Sea; There are no services connecting the peninsula with Malaysian Borneo.
Brunei
You can travel by sea between Bandar Seri Begawan (Muara Port), Brunei, and Pulau Labuan, Sabah. You can also travel by boat between Limbang in Sarawak and Brunei.
Indonesia
The main ferry routes between Peninsular Malaysia and Sumatra are Georgetown–Medan and Melaka–Dumai.
The popular crossing between Georgetown (on Pulau Penang) and Medan has services most days of the week. The boats actually land in Belawan in Sumatra, and the journey to Medan is completed by bus (included in the price).
Twice-daily high-speed ferries run between Melaka and Dumai in Sumatra. Dumai is now a visa-free entry port into Indonesia for citizens of most countries.
You can also take a boat from the Bebas Cukai ferry terminal in JB direct to Pulau Batam and Pulau Bintan, both in the Riau Islands.
Boats head between Tawau in Sabah and Tarakan in Kalimantan daily except Sunday. There are also daily boats between Tawau and Nunukan in Kalimantan, most of which continue on to Tarakan.
Philippines
Passenger ferries run twice weekly between Sandakan in Sabah and Zamboanga in the Philippines.
Thailand
Regular daily boats run between Pulau Langkawi and Satun in Thailand. There are customs and immigration posts here, but it’s an expensive entry/exit point.
Land
Brunei
You can catch buses and taxis between Miri in Sarawak and Kuala Belait in Brunei. Kuala Belait has easy bus connections with Bandar Seri Begawan; you can also cross from Lawas to Bangar (in Brunei), and then head on to Limbang.
Indonesia
In Borneo, regular buses run between Kuching and the Indonesian city of Pontianak via the Tebedu–Entikong crossing.
Singapore
At the southern tip of Peninsular Malaysia you can cross into Singapore via Johor Bahru by bus. Taking the train from JB is less convenient.
Thailand
On the western side of Peninsular Malaysia, you can travel by bus from Alor Setar to the border crossing at Bukit Kayu Hitam. There are also two trains passing through Alor Setar to Padang Besar and then continuing north into Thailand; the first stops at Hat Yai, while the second terminates in Bangkok. Some visitors may not feel safe travelling through Hat Yai, which has been a hot spot for Muslim and Buddhist clashes in Thailand.
On the peninsula’s eastern side you can bus it from Kota Bharu to the border town of Rantau Panjang but at the time of writing this was not a safe place to cross due to violence in this area of southern Thailand.
There is also a border crossing between Keroh (Malaysia) and Betong (Thailand), but at the time of writing it was extremely inadvisable to travel here due to the violence in Yala Provinc, Thailand.
Air
The gateway to Peninsular Malaysia is the city of Kuala Lumpur, although Pulau Penang and Johor Bahru (JB) also have international connections. Singapore is a handy arrival/departure point, since it’s just a short trip across the Causeway from JB and has more international connections. Malaysia Airlines is the country’s main airline carrier although Air Asia and Firefly flights are much cheaper. Air Asia connects KL to Europe, Australia, India, Indonesia, Thailand and China.
There are weekly flights between Kuching and Pontianak in Kalimantan (Indonesia), and between Tawau in Sabah and Tarakan in Kalimantan.
The following are some airlines servicing Malaysia; numbers beginning with 03 are for Kuala Lumpur.
Aeroflot (code SU; 03-2161 0231; ¬www.aeroflot.ru/eng)
Air Asia (code AK; 03-8775 4000; www.airasia.com)
Air India (code AI; 03-2142 0166; www.airindia.com)
British Airways (code BA; 1800 881 260; www.britishairways.com)
Cathay Pacific Airways (code CX; 03-2035 2788; www.cathaypacific.com)
China Airlines (code CI; 03-2142 7344; www.china-airlines.com)
Garuda Indonesian Airlines (code GA; 03-2162 2811; www.garuda-indonesia.com)
Japan Airlines (code JL; 03-2161 1722; www.jal.com)
Lufthansa (code LH; 03-2161 4666; www.lufthansa.com)
Malaysia Airlines (code MH; 1300 883 000, 03-2161 0555; www.malaysiaairlines.com)
Qantas (code QF; 1800 881 260; www.qantas.com)
Royal Brunei Airlines (code BI; 03-2070 7166; www.bruneiair.com)
Singapore Airlines (code SQ; 03-2692 3122; www.singaporeair.com)
Thai Airways International (THAI, code TG; 03-2031 2900; www.thaiairways.com)
Vietnam Airlines (code VN; www.vietnamairlines.com)
Virgin Atlantic (code VS; 03-2143 0322; www.virgin-atlantic.com)
Brunei
You can fly from KL and Kota Kinabalu to Bandar Seri Begawan. Because of the difference in exchange rates, it’s cheaper to fly to Brunei from Malaysia than vice versa.
Cambodia
Flights between KL and Phnom Penh are available with Malaysia Airlines, Air Asia and Royal Phnom Penh Airways. Air Asia also flies from KL to Siem Reap.
Indonesia
It’s a short hop from Pulau Penang to Medan in Sumatra. To Java, the cheapest connections are from Singapore. There are also weekly flights between Kuching and Pontianak in Kalimantan (Indonesia), and between Tawau in Sabah and Tarakan in Kalimantan.
Philippines
You can fly with Malaysia Airlines or Air Asia from KL to Cebu/Manila. Air Asia also has flights to Manila from Kota Kinabalu.
Singapore
Malaysia Airlines and Singapore Airlines have frequent services to KL. Malaysia Airlines also connects Singapore to Langkawi and Penang.
Thailand
There are flights between Bangkok and KL or Kota Kinabalu, and between Phuket and Koh Samui with Penang.
Vietnam
Malaysia Airlines and Vietnam Airlines operate flights from KL to Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. Air Asia runs flights from KL to Hanoi.