Getting there
I took the bus since Mr Fluff already there with his car. Quite a number of buses plying the KL-Kuantan route (info here: ) , but I opted for Plusliner because my previous experience with Plusliner to Penang was very good. So Plusliner bus costed me only RM21.90. Plusliner buses stops at Kuantan's main Bus station Kompleks Terminal Makmur. Those interested to know which route the bus took:
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From there, we took the taxi to Legend hotel, which costs RM55. Its standard pricing, so no haggling is required nor allowed.
Legend Hotel
The hotel is nicely situated just about 100mtrs from mainroad, and has a sea frontage. The beach is not a private but part of the long long stretches of beach. It is no bother though, because the next hotel along that stretch is a good distance away. It is also quite a convenient hotel because you can just walk towards the mainroad and you will find a few restaurants there.
Eating out in Cherating
In the morning and afternoon I just went to the restaurants along the mainroad from the hotel. In the morning Paksu's restaurant serves roti canai, nasi dagang and the likes.
In the afternoon i tried D'Cherating restaurant, if you are ever there, please try the Mee Kari. It is yummy and reasonably priced at RM4.50.
For dinner, we actually tried two different restaurant. We first went to Restaurant Awang upon recommendation from Paksu Cherating. Food was ok, to me nothing to shout about. The way food is priced is based on the weight. So you select the fish/seafood you want, they'll weight it and then you just tell them what sort of dish you want (bakar only/sweetsour, black pepper etc). Not knowing how much it would cost (since we cant tell unless you so kiasuly calculate when they weight), we didnt go crazy but just take moderately. But when the bill came I thought the price was reasonable, we took - 1 x ikan pari, 2 pieces of ketam, about 2 pieces of sotong and a bit of udang, those together with kangkung goreng belacan , drinks and rice came up to only RM66.30. To get to restaurant Awang, from Legend hotel just drive on towards Kemaman, it is somewhere about 2-3 kms away on the left side.
Despite the dinner we just had, I didnt feel enough, so we thought we'd go for a drink at the other place we saw when we went boating. It is in Kampung Cherating, its right infront of Hafiz tourist center (GPS 4.126667, 103.391667) Its the red color shop, the last shop. Though the selection of fish and seafood is not as many as Awang's, it was still ok. Taste wise, i prefer this one, cos I think it is better, and price is also great. Imagine, a big serving of Lala is only RM4, kerang RM5 and sotong RM15. I also ordered mihun hailam, tamak punya pasal kan, but the serving was huge, i cant even finish half of it.
Activities
I was there for a really short trip. So didnt get to do much. But managed to get info from Paksu Cherating on whats available there.
River cruise
We went for river cruise. It costs RM20 per person (no pickup, need to get to there yourself) and the cruise takes about 2 hours. They'll take you to see some amazing mangroves, wildlife animals such as snake, bats, biawak, birds etc. Beautiful landscaped, and an insight of things you dont see everyday. Apparently the river where we cruised is like more than 25mtrs deep! No wonder the water look sooo dark. The standard take offs (for walk ins) are at 9AM and 4PM daily, however if you come in a group (boat can fit up to 6 persons), you can request for different departure time.
Fireflies
Another popular activity is Fireflies watching. Costs around RM15, and starts at 8PM. I didnt do the Fireflies - opted for makan instead. Mana tak gemuk kan. Anyway, makan wasnt the only reason I decided not to go (saja la excuse) but apparently the best time to go is when it is pitch dark, or when moon is not full. When we were there the moon was exceptionally full and bright, so the kelip2 would loose a bit of its lustre because of it. But next time, I would surely give it a go.
Turtle watching
Again, another big hit for our eastern coastal is of course tengok penyu. Didnt go as well, because Paksu (the tukang roti canai cum tourist guide) told me that his recommendations is to go around June. Sightings of turtle is actually possible between February to September (off moonsoon period). During early months between February to June you will get to see the big ones (egg-hatching mother turtles). And subsequently between June to September, they'd be letting go the lil' ones (hatched baby turtles) to the sea. So if you go around June, you'll have added advantage of seeing both the mothers and their babies returning to the sea. Mental note: To go again somewhere in June.
Oh by the way, turtle watching costs around only RM10, if you actually go to the site yourself. So if you are looking at a budget kind of visit, should just find your own way there instead of taking the excursions kind of trip which costs whole lot more.
Jungletrekking & waterfalls
Other activities around there is Jungle trekking and going to the waterfalls. There are two kind of trips. The common trip one is categorised as 'easy' and suitable for all ages. Just about 15-30 mins walk to reach waterfalls and on well used path. Whole trip will probably only take you about 2-3hours. But for those who wants more advanterous trip, there's also a whole day excursions which requires a serious trekking. Needless to say, I didnt go to either one since takde kasut... lame excuse ;)
So that pretty much sums up the Cherating trip. Sorry I dont have photos to accompany my post, since I no longer have a camera.. sob sob sob...
(but nantilah if I am rajin I will copy some from Akmal's camera since he brought his).
Till then peeps... Enjoy nature and be supportive of SAVING OUR EARTH!
Excellent post
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