Live Life Truly: Surfing at Cherating

Sometime during late Jan this year, I went on a surfing experience at Cherating, a quiet beach at the northern eastern side of Malaysia.

From my understanding, there are a few places to surf/learn surfing in Malaysia.

You can do so in Mersing (Johor) & Cherating (Near Kuantan). I also heard that there are surf schools in Desaru as well, but i'm not too sure about that.

Cherating is a good place for beginners to learn, as it has a sandy bottom (no worries about falling down) and the waves are manageable.

super low tide on the day i visited. nice quiet beach.

Surf School at Cherating:

2 Surf Schools at Cherating.

1. Cherating Point (http://cheratingpoint.com)

2. Satusuku (http://satusuku.com/content_2_1.htm)

During my surf trip, i engaged and sign up for a surf lesson from Cherating Point. I choosed Cherating Point as their website has frequent updates. I contacted Zairil through email and got respond fairly quickly. He speaks English, so no problems communicating.

Cherating Point runs it business more "family like" from a local resort, Matahari Guest House. People here are more chill and friendly in my opinion.

Cherating Point surf school from Matahari Guest House

surf board

I managed to walk pass Satusuku surf school to take a peep hows the business like. Visually, it feels like Satusuku runs their business more "american style". They have a shop front (facing a road), with tables and chairs for surfers to chill out, drink beer and listen to rock music. Its a pity that i did not get the chance to try out their surf classes, so to my readers, you may like to try out surfing with Satusuku in future and let me know your experience.

Surf Experience:

Its my second time surfing, and still, its very taxing for my shoulders. I see the ang mo walk from the coast towards the surf area easily and tried, but found out its extremely difficult. Seriously, I don know how the ang mo do the walk, they are like so stable moving forward and i was like wobbling through out making inches. Hell, i am not even halfway from the coastline towards the surf area. So no choice, buck up and paddle hard.

This time round, i learn about looking at waves and identifying which waves are suitable for surfing. I still need to practice on turning, so forward no problem for now. Soon, you may start seeing me doing tricks.. Hahaaa..

Cherating Town:

Cherating town is north of Kuantan, about 50km away. There is only 1 main road in Cherating, and i guess the only way for land transport to get in. There is this area concentrated with resorts/chalets for guest to stay in somewhere near Kampong Cherating.

Its just about a 100m walk from the mainroad to the resort area. The bus uncle will usually know where you are referring to when you tell him you want to alight at the Cheating beach resort area to learn surfing etc.

If you are coming from Kuantan, i heard from fellow travelers that you can take the bus towards Kuala Terengganu to alight halfway along the resort busstop. I've not tried it before so double confirm this yourself. Cab from Kuantan should cost around RM50-70 per car. I personally rent a car from Kuantan to drive down to Cherating as I wanted to explore the area is greater details.

Coming from Singapore/Johor, its possible to take a bus towards Kemaman (Geliga) and similarly, alight at the mainroad outside the resort. Kemaman is the nearest town with a bus terminal from Cherating.

Cherating Resort Area

Resorts/Food At Cherating:

Satusuku site has a very comprehensive list of resort available for reference, with approx price available. Here the link: http://satusuku.com/content_14_1.htm

Food wise, I saw 2 Chinese restaurants around the area, but they mainly do dinner. There is also a mini-mart around the corner to sell the daily necessity.

I also saw that there is massage service, good idea for the aching shoulders after surfing.

There also a Transnasional Bus Ticket agent within the resort region, which allow you to buy your bus tickets directly. At the same shop, there are also computers for you to use internet.