REDISCOVERING MALAYSIA!
EXPLORING THE REMOTE BEACHES OF MALAYSIA’S EAST COAST!
Words Chris Pressler // Photos Kerstin Reiger
The coast is lined with huge palm trees and their leaves almost touch the South Chinese Sea. They have survived tornados, heavy storms and rain floods. The long sandy beach looks untouched, maiden, freshly cleaned and runs relatively steep down towards the ocean where a powerful beach break produces a periodical sound. It’s an impressive scene with the light from the sun, which is already low over the green mystic hills. We park George’s white Pajero in the first lane between two palm trees. There are no other cars within sight. Welcome to the real Malaysia!
EAGER ARRIVALS
We had arrived in Kijal, a typical east Malaysian village – they are called Kampungs, and they count around 4000 inhabitants, but on the road to the beach we saw more water buffalos than human beings! Excited kids showed up quickly after our arrival and watched every move we made. Are we the first windsurfers at this remote location? Before I answer that, let’s rewind a little.
HISTORY
I have travelled to Malaysia twice before, always during the windy season, which starts in the end of October, when the north easterly monsoon season kicks in. This period normally lasts till March and can bring some heavy rain during the first months and hits the coasts of Taiwan, Penghu Island, Hainan, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and the eastern coastline of Malaysia. A cold winter on the mainland in China produces a strong north easterly Monsoon. From May till September the Monsoon shifts direction by 180° and blows from a south western direction.
During the 90’s huge races were held in Malaysia, even World Cups between 1991 and 1993. Some of the superstars were battling for up to 30.000 US dollars prize money!. The Asian tour had a stop there once a year from 1998 – 2007. In 2007 I was invited to the Monsoon Madness race event and flew in from the Philippines, where I was attending the Boracay Cup. The event was an attempt by the local tourism to promote windsurfing and make water sports more popular in Malaysia. I was staying in nearby Kuantan for almost a week in January and was competing with a few dudes from Australia, Poland, South East Asia, Japan, Singapore and even the UK. It was a tough race. I remember drinking six bottles of water during one competition day. The climate was really extreme to compete, not just the Formula 1 racers suffer in Malaysia in their cockpits year by year! We struggled with the high humidity and temperatures, especially when competing during midday hours. The tough race event didn’t change anything in my attitude to Malaysia. I really liked it. The relaxed atmosphere in the local restaurants, the stable wind and the warm water temperatures. All you needed were board shorts and a lycra during the day when windsurfing. I knew I would return one day to drive around and discover more beaches where Kerstin could shoot new angles of a relatively unknown country on the windsurfing map.
We were around in Bangkok, testing some gear for Starboard and saw a nice dry weather forecast for the region of Kuantan, Malaysia for the following week. It was relatively simple to book a flight from Thailand’s capital to KL (Kuala Lumpur) and an inland connection flight to Kuantan in the state of Pahang, the third largest in Malaysia.
KUANTAN
The largely mountainous state of Pahang flattens out towards the coastline, and this is where the state capital Kuantan is located. The perfect base for our explorations in search of new windsurfing spots in the South Chinese Sea. This is where our friend George lives. The city is the largest along the east coast and has all the facilities western tourists would expect. There are also many islands offshore, including Pulau Tioman with its extensive coral reef systems. The finest stretches of beach are found from Kuantan heading to Terrenganu and these were exactly what we were looking for. Almost all beaches are sandy, wide and lined with palm trees. A bit of tropical charm. The spots are around the 4th degree of latitude which is quite close to the equator so not the area you would normally expect to find wind. We were out to prove this theory wrong!
GEORGE WARREN (famous windsurfing ex-pat)
“The best months are January, February and March, but you get wind from November till beginning of April” our friend George Warren told us. George is a passionate windsurfer himself. Work brought him to Malaysia. “I started to work in the oil and gas business in 1983. I had tried to windsurf in earlier years in the UK. In Malaysia I definitely discovered the sport and made huge progress.”
“A high pressure over China and a low pressure over Japan creates the wind from a north eastern direction. Some heavy storms create swells between November and February. 0.5 to 2 m high waves break at exposed beaches, which work best in February and March, when the rain is less. From April till October it’s pretty flat. In general it’s very tricky with the weather during the windy monsoon season. What happens is that for the first one or two weeks of the monsoon, which normally would be in November or early December, you have a period of rain for one or two weeks. It can rain almost every day. But after that you usually get sunny windy weather again”
George picked us up from the tiny airport of Kuantan. “This white car will be yours during the period of your stay. We will spend two days together, but I then have to leave together with my wife. You get the keys for our apartment and please keep the windows closed. Otherwise the long tail macaques, cheeky monkeys, will take a seat on our sofa or grab fruits out of the fridge!”
