Most visitors arrive by ferry from Mersing on the mainland. Bluewater Express operates the ferry services and its boats are fast and comfortable taking approx 1 hour 20mins to the first jetty. This ferry is now the only option, the smaller and faster services being cancelled because of safety concerns after a tragedy. Unfortunately in countries that cannot afford to patrol their regulations well, some ferry companies overcrowd their vessels. If you ever feel uncomfortable boarding a vessel for any reason, refuse. A good way to avoid this is to avoid the last vessel as it is always the busiest. The boat is sometimes boarded by the Malaysian coast guard but it appears that the operators' are aware of when this will take place and take pains to follow the rules only on those days.
Coast Guard boards Tioman ferry for safety check
There are three services per day in each direction, but tidal issues (or lack of passengers) may cause cancellation. Bluewater Express charges RM 35 (RM 45 on public holiday) for an adult ticket, RM 25 for a child ticket (babies in arm free, as of last info), and departs from Salang at 07:15 am, Panuba at 7.30am etc etc and at noon, and picks up travellers all the way down the coast. It should be noted that apart from the first sailing of the day, the ferry operator tends to leave Mersing when it is deemed that there are sufficient passengers, or perhaps they are waiting for a connecting bus. This has the effect of making the timetables vague at best. If you are planning onward journeys based on these timetables, then leave sufficient buffers (1-2 Hours).
Bluewater Express speed boat schedule
In Mersing, the main bus terminal is about 1000 metres up river from the ferry terminal. From the terminal face the river and go right. Follow through the commercial centre of Mersing, past the stadium to the ferry terminal. The bus may also drop you off at the corner where a conveniently located travel agent will attempt to sell you accommodation on the island. It may suit some to make a booking in the town before going to the island, others may prefer to take their chances and check out the offering on the island. In the instance where the afternoon ferry (4.30pm) is not running, one may have to stay in Mersing, which can be a fairly low expectation affair, depending on demand. Suggestion is to head straight to the ferry terminal, buy a ticket and worry about other matters later. If you are not heading for the island, boats are available for private boat charter, scuba dive, fishing & Islands Tour along Jalan Dato Onn, Mersing.
Some ferries also depart from Tanjung Gemuk to the north of Mersing.
During the monsoon season (late October to mid/late February) the ferries run much less frequently and exceptionally bad conditions may shut them down completely for several days at a time.
Since 2004, there are no direct ferries to/from Singapore's Tanah Merah ferry terminal available.
Please note, if you are coming from Johor Bahru with the bus of 2.30pm or later, there is a big chance to have no more ferry when you arrive and you will be force to take a night at Mersing. Enjoy it and take time for shopping as it will be more expensive on islands. Please note, most shops will be close in early morning (before 10am).
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Tioman
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in Tioman - updated Apr 2024
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Tioman Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.
