2007 Sep: Carloads of fun in Kuantan (Lifestyle mag)

Carloads of fun in Kuantan

Waterfall, pristine beach, kaya toast and nasi lemak, kampong-style accommodation, fresh seafood, and watching the release of baby turtles into the sea – what could be a more relaxing family holiday? Valerie Tay convinces us that the best things in life, while not free, can be very inexpensive.

WITH practiced ease, the hubby and I got our four kids, age between one and eight, washed and dressed, and out of the flat to the meeting point bright and early.

My two sisters and their family had arrived in their cars too. All three cars head for the Causeway, beginning our nine-day driving trip up the east coast of Malaysia.

On crossing over to Malaysian soil, our large group of 16, comprising nine children and seven adults, troupe into a coffeeshop in Johor Bahru for a roti canai breakfast before we head for our first stop of the day - Kota Tinggi.

First stop - Kota Tinggi
The kids are eager to get into the clean, clear water of the falls. The older ones head for the deeper spots and got right under the falling water, while the young ones waded in the shallows.

After enjoying the falls, we stopped at Mersing for a seafood lunch before gunning for Kuantan, which is 325km from Johor Bahru. From Singapore, it took us some six hours of driving to get there.

Beserah Beach
We discovered Duta Sands Resort along the coastal road and decided it was a nice place to stay. Our accommodation was little huts on raised stilts, complete with a verandah.

The resort is located at the Beserah Beach stretch of Kuantan, and to everyone’s delight, the beach was smooth and the waves gentle - perfect for young children to play on.

After initial hesitation, the kids were soon picking hermit crabs off the beach, collecting them in a little pool they had dug in the sand, and racing one hermit crab against another.

Delicious stuffed crabs
At dinner time, we drove out to the seafood restaurant recommended by resort staff. The local dish I remember most was the stuffed crab. Crab meat and finely diced vegetables mixed into a paste, stuffed into the crab shell and deep-fried. Delicious!

After dinner each night, we would gather in a room, and while the kids played, the adults bantered over coffee. Sometimes, we would feast on cheap and good durians bought earlier from roadside stalls.

When our two nights were up, we resumed our journey. A few kampungs flew past us till we arrive at Kampung Cherating.

Cherating, at last!
Our rooms were also wooden huts, but Ranting Resort had a nice kampung feel, the paths leading to the huts nothing more than dirt tracks.

Greenery is everywhere, chickens scratch the dirt by the pond and a rooster announces the break of dawn. The children found out how swift-footed the feathered ones were when they tried catching one, and that chickens can, indeed, fly!

Whilst we were almost alone on Beserah Beach, it was obvious Cherating Beach was more popular with visitors. As the tide receded towards the end of the day, it unveiled the long, long stretch of the lovely beach.

After three nights in Cherating, we moved on. Just a little distance away, we descended upon Suria Resort at Kampung Kemaman.

Hai Peng - the local ‘Starbucks’
Between the beach and Suria’s pool, we found time to explore the area.

A local told us that Hai Peng coffeeshop was “the local equivalent of Starbucks” and “some 8,000 cups of coffee are sold a day”, so we headed for Cherating Town in search of it.

Hai Peng’s charm lies in its quaint, old-coffeeshop setting with snatches of modern decor. The coffee was excellent, and there was toast bread with kaya and butter, nasi lemak and other local favorites.

We also stopped by the Turtle Sanctuary, but nothing much was happening there till a staff offered to show us baby turtles.

Baby turtles in our hands
The sight of a hundred wriggling baby turtles kept in plastic containers greeted us. We oohed and aahed over these beautiful creatures that shone with a sparkling, liquid sheen.

They had long front legs like gracefully arched paddles.

Sanctuary staff dig up eggs laid on the beach and transfer them into incubators. After hatching, the baby turtles are released in the sea in a effort to prevent extinction, as some locals dig up the eggs to eat - a delicacy here.

What luck, a batch of baby turtles were to be released that night! At 9pm, we headed for the sanctuary again. When the babies were finally released at the beach, the little creatures instinctively shuffled energetically to the sea. On reaching the water’s edge, they seemed to float for an instant before they were swallowed by the darkness of the sea.

After our final night’s stay in Kuantan, we made a beeline for JB to fill up on more food and shopping, before heading back home to Singapore.

My family of six spent just S$1,000 for the nine-day trip, money well-spent I feel, for even now, three years after the trip, the kids love flipping through the album.