. Large ships can only gaze from afar; our shallow draught lets us anchor off this hideaway and hand you an unspoilt shore few travellers ever reach.

George Town's UNESCO-listed streets layer Chinese shophouses, Indian temples and colonial British architecture within a few blocks of each other, a genuine reflection of the trading crossroads this island has been for centuries. Its hawker food scene, char kway teow and asam laksa chief among the essentials, is regularly named among the best street food anywhere in Asia. A funicular ride up Penang Hill rewards with sweeping views and noticeably cooler air, while a round of golf and serious birdlife along the coastal wetlands round out one of Malaysia's most rewarding stops.

The Perhentians are the stuff of desert-island dreams, turquoise water so clear the coral reads like a map, and no room for large ships in their shallow bays. SeaDream III anchors offshore, and the marina delivers you straight to reefs alive with green turtles, blacktip reef sharks and clouds of parrotfish. Laze on flour-soft sand between swims. This is barefoot Malaysia at its most pristine and private.

Redang wears the crown for Malaysia's most beautiful beaches, a long crescent of blinding white sand fringing water in impossible shades of blue. Protected as a marine park, its reefs teem with life just metres from shore; slip in from SeaDream's marina to drift over giant clams and shoals of reef fish. Few itineraries call here, and fewer still can linger at anchor as evening gilds the bay. Pure, unhurried tropical bliss.

Legend says a dragon settled here and became an island, and Tioman's jungled twin peaks and cascading waterfalls do feel mythic. Once a film-set stand- in for Bali Hai, it remains gloriously undeveloped: anchor offshore, snorkel coral gardens from the swim platform, trek the rainforest to hidden falls, or spot monitor lizards and hornbills ashore. Duty-free and delightfully remote, it is best reached exactly as you do, by yacht. Swimming and non-motorised craft only here; motorised watersports need the local authority's permission.