Desaru Beach

The kids had a grand time at Desaru Beach recently. The sand was fine, the water clear and cool. So much better than Port Dickson or even some of the more popular public beaches of Langkawi. The only downside is the distance from Kuala Lumpur. It is a longggggg drive. About six hours of what felt like an equally shared distance of highways and trunk roads. For most destination, once you get off the highway, it is only a few minutes on the trunk road before you arrive. Not in this case, even I ended up asking the dreaded question "Are we THERE yet ?".

Exit the highway at Kulai Toll, head towards Kulai town and turn left at the sixth traffic light towards Kota Tinggi and Mersing. Bypass Kota Tinggi Town and drive straight towards Mersing until a four way junction and turn right towards Bandar Penawar. At Bandar Penawar, lookout for a Petronas station on the left and turn left immediately after the station. Drive straight and follow the signage towards the Desaru Resort area.

There are quite a few attractions in the vicinity, for instance, the Fisherman's museum, Tanjung Balau recreation park and of course seafood restaurants. The only catch is that you have to drive for a bit as they are spread around. In the vicinity of the Desaru Beach itself there is a small petting zoo (we didn't go), go cart, horse riding and archery. The kids insisted on spending most of the time there at either the beach or the pool.

In conclusion, I recommend that the PD, Melaka or Cherating crowd to go at least once or more if you don't mind the long drive. Its an interesting change of holiday destination.