WARM WELCOME
When we walked off the plane at Sultan Ahmad Shad Airport, our final destination at Kuantan – all the passengers had to make their way from the plane to the arrival hall, even the crew. I immediately sensed the pleasant anticipation to discover something new. We felt welcome immediately. The local people, mostly Muslim, were interested in what we were doing here as we dragged the eye-catching board bags out of the little airport. Some of the people asked with a certain respect as we explained our goals. They wished us good luck and a great stay in Malaysia. Some of them were wondering why we were not in Kuala Lumpur, where most of the tourists photograph the famous Petronas Towers or why we weren’t visiting the popular islands of Langkawi or Penang, where many tourists travel each year. We obviously had decided to discover a less prominent region for foreign travellers.
ACTION STATIONS AT BALOK
The first days brought us to the beaches around Kuantan. We were lucky as the wind showed up upon our arrival. The strongest periods of the day were during midday and in the early afternoon. At Balok the monsoon picked up to 20 knots and allowed nice jumps. No other windsurfers were out there in the crisp side onshore conditions. We just met Leo, a local kite surfer and Wolfgang from Mannheim, Germany, who started to run the cosy beach bar at the former Duta Village.
“Balok beach has had so much wind recently and it’s so relaxed here. Always warm and the nice view on the beach makes me happy. The area is safe with a friendly population and it’s not too bad to get some rainfall during the day. It’s just comfortable for people from Europe, who aren’t used to the hot temperatures” he told us. Immediately we were convinced that our decision to travel to the eastern coast of Malaysia was a solid call. The brown water reminded us of the conditions at our home spot Lake Neusiedl, but the ramps for jumping were much steeper and the tropical feeling wasn’t the same as sailing on a lake in Europe. A few hours later, we ate local seafood at Pak Su, in the village (Kampung) of Baharu, with the moonlight above the breaking waves of the South Chinese Sea. We really enjoyed our stay and only paid 14 € for a huge lobster menu! At low tide and during day time there is a nice spot to launch just next to the restaurant and have a lunch after.
TELUK CHEMPEDAK
Just next to our place in Kuantan the next little jewel is hidden: Teluk Chempedak beach. This spot is well known for the five star Hyatt Regency Kuantan Resort, the huge trees, hundreds of monkeys, fast food restaurants, an attractive beach, huge granite boulders and good surf. The north eastern monsoon blows around the headland and allowed me to cruise through the bay, just in front of a green forest, a typical Malaysian scene. A few Malaysian Islamic women and their children spent the day at the beach, let local kites fly, bathed in the water with all their clothes on and watched me windsurfing in the bay, where little waves were breaking. Teluk Chempedak beach definitely has potential and can work well for surfing too as it’s a natural point, which brings the waves into order. Several surfing contests were held at that beach. Windsurfing at this spot, in front of the huge green trees was awesome.
Nearly two-thirds of the state is enveloped in verdant rainforest, which are up to 130 million years old. But now we planned to search for further jewels along the coast where we heard the water should be less murky!
KIJAL
After more adventures along the coast we found a beach near Kijal, called Penunjuk Beach, with an awesome setup. It faces south east and is framed by massive granite rock formations at the eastern end. The north eastern monsoon hits the beach side onshore and it was obvious a massive tornado had hit the area recently as many palm trees were completely damaged. The road leads along the beach with a few houses a respectable distance from the sea …obviously for a reason! Nice swell runs into the bay and the water is turquoise blue. Local kids have spotted us and are immediately interested when I started to rig the gear. All seems to be perfect. Suddenly a local car drove extremely quickly in our direction. I was nervous! All the ingredients for a nice session were ready. A golden yellow shining beach, relatively clean, nice side onshore waves. But we didn’t get a single smile except from the young local kids, when driving through the village. Aren’t we welcome on that beach? Is it a holy place, which doesn’t allow foreigners to touch or perhaps owned by a private person and we would need a permission? So far it’s the best looking windsurfing spot we’ve seen. It’s exactly the spot we were looking for during our trip. I was actually a bit disappointed not to have my wave gear.
The jeep parks next to our Pajero and a man on a high energy level jumped out and came towards us. “Hi I am Ibrahim. How is the wind force, too strong, 4 to 5?” We are impressed. Someone from such a remote village knows the windsurfers language? “Yes, close to 5”, I answer. “Today the wind is lighter at Penunjuk beach. Normally we measure force 5 – 7”. He continues to explain to us that he is a windsurfer too, but it’s too rough for him here.
