Choosing The Right Time To Visit Malaysia

Can't we visit Malaysia whenever we feel like it?  Is visiting at a specific time really that important?  What are the things we need to consider when planning to visit Malaysia?  These are some of the concerns that I will be addressing in this article.

Just like vacationing in any other county in the world, there will be certain times in a year when visiting Malaysia would allow you the opportunity to experience more than any other period.  There are three important factors to take into consideration when it comes to planning a trip here and they are weather, festivals and school holidays.  Let's consider each of these factors individually.

The Weather

Malaysia has only two seasons like most other tropical country; Wet and Hot.  Frankly it is wet and hot throughout the year but there are periods when it does get a whole lot wetter.  The factor that determines this is the Monsoon Season which occurs in the months of October to February every year.  During the Monsoon Season, the country experiences more rain than other periods and this gets even worst on the East Coast with strong winds that makes the sea too rough for boats to travel on.  If you do visit Malaysia during this season, you may only be able to travel around the West Coast which mainly consists of towns and cities.  It is also during this season that many of the resorts on the islands would be closed and you would be hard pressed to find anyone willing to take you out on a boat ride or scuba diving. Even if you are on the mainland, the things you can do would be limited. Trips to the highlands would be ill advised due to landslides and the rain forests would be a place of mud pools. Whenever possible, you should avoid the Monsoon Season especially if you are planning any activities out of doors.

Festivals

If you plan your trip well you might arrive in time to attend one of the major festivals in Malaysia. This would give you the best opportunity to experience Malaysian culture and cuisine. Malaysians celebrate three major festivals that you should try as best as you can to attend, which are Chinese New Year, Hari Raya and Deepavali.

Chinese New Year is held on the first day of the first month of the Chinese Lunar Calendar.  These dates would change each year and do not follow the normal calendar cycle but if you visit my website which I have linked below this article I have list the dates for the coming festivals. Even though Chinese New Year is celebrated for a month, plan to visit on at least the first two days because that is the peak of the festival. During Chinese New Year, you would get a chance to watch Lion Dances throughout the country, light up loud fire crackers everywhere and eat juicy, sweet Mandarin Oranges.

The word Hari Raya actually means Day of Celebration to the Muslims. There are in fact two Hari Rayas, which are Hari Raya Aidilfitri and Hari Raya Haji. While they are both equally important to the celebrants it would be better for you to opt for Hari Raya Aidilfitri which will allow you a better experience of the Malay culture. Before Hari Raya starts, the Muslim would spend an entire month fasting. Visiting Malaysia at this fasting period would allow you a chance to sample various cakes and cookies, a number of which are not prepared at other times in the year. The dates for both the Hari Raya follow the Muslim Calender so I have also prepared the future dates in my website.

Deepavali is the Hindu celebration of Light which is held somewhere in October or November every year. You can find the exact dates in my website. The Hindu houses are brightly lit with a lot of lamps and a visit to these houses would be a present you with so many Indian cuisine that would tingle your taste buds for a long time.

School Holidays

Whatever you do, avoid coming to Malaysia during the Malaysian School Holidays like it was the plague. There are two reasons for this. First reason is this is the time when the Malaysians themselves would be out on vacation and you would be faced with crowds of people in all the holiday spots, as well as traffic jams that would slow down your travel speed. The next reason is that the hotels and resorts here would raise their prices during these periods and you could expect to pay a lot more for lodging. If you manage to avoid the school holidays you would be able to travel peacefully and enjoy better rates almost everywhere. The dates of the school holidays are not forecasted well in advance so I don't have it on my website but if you Google it, you are bound to find the dates.

So these are some of the suggestions that I can share with you about planning your holiday to Malaysia. For more tips and guides on your holiday to Malaysia visit my website at http://holiday-to-malaysia.com today.