From the bridge of a cruise ship in the Strait of Malacca, the Swedish captain gazes ambivalently toward the dark green shoreline of the Malay Peninsula. We are five miles offshore, heading from Penang to Port Kelang on the final leg of an Asian cruise.

“For most of my career, that coast has been an obstruction,” the captain reflects. “On cargo ships, my main route was from Europe to Hong Kong and Taiwan. Malaysia kept getting in the way.”

The peninsula is a formidable barrier between two oceans, the Indian and the Pacific. Over millennia, natural forces frayed the coastline, creating hundreds of islands. Some formed by erosion, others by seismic activity. Some are the remnants of coral reefs while others are the peaks of volcanoes.

When the cruise ship eventually docks and the departing passengers eagerly set foot on mainland Malaysia, I recall the captain’s lack of enthusiasm for the interior. “Too big, too hot, too crowded. I prefer the islands.”

Increasingly, locals and visitors alike are coming to the same conclusion. On a sweltering afternoon in the capital city, Kuala Lumpur, the downside of Malaysia’s rapid leap into the 21st century is readily apparent. Gleaming skyscrapers tower over traffic-choked highways. The sharp, metallic taste of pollution infuses the heavy tropical air. Day and night, the city thrums with activity.

Against this backdrop, the lure of simpler places is irresistible. You might find yourself yearning for a modest change of pace or perhaps for a complete escape to somewhere in which silence can be heard.

Fortunately, there is no shortage of getaway options. Malaysia officially boasts 878 islands, many of which are geared for tourism and are accessible enough to enable you to end a day that begins in the frenetic heart of Kuala Lumpur by sitting on a deserted beach under swaying palms.

The main dilemma is which island to choose. Somewhere with plenty of history and culture? A luxury retreat? A barefoot paradise? The west coast of the Malay Peninsula? The east coast? Or the coast of Malaysian Borneo? Do you want to hike through a rainforest teeming with wildlife or snorkel with colorful shoals above a coral reef? All these options are available.

One of the most famous islands of Malaysia is undoubtedly Penang, the “Pearl of the Orient,” which was a vital trading hub for the British East India Company from the late 18th century onward. The early settlers found an unpromising island densely cloaked in tropical rainforest. According to legend, the British initially encouraged jungle clearance by firing silver coins into the undergrowth for their imported teams of laborers to find.

The legacy of the colonial era persists in Penang’s architecture and demographics. This is the only one of Malaysia’s 13 states in which descendants of Chinese workers form the majority. Alongside the Chinese (known as the Peranakan) and indigenous Malays, Penang also has sizeable populations of Indians, Indonesians, Vietnamese and Thais.

All of these disparate elements come together in Penang’s historic melting pot, the city of George Town. With a total population of 2.5 million, it is the second-largest metropolitan district in Malaysia. Since independence from Britain in 1957, the city expanded rapidly, yet the old Colonial District remains remarkably well preserved and has been awarded UNESCO World Heritage status.

Rickshaws in Penang © Michelleliaw | Dreamstime.com

You can get your bearings in old George Town by hiring a bicycle trishaw. While you sit sedately on a bench at the front (sometimes getting a closer view of oncoming traffic than you’d wish for), the elderly driver pedals laboriously behind you with only an umbrella to shade him from the ferocious sun.

But the best way to explore the labyrinthine alleys is on foot. It’s like plunging into a Joseph Conrad novel. Four major influences — British, Chinese, Indian and Malay — left their indelible mark on these streets. One moment you’re in contemporary Malaysia, with all the trappings of the modern world; the next, you’re looking at smoke-enveloped street stalls, a bustling market, a colonial building or the cannon-protected walls of Fort Cornwallis, and you’re transported back through the centuries.

For all its sensory stimulation, George Town is probably not what the Swedish cruise ship captain imagines when he thinks of Malaysian islands. But there is much more to Penang than its major city.

