Malaysia's hot springs are air panas pools, and at least 13 of them sit in this directory, most within reach of a city. Poring Hot Spring steams inside Borneo's Kinabalu Park, while The Banjaran Hotsprings Retreat runs luxury geothermal villas among the limestone hills of Ipoh. 4 of the 13 listed here are free to reach. Geothermal pool parks and community springs define the country.
The Klang Valley around Kuala Lumpur holds a cluster of community and resort springs within an hour or two of the city. The free sulphur pools of Dusun Tua Hot Spring, Kolam Air Panas Selayang, and the roadside Kolam Air Panas Bentong sit near KL, alongside the council pools of Hulu Tamu Hot Springs and the undeveloped Ulu Slim Hot Spring, whose source is the hottest documented in Peninsular Malaysia. Six of the directory's Malaysian springs cluster around the capital.
Perak and the west-coast states hold the country's developed pool parks and spa resorts. The theme-park pools of Lost World Hot Springs & Night Park, the FELDA-run Sungai Klah Hot Spring Park, and the five-star The Banjaran Hotsprings Retreat sit near Ipoh, while Gadek Hot Spring in Melaka and Ulu Legong Hot Spring in Kedah serve the wider west coast. Five of the listed Malaysian springs lie across these western states.
The islands and Borneo hold the most distinctive springs. The rare natural saltwater pools of Ayer Hangat Village sit on Langkawi, while Poring Hot Spring rises among the rainforest of Kinabalu Park, a UNESCO site in Sabah with its own canopy walkway. These two island and Borneo springs round out the directory's Malaysian entries, each a distinctive soak far from the Peninsular pool parks.
Malaysian thermal bathing centres on air panas pools, geothermal springs developed as family pool parks or kept as free community baths. Most are cheap public pools rather than wild soaks, though a few luxury resorts and one undeveloped jungle spring round out the range. 4 of the 13 springs listed in this directory are free. Langkawi even keeps a rare saltwater hot spring. These sit within the wider hot springs in Asia.
