Destination: Cherating and Kijal
Travel duration: 3 days 2 nights
Departing from: Kuala Lumpur
Day 1:
To celebrate my girl friend’s birthday, we visited east coast for a 3 days 2 nights trip. We went to Cherating (Pahang) and Kijal (Terengganu) and managed to enjoy a leisure trip under the sun and by the beach.
We departed from Kuala Lumpur at about 6am and reached Cherating at around 10am. We booked a beach resort called Ranting Beach Resort and it cost us about RM120. Although the resort doesn’t looks good at its exterior, but the interior is very tidy and clean. As soon as we have settled down, we drive to the nearby attractions for sightseeing.
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Cherating Turtle Sanctuary – Get close with the turtles
We drop by at the Cherating Turtle Sanctuary. A staff told us that there will be a group of baby turtles to be released back to the sea and if we are lucky, we may be able to see the giant turtles come to the beach to breed. We were so excited and can’t wait for the night to come!
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Kedai Kopi Hai Peng – Taste the local made coffee
After the Cherating Turtle Sanctuary visit, we went to one of the famous coffee shops in Kemaman, Kedai Kopi Hai Peng. Before the trip, one of my friends told me that our trip to Cherating is not complete without paying a visit to this shop, so we include this coffee shop as one of our must visit destinations in the itinerary. The design and decoration in the shop is quite unique and if you are a coffee lover, there are numerous flavours of coffee waiting to be shopped. There are also quite a lot of displays on the wall that showcase the historical story of the shop. We left the shop after brunch.
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Enjoy a slow stroll by the beach
It was about 2pm after back from the coffee shop, so we decided to go to the beach and have a slow romantic walk. The water in Cherating beach is quite shallow but the water is very clear. To my opinion, Cherating beach is better than the beach in Port Dickson and the Morib beach if one is to enjoy water sport or swim.
There is a beach café and bar by the beach, it is quite a good place for relax especially during the sunset.
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Get close with the turtle, again!
At 8pm, we went back to the Cherating Turtle Sanctuary to witness the wonderful moment of turtles being released back to the sea. We gathered at the beach and every one of us hold one turtle on our hand. It is simply amazing by looking at the baby turtle swim back to the sea. Since there might be turtles come to the beach for breeding, so we are not allowed to capture any photo. That night, we waited until 3am in the morning but had no luck to see such one in a life time moment.
 Day 2:
Wake up early in the second day morning and wanted to see sun rise, but it was a cloudy day and we missed again to see the beautiful moment. However, looking at the beautiful beach and sea, our disappointment was all gone. Along the beach, we also see a lot of sand castles built creatively.
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After breakfast in Cherating, we depart for our next destination, Kijal. We booked a resort called Awana Kijal and the resort is located very near to the beach. The wave was quite strong on that day and we were not able to swim in the sea. By the beach, there is a small kiosk, the kiosk is very good for relax while listening to the sea water splashing on the beach. There is also a swimming pool within the resort, a very spacious pool to swim.
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At night, we went back to Kemaman for dinner and we managed to taste the famous stuffed crab.
Day 3:
In the morning, we enjoy our buffet breakfast in the resort. After the breakfast, we rented a bicycle and start strolling at the nearby attractions before we call and end to our trip.
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We were told by our friend that there is a very beautiful beach called Pantai Kemasik located not far away from Awana Kijal, unfortunately we missed this beach.
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Trip report by: Sean
