Pulau Payar (Payar Island) Marine Park consists of four islands, Pulau Payar, Pulau Lembu, Pulau Kaca and Pulau Segantang. Pulau Payar Marine Park is located about 19 nm south of Pulau Langkawi, 32 nm north of Penang and 15 nm west of Kuala Kedah. The islands were gazetted as a marine park in 1994 under the Fisheries Act 1985 (Amended 1991).
:: The Islands
Pulau Payar is the largest of the islands, with an area of 31.2 hectares and an approximate length of 1.75 km and about 500 meter wide. It rises to 80-90 meters above sea level at the highest point. Coastline of the island is about 3.35 km with very limited beach and flat land with no freshwater sources. Four sandy beaches are found at eastern side of the island. The entire length of its north-western coast is predominantly rocky and characterized by steep cliffs and wave-cut gullies. Two longest beaches (around 100 meter) are located in front of marine park information centre and commercial tourist platform. The entire island is covered with dense vegetation.
Pulau Kaca located at the north-east of Pulau Payar. The island with an area of 1.8 hectares is a conglomerate of rocky boulders with sparse vegetation. It attains a height of approximately 10 m above sea level.
Pulau Lembu is situated to the east of Pulau Kaca and is about 0.75 nm northeast of Pulau Payar. It is 0.75 km long and has an area of 6.9 hectares. The entire island is covered with dense vegetation and rises sharply from shore to a height of about 70 meters. There is one small beach on the eastern side of the island.
Pulau Segantang is about 6.7 nm south-west of Pulau Payar and is made up of two rocky outcrops which are joined together underwater. The larger outcrop is approximately 200 m long and about 50 m wide, while the smaller outcrop is approximately 50 m long and 40 m wide. Scattered vegetation, mainly grass can be found on both outcrops.
Climate
The climate of the islands is typically hot and humid all year round. The temperature rarely drops below 20°C even at night, and usually reaches around 30°C during the day. Humidity is generally about 90%. The wet season started during the Southwest monsoon in May and peaked in October with the highest average monthly rainfall. Dry periods was observed in the months of January and February with January being the driest month.
