Malaysia vs Zanzibar

Workers unload cardboard boxes and supplies from an open truck bed at Club Med Borneo.

Thatched-roof pavilion with blue curtains surrounded by palm trees, flowering plants, and a small pool at The Palms Zanzibar.

Malaysia and Zanzibar, side by side: live travel advisories, our resort catalog's real guest data, and each destination's honest weather picture. Everything you need to break the tie.

By the numbers

Malaysia compared with Zanzibar
Malaysia	Measure	Zanzibar
Level 1: Exercise Normal Precautions (better)	U.S. travel advisory	Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution
1	Resorts in our catalog	15 (better)
–	Average guest rating	★ 4.6
$413–$478/night pp	Nightly rates	$93–$723/night pp (better)
0 of 1	Adults-only resorts	0 of 15
No hurricane season	Hurricane exposure	No hurricane season
April–October, wettest September–October	Rainy season	Long rains mid-March to May (April is the wettest month), short rains in November
December–March	Sweet spot	June to October and December to February

Advisory levels sync from travel.state.gov; catalog figures reflect the resorts we've researched, not every hotel in the country. A marked row is one we are willing to call; rows without a mark are a matter of taste, or we have no comparable figure for both sides.

On the map

Malaysia

Zanzibar

Weather, month by month

Month-by-month average high temperature and rainfall for Malaysia and Zanzibar
Measure	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Malaysia · high °F	90	91	91	91	89	88	88	88	87	87	87	88
Zanzibar · high °F	89	90	90	87	84	84	83	83	84	86	88	89
Malaysia · rain (in)	1.4	2.0	4.1	7.4	9.1	7.0	7.8	8.5	12.8	13.5	9.2	3.5
Zanzibar · rain (in)	3.0	2.4	5.9	15.3	7.8	1.9	1.1	1.4	2.0	3.5	8.0	5.5

Approximate climate normals for Langkawi and Zanzibar (ZNZ): planning guidance, not a forecast. A deeper tint is a higher number, read within its own row.