Carpacker Kuantan-Cherating-Kemaman – Part 4 – Cherating Turtle Conservation and Information Center

Continuing from the great and interesting food places in Kuantan. Click here for the pre-travel.

In the previous entry, I thought the Cherating Turtle Conservation and Information Center was closed since a Google Maps search said “Permanently Closed,” possibly due to the pandemic. Turns out, there are two names for the same location:

• Cherating Turtle Conservation and Information Center
• Cherating Turtle Sanctuary

If you search for Cherating Turtle Sanctuary, it is fully open every day during office hours. Although our visit was years ago, the condition, location, and attractions inside are still the same for readers’ reference.

Below is the location:

The distance from Kuantan city center to this conservation center is 53km. Since we wanted to enjoy the scenery along the coast facing the South China Sea, the route that attracted us was through Beserah. The journey took a bit longer because of the inland road.

This conservation center is open from 9.30 am to 4.30 pm daily. Only on Mondays and Tuesdays, the opening hours sometimes change. Please call 09-581 9087 for confirmation.

For readers’ information, throughout our carpacker trip to Kuantan, Cherating, and Kemaman, we were considered brave because it was the monsoon season. Heavy rain everywhere. Many expected Kuantan city to flood at any time.

Our journey from Kuantan to this conservation center also faced some flooded roads with water rising to 1 foot, but we pressed on. To make our journey worse, the entrance to this conservation center had a lot of water flowing down because the road inside was slightly sloped like going up a hill.

I almost canceled our visit here when I saw the water flowing down the entrance and continued north while thinking. Then, in my heart, I thought, nothing will happen, and besides, we are already here. Who knows when we will visit again? Might as well go now.

We bravely drove into the entrance road of this center and, alhamdulillah, nothing happened. As soon as we got out of the car, a bit drenched and showered by the still heavy rain.

This conservation center opened in 1998 and was officiated by the Chief Minister of Pahang, Dato’ Sri Hj. Mohd Khalil Yaakob. Its location is near the border between Pahang and Terengganu.

Entry is free because it is managed and sponsored by the state government. However, it is up to us to donate when leaving this place. MYR5, MYR10, MYR20, it’s up to you… if you love wildlife and nature.

After passing the counter at the entrance (name needs to be written in the logbook), visitors will enter the exhibition gallery.

There is also a large aquarium full of various small fish and coral.

This is the condition inside the main gallery. It is recommended to hang out here for a while because there is a lot of information about turtles, dugongs, fish, coral, and other marine life.

Besides turtles, dugongs are marine animals often seen on the east coast beaches.

Comparison of dugong and turtle sizes.

Replica of baby turtles that just hatched from eggs.

Then, we headed to the back of this gallery. Here, it is more interesting because many live turtles are being cared for, rehabilitated, and nurtured before being released into the sea.

Be careful when near them because their paddle-shaped arms are very strong and can splash water.

From our observation, the turtles here are quite large. About 1 meter long.

Not just that pool, but many other pools. Unfortunately, we couldn’t explore the other pools because the rain was so heavy, and there were no roofs between the paths here.

Aqif was excited to see the turtles up close.

Confused between tortoises and turtles. But I think this is a tortoise because it has toes.

Baby turtles. These are real turtles because their feet are shaped like paddles.

Finally, we finished at this conservation center. The place is not big. It’s enough to spend 30 minutes here. Most importantly, our family, especially the child, was entertained for the day.

The rain started to ease a bit. On our way back, we stopped by Kemaman, more specifically at Jeti Sungai Chukai. I’ve wanted to come here for a long time just to check out Hotel Riverine and its parking area. This hotel is the best for its location in the middle of Chukai town with a wide view of the Chukai River and other interesting places. It looks like parking there is quite limited and there’s no guarantee of avoiding a fine from the Municipal Council if you overstay.

In front of the hotel, we saw a dining and relaxing area at Jeti Sungai Chukai. It was already 1:38 pm, so we had lunch there. The “nasi campur” served was delicious. Meanwhile, my eyes were wandering around because I didn’t manage to perform Friday prayers, hehe. Can’t lie. For travelers more than 3 marhalah and staying no more than 3 days, it’s not an issue!

That’s all, and I conclude our “carpacker” journey crossing 3 towns/cities/districts from Kuantan to Cherating and Kemaman. After lunch, we went back to Kuantan to enjoy Kula Cakes and then headed straight back to Kuala Lumpur. Thankfully, Kuantan City did not flood severely, and we had no problems.