Tioman Island Named Asia’s Quietest Island In Global Study

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As travellers increasingly seek out holidays built around peace and quiet, Malaysia's Tioman Island has emerged as one of the world's best destinations for escaping noise

Tioman ranked sixth globally and was named the quietest island in Asia in BookRetreats.com's 2026 Unspoilt Index, which analysed satellite and open-mapping data from 100 islands worldwide.

The findings come as interest in so-called "quietcations" grows, with Google searches for "quiet destinations" rising sharply over the past year.

A survey cited by BookRetreats.com also found that 56% of US travellers want to retreat into nature for some peace and quiet.

Located off the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia, Tioman is roughly a two-hour ferry ride from the mainland

Despite covering about 134 square kilometres, the island has no major trafficked roads, according to the index's mapping data.

Its population of just over 2,000 people is spread across several coastal villages, with residents and visitors travelling between bays by water taxi or using a small network of paved and gravel roads.

Tioman scored 95 out of 100 for naturalness, reflecting how much of its landscape remains largely untouched by development.

Much of the island is covered by dense jungle and protected as a wildlife sanctuary, with wildlife including monkeys, flying squirrels, and binturongs.

The island is also home to the Rafflesia, one of the world's largest flowers.

Tioman's relative lack of development extends beyond its shores.

The surrounding waters form part of a protected marine park, with coral reefs and marine life found around the island.

At Salang Beach, visitors can reach a reef directly from the shore, while dive sites around the coast offer opportunities to see coral beds, sea fans and turtles.

These natural features contributed to Tioman's score under the index's criteria for natural coastal spaces and undeveloped nature.

So, what makes an island "quiet"?

The Unspoilt Index was developed with input from Olga V Lehmann, a silence researcher, author, and psychology professor.

Rather than measuring noise levels alone, the study used six factors to assess how conducive each island is to a quiet environment: undeveloped nature, road density, air traffic, population levels, night-sky darkness, and natural coastal spaces.

The methodology was based on the European Environment Agency's description of a quiet area as a pleasant soundscape where unwanted sound is absent or not dominant.

The six measures were combined into a composite score out of 100.

Tioman's ranking puts it ahead of several other popular Asian islands, including Thailand's Koh Chang in seventh place, Cambodia's Koh Rong in eighth, and India's Havelock Island in ninth.

Indonesia's Gili Meno ranked 42nd, while Bali came in at 78th.

Meanwhile, Penang was near the other end of the list

Another well-known Malaysian island featured in the study, but with a very different result.

Penang ranked 98th out of the 100 islands analysed. The index noted that the island is home to close to 800,000 people, with development covering much of its land.

At the opposite end of the ranking, New Zealand's Stewart Island was named the world's quietest island. An estimated 20,000 kiwi birds live there alongside about 500 residents, while roughly 85% of the island is protected as a national park. It is also the world's southernmost International Dark Sky Sanctuary.

The study's findings suggest that the islands retaining the most natural spaces tend to be the ones where development and human activity remain limited.