The Old Days: Day Trip to Kukup and Tanjung Piai @ Johor

I have heard from friends about Kukup and the adjacent Tanjung Piai (the southern tip of mainland Asia) in Johor, and wanted to visit them all this while.

Looking at the map, both places are separated from Singapore for a mere 20 km by Strait of Johor. However, there is no direct access from Tuas checkpoint to either places. We have to drive up via North - South Highway after exiting Tuas Checkpoint, exit at Highway exit 307, and then followed the sign leading to Pontian (about 68 km), driving pass Pekan Nenas along the way. Barring any jam at Singapore/Malaysia immigration checkpoints, the whole journey takes just over 1 hour.

I was finally able to make a day trip to visit these two places on 15 Dec (Sunday)5, together with my wife, Cheng Kai and Cheng Jie, my brother-in-law Toh Yiang and my niece Kia Wei. We began our journey around 9.30 am (after I had completed my morning hospital round). We cleared the Singapore immigration quite smoothly, but was caught up with long jam at Malaysian checkpoint. It took over one hour to clear the custom! The drive to Kukup was very smooth. We stopped over at Pontian for lunch. And of course, we specifically looked for the famed Heng Heng Noodle Shop with the help of our friendly GPS. I thought the noodles were probably over-rated. I had eaten much better ones in other places, let alone my hometown Nibong Tebal. Somehow, Cheng Kai liked it (and he is usually not easily pleased with food).

Walking towards Heng Heng Noodle Shop

After lunch, we drove further south for another 10-15 minutes towards Kukup. Upon reaching Kukup, we parked our car in front of some shop houses near the local bus station, and walked about 200 m to the one and only main road leading towards jetty. Shop houses, sea food restaurants and chalets could be seen flanking the right side of the road, while private parking lots / primary school building occupied the land on the opposite side. The narrow road was made even more crowded by cars parking by the road side, and tourists strolling around. The houses/chalets were built on stilts. It was low tide when we arrived, uncovering the not so clean "mud" beneath the houses. The air had a tinge of salted fish smell. The place was quite rustic, and not too clean. Empty bottles, rubbish, styrofoam board were strewn all over the places by the shore. Definitely not a place for swimming.

Spotted a snake gliding on the puddle of mud water

After exploring the chalets and their surroundings, we made our way to the jetty for a boat ride to Kukup Island National Park and the pseudo-Kelong (which is actually fishing farm). There are two private companies running the boat services (so called blue and yellow boats). We took the blue boat. The return trip which covered visits to Kukup island and fish farm cost RM 5 each (excluding entrance fees to Kukup Island National Park, RM5 /adult, RM 3/child for Malaysians).

The "blue" boat

Sitting on the boat... quite spacioius

Pulau Kukup Johor National Park

Fish farm

Handsome Kai strikes!

Jetty @ Pulau Kukup National Park

For me, Kukup Island National Park is high light of the trip and should not be missed. It has one of the world largest enclave of mangroves. The world tallest mangrove tree, and the mangrove tree with the highest root can both be found in the park. The walk on the mini suspension bridge was exhilarating/exciting, and the view from the top floor of observation tower was very refreshing! We took a boat ride along Sungai Ular (Snake River), the largest among 6 rivers found in the park and apparently the only one accessible by boat. It cost RM 3 per person, and is worth every penny of it. We saw many tiny crabs and huge mudskipper on the river shores.

Walking towards the entrance of the park

Suspension bridge. Three persons at a time...

Sungai Ular, the largest river in the park

Monkeys abound in the park

The tallest mangrove tree in the world

The tallest root growing from mangrove trees

Posing in front of the tallest root

Observation Tower

The view from the observation tower

Riding a boat along Sungai Ular

The fishing farm further ahead

Approaching the Jetty

After visiting the national park, we took the same blue boat to visit the adjacent fishing farm. We were entertained by a 12-year-old boy, who ran a rather perfunctory commentary on the fishes that were reared in the farm, and showed us a live puffer fish ballooning up its belly. Then came the parting shot was " 看完后可以到这边买鱼"! The boatman later told us this is not a real Kelong, but a fishing farm. One cannot fish here, let alone stay overnight (as the Kelong in Mersing)! I must admit it was quite a let down.

The boy who entertained us in the fish farm

puffer fish

All of us were quite exhausted and thirsty after the walk in Kukup Island and the visit to fish farm. We took a break in a drink stall near the jetty, savouring some cold desserts (ice kacang, ice passion fruits, and ice chocolates). We bought some local delicacies from a minimart, before driving to our next destination, Tanjung Piai.

Tanjung Piai is reputed to be located at the southernmost tip of mainland Asia. It is a mangrove wetland as that of Kukup Island National Park. The main attraction is none other than its coast, touted as the southernmost tip of Asia. The walk leading to the tip was quite scenic. Standing on the platform at the southern tip facing the Strait of Johor, with glimpse of Singapore lying across the strait, I was overwhelmed with a strange inexplicable feeling of helplessness /emptiness and melancholy.

Sandbags along the coast to prevent soil erosion

not sure what had caused this destruction

At Tanjung Piai Resort

We wrapped up the day trip by taking seafood dinner at the 海京海鲜楼 at Kukup. We ordered some crabs, fish, prawn and vegetables. The food was quite pleasant and cheap. On the home, we stopped briefly by the road to buy some local fruits. Again, it took a while before we could clear the customs on both side of 2nd link. By the time we reached Singapore, it's already 10 pm.

Sunset at Kukup