Johor Bahru Bus: To Taman Pelangi (彩虹花园) & Dai Mah Garden (大马花园) in Johor Bahru

The title of this post should have been “Getting to Taman Pelangi & Taman Sri Tebrau in Johor Bahru”, but the name “Taman Sri Tebrau” is lesser known to non-residents of Johor Bahru — not even to Singaporeans who frequent the food havens there.

Taman Sri Tebrau is the official name of the estate known as “大马花园” in Chinese but often referred to as “Dai Mah Garden” in Cantonese, which became the common name for the estate rather than the official name — and, hence, the confusion! Also, the area commonly called “Pelangi” actually comprises the larger Taman Pelangi (彩虹花园) and two smaller estates — Taman Maju Jaya / Newspaper Street (顺利花园 / 报馆街) and Taman Tebrau Jaya (友谊花园) right behind Plaza Pelangi.

The three food havens known to many Singapore residents are “Pelangi”, “Dai Mah Garden” (大马花园) and “Sentosa” — not Pulau Sentosa of Singapore. These areas are popular for having tons of eating places that line the streets, especially in the evening, and are in close proximity to one another in Taman Pelangi (彩虹花园), Taman Sri Tebrau (大马花园) and Taman Sentosa (大丰). Walking between any of the three spots will take around 10~15 minutes.

More importantly, they are very near to JB CIQ in downtown Johor Bahru and easily accessible via public buses from JB Sentral.

Bus Services

All the services above are operated by Causeway Link. The fare is around RM1.50.

These bus services continue to Taman Sentosa too.
Read: JB Bus: To Taman Sentosa & Taman Melodies in Johor Bahru 

BAS.MY J11 / J15 / J20 / J22 will get you to the west side of Pelangi and Taman Sri Tebrau and have service frequency of 30 minutes — BAS.MY J15 to Mid Valley Southkey Mall has 20 minutes interval.

Another bus service, BAS.MY J21 from JB Sentral to Permas Jaya, will get you to the east side of Pelangi but not Taman Sri Tebrau. However, the bus stop on the east side is rather far from most commercial activities in Pelangi.

Causeway Link CT1

Causeway Link CT1 (or just CT) plies along a dedicated route between JB Sentral and Bayu Puteri. The service cuts through Taman Pelangi to Taman Sri Tebrau, then to Taman Sentosa before going to Bayu Puteri. The whole journey is about 30 minutes but service frequency is 1 hour 20 minutes.

The service serves different routes in both directions due to multiple one-way roads in the areas — check both routes on Causeway Link’s website before you go. To return from Taman Sri Tebrau or Pelangi to JB Sentral using CT1, be at the bus-stops about 10 minutes after the buses depart from Bayu Puteri — based on their schedules.

Getting to Pelangi

Using BAS.MY J11 / J15 / J20 / J22, look out for Plaza Pelangi that is situated at a road junction and is easy to spot. Alight at the bus-stop opposite the mall and cross the road using the overhead bridge.

Be Warned: If you choose to use the pedestrian crossing at the cross-road junction — without having to climb the overhead bridge — note that the weird pedestrian crossing (with zebra stripes) is not painted on the last lane of the road near to Plaza Pelangi. Watch out for non-stopping, left-turning vehicles before crossing the last lane.

Aside from Plaza Pelangi, Pelangi Leisure Mall is another shopping mall in Taman Pelangi. It has a large Giant hypermarket, Mr DIY, a fitness centre, a bowling alley, Marrybrown, etc.

To get to Pelangi Leisure Mall without having to walk 1.5Km from Plaza Pelangi, take Causeway Link CT1 fromJB Sentral and alight at the bus-stop opposite the mall.

If you miss a bus on the way back and have to wait for 1~3 hours for the next bus, it will be better to walk along Jalan Serampang to Tebrau Highway and catch BAS.MY J11 / J15 / J20 / J22 to JB Sentral — or Grab a car.

Getting to Taman Sri Tebrau (Dai Mah Garden)

Using BAS.MY J11 / J15 / J20 / J22, alight at the bus-stop in front of Crystal Crown Hotel — just one stop after Plaza Pelangi — and cross the road to the opposite side.

Note that the dilapidated pedestrian overhead bridge near the bus-stop, with a big screen, had been fenced up since 2023 due to lack of maintenance and is not being repaired / rebuilt till this day. The only way to cross the highway is to jaywalk with extreme care.

Getting Back to JB Sentral

Going back to JB Sentral is easy — just hop onto BAS.MY J11 / J15 / J20 / J22 at any of the bus-stops along Tebrau Highway or take Causeway Link CT1 along its route going towards JB Sentral. The fare should be RM1.40 from Pelangi or RM1.50 from Taman Sri Tebrau.

Note that most BAS.MY services have operation time till after 11pm — the last service of the day will leave their embarkation terminals at around 11pm to JB Sentral. This allows the use of public bus services to get to JB Sentral after visiting the evening-time food havens.

More JB Bus Guides:

Johor Bahru Bus Guides: Get Around Johor Bahru using Public Buses