An interesting first stop is the 2,750-foot summit of Penang Hill in the immediate hinterland of George Town. From here you can gain a panorama of the island with its swathes of rainforest disrupted by settlements and paddy fields.

Farther from the city, on the north coast, is the beach strip of Batu Ferringhi, lined with 5-star resorts. Although there are certainly better beaches on other islands in Malaysia, this is an ideal base if you want to intersperse your lazy sunbathing days with jungle hikes through the nearby Penang National Park. There, notable species include the Malayan flying lemur (a bizarre arboreal mammal) and a charismatic monkey, the crab-eating macaque.

To the north of Penang, adjacent to Malaysia’s border with Thailand, lies an archipelago of 99 islands collectively known as Langkawi — or the “Jewel of Kedah” (Kedah is one of Malaysia’s northernmost states).

Langkawi was a neglected backwater until, in 1986, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad devoted his considerable influence to transforming the islands into a tourist haven. The metamorphosis was dramatic. Rickety fishing villages gave way to luxury resorts both big and small.

From the start, Langkawi pitched itself at the upper end of the tourism market, taking full advantage of its wealth of beautiful white-sand beaches lapped by the crystal waters of the Andaman Sea.

As the tourist dollars rolled in, Langkawi invested in new attractions, including a cable car to the top of Mount Mat Chinchang (the steep ascent takes 14 minutes), where the incredible Langkawi Sky Bridge enables visitors to walk off the peak and peer at the forest canopy far below.

For tourists who crave a pristine paradise, Langkawi’s success spoiled the very thing that once made it so attractive. The destination is now well established on the tourism map, with its own international airport handling 1.3 million passengers each year.

Fortunately for the bohemian set, there is no dearth of alternatives. Many backpackers looking for the perfect barefoot retreat claim to have found it on the Perhentian Islands, also close to the Thai-Malaysia border but this time on the peninsula’s east coast.

Accessible from the mainland only by boat, the two main islands (Perhentian Kecil and Perhentian Besar) sit within the South China Sea, with great snorkeling direct from the beaches. There are no roads; in order to get around, you either travel by boat from cove to cove or hike across the interior (you can walk from one side of Kecil to the other in about 10 minutes).

As befits the tranquil setting, the resorts on the Perhentians are much smaller and more informal than on swanky Langkawi. There’s no dressing up for dinner here. Evenings often culminate with fire jugglers putting on a show in front of the beach bars.

Farther down the east coast, the Seribuat Archipelago is a scattering of 64 tiny islands fringed with coral reefs. Among them is Pulau Rawa, owned by the family of the sultan of Johor, Malaysia’s southernmost state. Exclusivity is the watchword here, and you’ll often find yourself rubbing shoulders with members of the ruling dynasty.

Geographically, Rawa does not entirely conform to the archetypal postcard paradise. Although it has a picture-perfect white-sand beach, sheer cliffs buttress much of the shoreline. Rawa Island Resort, the larger of the island’s two hotels, offers a choice of chalets on the beachfront or on the hillside, benefiting from cooling breezes and set among luxuriant tropical vegetation.

Tulai, an uninhabited island near Tioman © Dmitry Kushch | Dreamstime.com

Northeast of Rawa is the much larger and breathtakingly rugged Tioman Island, 20 miles off the coast of the Malay Peninsula. Because of its relative isolation, Tioman is a wildlife Eden, with many species that vary noticeably from their mainland cousins. Here you’ll find monkeys, lizards and more than 130 bird species.

Up to a point, Tioman followed the Langkawi model of tourism development, taking full advantage of its proximity to Singapore, a 40-minute direct flight. One of the main resort areas is Ayer Batang, more popularly known as ABC (not so long ago, the only accommodation here was Ayer Batang Chalets).

ABC now has a host of accommodation options, but none of them are over the top, and the area retains a laid-back atmosphere. To the south is the island’s only international-standard resort, the Berjaya Tioman Resort.

Many regular visitors to Tioman hope this one major resort will be the full extent of the island’s flirtation with mass tourism. For now, with its magnificently wild interior and secluded beaches, Tioman remains one of Malaysia’s most valuable jewels.