My feet dug deep into the golden sand, when I walked down the steep sloping beach to the water’s edge, where I launched for the first time at Ibrahim’s home spot. The pressure in my sail felt great. We reckoned we would get 12 to 15 knots at Kijal. But conditions were much better and improved during our stay. The greenish-blue waters made the session even nicer. And it was easy to show some nice jibes and turns to impress local rider Ibrahim. When I returned after a few nice turns and jumps with the free ride gear, a lot of kids were already lined up at the beach and I offered them to step on the board and hold the rig for the first time in their life. What a great moment. Then Ibrahim invited us to his wooden house. Sitting on the terrace with a great sea view was an unforgettable moment on our trip along Malaysia’s east coast. Ibrahim told us that he was extremely delighted that windsurfing works so well at Kijal and asked us if we will return and we promised we would be back! We loved the Malay hospitality, the warm climate and the surprisingly excellent windsurfing conditions.
Next time we would definitely drive straight to Kijal to check the waves. Further north are several nice beaches to launch too: Kemasik and the beaches around Pantai Tanjong Jara, but none of them beat Kijal to be honest.
SUMMARY
On our long drive back to Kuantan we felt happy. Everything had gone smooth. We had found a dream spot, which was worth the several hundred kilometres drive and met a local windsurfer in a remote village by coincidence, like a needle in a haystack. Malaysia is a safe and cheap country with a good infrastructure and ample road signs and petrol stations. It’s not difficult to travel around and discover new spots on your own. The white Pajero of George had a few thousand kilometres added on its clock, but the engine still ran fine after our trips along the east coast. It was the perfect vehicle for driving the unpaved roads through remote Kampungs and towards the ocean in search of new spots.
What I failed to tell George was the fact, that I forgot to close the door to the balcony once and the cheeky long tail macaques went on a mission to steal all his fruit. But when they saw me they escaped as fast as they showed up and ran back to the balcony’s handrail!
FACT BOX
WINDSURFING SPOTS:
Teluk Chempedak beach (region Pahang): Kuantan’s city spot, works fine for SUP and surf too, can get busy on weekends, the Surf Club is located in the bay.
Balok Beach (region Pahang): best spot near to Kuantan, next to the recreation park of Balok village, mushy waves, freeride spot, starting point for down winders, small granite islands, amazing view!
Le Village Beach Resort (region Pahang): beach break, good for jumping and side onshore wave riding when the wind picks up, nice forest along the beach, great place to stay!
Pantai Chendor: big sandbanks, good for SUP, but works for windsurfing, spots for turtles, respect the nature there!
Kijal (region Terengganu): remote spot, nice water colours, powerful beach break, bring a 5.7 and a big wave board in case it’s windy!
Pantai Tanjong Jara: sand dunes, steady winds and waves can be decent.
Kampung Tanjung Resing (region Johor): remote, quiet, very simple area, around 200 km further south from Kuantan, you can combine it with a trip to Tioman island.
Cherating (surfing spot with windsurfing potential): for surfing, best at low tide, 1- 4’, surf rentals, Billabong Pro Ams took place at this spot, the wave allows several turns, 50km north of Kuantan.
FOOD:
Food is relatively cheap, rice is the main dish, they have KFC and many local restaurants, villages look similar to Thailand or Morocco.
WEATHER:
Malaysia is warm and humid, a tropical climate, the temperatures range from 21° – 32° in the coastal areas of Pahang and 26° – 32° in the state of Terengganu. It is board shorts weather. Rainfalls happen several times a day. It is very rare to get clear skies all day, most rainfall is between October and December!
GEAR:
Bring free ride gear, sail size around 7.5m with a 110 -120 litre board and big wave gear – a 90 – 95 litre board and a 5.3 to 5.7 sail. If you have room an inflatable SUP and a surf board (Stormrider shows 60 – 70 % consistency of swell during the period from November till February), a tent, a pocket light and a backpack!
FLIGHTS:
Fly to Kuala Lumpur or Singapore, rent a car there and drive to Kuantan or take a connecting flight. Kuantan is situated about 260 km from Kuala Lumpur and 370 km from Singapore.
CAR RENTAL:
Car rentals are easy and cheap at Kuantan.
www.airportrentals.com/malaysia/kuantan-airport-car-rental/
LANGUAGE:
Malay (Bahasa Melayu) is the national language, but English is widely spoken.
CURRENCY:
Malaysian Ringgit, 1 £ = 6.5 Ringgit at time of press
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