Surfing in Malaysia? Yea you gotta believe it

19 - 21 March 2010

Yes yes I’ve been lazy! Or busy more likely… My darling Jerry is here and we’ve been too caught up exploring Asia that I’ve been neglecting my blog. Tubing at KKB, hikes at Fraser’s Hill, CNY with the family, Cameron Highlands, Bali, Samui, Phangan.. and now Cherating. Phew.. what a hectic month! Will try to upload if I have time.

Collage of what we did the past month

After a week’s breather in KL where Jerry got so bored he cleaned the house (which was really sweet of him), we decided to head to Cherating to check out the surf. Yes. There IS surf in Malaysia. Did some research and got in touch with SatuSuku Surf, apparently the only surf school in Malaysia. Harun 012-2237546 was so kind to even book a chalet (RM60 a night) for us at Payung Guesthouse.

SatuSuku Surf in Cherating

Our chalet at Payung Guest House

Surfing, mainly left-hander breaks, can be done in Cherating during the monsoon season (Nov-March) and it’s best during low tide. There’s basically just one spot where you can catch the waves and it’s great for beginners as the current doesn’t pull you out to sea.

Was surprised watching the surfers. The local guys are quite good! The little kids especially. Quite interesting to watch them riding the waves without a care in the world. Paddling out against the current looked tiring though.

Jerry waxing his board before hitting the waves

Jerry caught a few waves and I could almost hear him squealing in delight as he rode it with a huge grin on his face. Kk.. couldn’t really see him from so far but I could imagine it! He even woke up early to catch the morning waves in the heavy rain and all.

Catching some waves

Managed to video the last half of his wave

Besides surfing, there’s nothing much to do here. Cherating is really really really quiet! Very surprising as I thought it would be packed cause of school holidays but it felt like a ghost town. We walked up and down several times and kept meeting the same people trying to while away time.

Deserted Cherating

It rained the whole of Saturday, just our luck as the locals said it hasn’t been raining the past few days. Luckily it stopped at night and we were able to go on the firefly trip along the river. The boatman apologized to us saying that not many are out because of the rain but I thought there were quite a lot of fireflies anyway.

It was a pretty sight, with hundreds of tiny lights lighting up the trees as we cruised down the river in our little boat. Our boatman had a red light which attracted the fireflies and we managed to catch a few and watch it blink on our palms. Don’t worry.. no insects were hurt during the entire process..:) He did say the river had crocodiles and a 5m one was tangled in a fisherman’s net a few years back. Hmm..

This was the ONLY pic I that turned out ok. Rest was just pitch black.

Visited the turtle sanctuary (next to Club Med) before we left as it was just 2km away. Nothing much to see there except for the turtles swimming in the pool. Entrance is free but donations are encouraged. We were lucky as we got to see 10 5-day-old turtle hatchlings which were sooo cute! They released the rest into the sea already. Takes 20 years before they grow up & come back to lay their eggs. Long time huh?

Cherating Turtle Sanctuary

That’s all for our weekend in Cherating. Will try to upload more when I have time. Till our next adventure…