One thousand miles east of Kuala Lumpur, across the South China Sea, lies Borneo, the third-largest island in the world. Although most of the island is administered by Indonesia, with one tiny part given over to the Sultanate of Brunei, Borneo also incorporates the two Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak, as well as the Federal Territory of Labuan.

Labuan is a small cluster of islands located five miles off the coast of Sabah, close to the border with Brunei. Thanks to its free trade zone status and its growing importance as an offshore financial center, the territory can claim to be Malaysia’s equivalent to the Cayman Islands.

Tourism largely revolves around the regular “booze cruises” from neighboring Brunei, where the sale of alcohol is prohibited. However, for diving connoisseurs, there is a better reason to come here — Labuan Marine Park, which offers some of the best wreck diving in Malaysia.

A speedboat ride up the Borneo coast from Labuan is the volcanic island of Pulau Tiga, which achieved worldwide fame as the original location for the reality TV series Survivor. The only accommodation on the island is the rustic Survivor Lodge, from which there are hiking trails into the interior and diving excursions to nearby islands. One, Snake Island, is a stronghold of the banded sea snake, one of the world’s most venomous species (fortunately, they are not aggressive).

Two hundred miles northwest of Sabah is one of the most beautiful — and controversial — of Malaysia’s many islands. Layang-Layang, or Swallow Reef, is a deep-sea atoll that forms part of the bitterly disputed Spratly Islands, claimed by Malaysia, Brunei, Vietnam, the Philippines, China and Taiwan.

Layang-Layang was originally developed as a Malaysian naval base, and a runway was constructed on one edge of the atoll’s coral-enclosed lagoon. Subsequently, the exclusive Avillion Layang-Layang dive resort was established to take advantage of some of the region’s best-preserved reefs.

Tourist access — which requires a special permit applied for at least three months in advance — is by an hour-long flight from Kota Kinabalu, capital of Sabah. For dedicated divers, it’s well worth the trouble. With its outstandingly clear water, pristine coral and 6,000-foot drop-off, Layang-Layang is consistently rated among the world’s top 10 dive spots.

On reflection, the Swedish cruise ship captain’s sentiment was right. For all the attractions of mainland Malaysia, nothing competes with the knowledge, as you stand on the shore looking out to sea, that there is an incredible array of possibilities just a boat ride away.

INFO TO GO TO THE ISLANDS OF MALAYSIA

The two main gateways from the United States are Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KUL) and Singapore Changi Airport (SIN). From Kuala Lumpur there are connecting flights to most of the major islands of Malaysia, to Sabah and Labuan in Borneo, as well as overland connections to Penang. Singapore offers onward flights to Tioman, Penang and Langkawi.

Lodging in Malaysian Islands

1926 Heritage Hotel Once home to British colonial officers, this atmospheric hotel recaptures that bygone era. 227 Jalan Burma, Penang $$

Bagus Place Retreat The award-winning resort features quirky, individually designed chalets overlooking a beautiful beach. Kampung Muku, Tioman $$

Bon Ton Resort Langkawi has plenty of could-be-anywhere resorts, but Bon Ton is uniquely Malaysian, with eight century-old wooden stilt houses. Pantai Cenang, Langkawi $$$

Malaysian Island Dining

The Eighty-Eight Restaurant Chef/proprietor Danny Ng was born in 1988, hence the name. Enjoy Mediterranean cuisine with an Asian twist. 49-A Jalan Kelawai, George Town, Penang $$$

fatCUPID This very trendy eatery adjoining the equally trendy La Pari-Pari Hotel serves Asian food with Australian influences. 2273 Jalan Teluk Baru, Kampung Tasek Anak, Langkawi $$

Tamarind Located in the plush Japamala Resort, the Tamarind Terrace, open to sea breezes, serves excellent Asian cuisine. Japamala Resort, Kampung Lanting, Tioman $$$