Monsoon Weather Advisory

The north-east monsoon runs in the Mersing area from December to the end of February.

In the past, this period was characterized by monsoonal rains, strong winds, and rough seas. However, over the years we have seen a mix of weather through the monsoon months from rainy days and calm seas, to rainy days and choppy seas, to blue skies and choppy seas to blue skies and sunshine and calm seas. This is very hard to predict.

Batu Batu remains open through the monsoon and boats run as long as the Mersing harbour remains open. This is within the control of the Port Authority (Jabatan Laut). In the past 10 years of operations, we typically see around 7-10 days of port closures during each 3 month monsoon period. This is dictated by a Category 2 warning or higher as issued by the Malaysian Meteorological Department. In the 2018-2019 monsoon, there were no port closures at all as the monsoon was particularly mild.

There are several points to note when traveling to Batu Batu over the monsoon months:

  1. Batu Batu monitors wind and sea conditions closely using sailing apps and we try our best to let you know in advance if your boat will be heavily delayed or cancelled. At times, it is not possible to notify our guests of a sudden cancellation as the port authorities may make sudden and unexpected calls depending on changes in wind and weather.

  2. We would recommend that pregnant women and very young infants avoid staying with us over this period given the possibility of an uncomfortable journey. If you are prone to seasickness or afraid of the sea, we would also suggest you travel to us outside of the monsoon.

When boats are expected to be cancelled due to weather:

  1. You may want to consider coming into the island a day / several days earlier or postpone the booking a day / several days later, when the weather forecasted is better;

  2. You may want to postpone your booking to other dates entirely;

  3. You may want to cancel your booking entirely and we will, in turn, refund your deposit in full.

When the weather is rainy or the sea is rough but the port is open and boats continue to run, we will not be able to refund your deposit if you decide to cancel less than 14 days prior to travel.