I attempted a $100 trip to Pulau Kapas!
Pulau Kapas entered my travel radar a few years ago. I was looking for a quick getaway from Singapore, with a hundred bucks limit. Fine sand, stretching as far as the eye could see, and tantalising write ups about this exotic island not overrun by tourists yet, came after a few pages of research. I was sold.
It was my first time crossing the Woodlands causeway at night, and it
was surprisingly quick and painless, no queues at all at both sides of immigration. From the Malaysian side of the border, it was another bus ride to Larkin Sentral. Larkin Sentral was
a bit intimidating at first, with men soliciting passengers for rides to
Singapore. It was recently upgraded and gone were the days of competing bus companies and touts. There is now a centralised ticket system, adopted by both
machines and counters, and I got my bus tickets to Marang easily.
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| This was the ticket machine. Larkin Sentral was home to a McDonalds and Subway, many convenience stores and bakeries to stock up on food and supplies. |
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| I bought my ticket at a manned counter. The staff asked for my passport for identification. |
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| Larkin Sentral operated boarding gate style, where passengers were only allowed in the holding area after their bus departure times were called out at the gates. This resulted in a cluster of waiting passengers outside the doors such as these. |
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| Announcements in Malay, a friendly couple translated for me and I entered the air-con and much more appealing holding area. |
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| I travelled with Adik Beradik, a Terengganu based bus company I have not heard of before. I was pleasantly surprised with the very generous leg room and great recline. |
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| We picked up more passengers at Kota Tinggi, and had a rest stop in Pahang. |
After a quicker than expected journey, I was dropped off
at Marang at the ungodly hour of 5 am. Nothing was opened, save a 7-11, and it
created a rather eerie atmosphere for walking. The jetty was almost empty, a
very skinny cat sat at my shadow and kept me company, lulled by the call to
prayer. Occasionally, people would drop off at the jetty either going on their
private boats or preparing to open their travel agencies. At 0630, the markets began to stir, mostly fishmongers reeling in the fresh catch.
Outside a public toilet, I exchanged pleasantries with a smiling Makcik in my
broken Malay, and at 7am, finally the first of the travel agencies raised their
shutters. The first boat was at 0830, more tourists came and after all that
wait, we finally left Marang for Pulau Kapas.
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| I was dropped off opposite this mosque, right next to the Marang bus station. |
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| A very empty Marang bus station. I bought my bus ticket from Kuala Terengganu back to Johor from here. This was also the station for the local myBas, linking Marang to the state capital. |
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| Only 7-11 was open. Thank God they had tables and chairs, I stayed inside for a while. |
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| Empty market. It was bustling on my way back, with makeshift stalls spilling onto the streets! |
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| Travel agencies still closed at this very early hour. |
Marang jetty was enclosed by sea walls, which made for calm
waves at the start. This was a facade, a lie, a major deception. Once
past these barriers, the seas unleashed its fury on us, tossing and trampling us
around. Despite being at the inner part of the boat, I was still drenched as the
waves splashed mercilessly. It was a long 15 minutes and we landed at the middle beach of the island
outside KBC. There was a jetty but I did not observe a single passenger boat
use this during my time on the island.
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| MGH was the first to open that day. |
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| I could finally see the area I was waiting in when the sun rose. A very nice waterfront! |
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| Marang was oozing with laid back kampung vibes. |
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| Mostly local tourists in my boat. |
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| We landed to this. A gorgeous welcome! |
I had three accommodations in mind which I planned to check out, but the ferry operator recommended Harmony campsite which they ran. The main beaches were branched out on the West side of the island, each cove separated by rocks or bridges, each differing slightly. My campsite was the northern campsite, sharing its beach with a chalet and adjacent to two more secluded ones. It was a quiet area, which I really appreciated. What followed was a 2-night stay, where I went beach-hopping, laying my towel on all the beaches on this coast, just reading, observing and relaxing. I craved for an escape of solitude and Pulau Kapas was the perfect place for it.
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| Camping was the cheapest option. Very basic with a segregated bathroom, open shower, shared kitchen and 2 power plugs that everyone shared when the electricity was on from 7 to 11 at night. I was pleasantly surprised they had a Western toilet, not a squat one, though one would still have to manually flush. I enjoyed my stay here. |
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| An empty volleyball court on the next beach, under a minute away. |
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| I mistook this campsite for mine. Also operated by MGH, I was told this was for group bookings. Harmony campsite was just next door, |
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| The piece of beach in front of Harmony. I don't think it matters which part you are staying in as they are all linked and very easy to access. |
For my meals, I brought food from the mainland. I usually
had wafers and biscuits for breakfast and bread for lunch. I splurged in a
restaurant 3 beaches down for both dinners. By splurge, I meant by Malaysian
standards- both meals did not go over RM20 which included a delightfully fluffy
teh tarik, and a gorgeous view of the beach. My favourite beach would have got
to be those by the jetty, very long stretch of fine sand. The beach on the south near Longsha also had these cliff stones, like a mini Krabi or El Nido. The beach right in
front of my campsite was also a perfect reading spot. At night, the swing was
usually empty, and I would sit on it after a night shower, enjoying the night breeze.
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| My favourite stretch by the jetty. |
Pulau Kapas was famous for snorkelling, and many would take a kayak
around the island. My main purpose, however, was for a breather so I did not do
anything strenuous. My most active activity would have to be going 2 beaches
north where one could spot Gem Island, a private island with a five star resort.
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| The start of the quick hike north towards the Gem Island viewpoint. |
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| Gem Island |
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| The bridge was broken, I couldn't access the beach further north. Others would kayak or swim over. |
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| Most people were still asleep at sunrise and I enjoyed taking a walk on the mostly empty beaches. Birds were at the shore early morning. |
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| Gorgeous! I was told that the day I left was the eve of a week long holiday and the island would get much more crowded, especially with day trippers. |
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| At low tide, submerged parts would be walkable and they had such soft and fine sand. At night, lights of the mainland were visible in the distance, as were the stars in the sky. |
The island did fulfill my criteria of being affordable, accessible and tranquil. However, I was aching for more adventure, new places to explore, architectural wonders, cultures, food and markets- something more stimulating and uplifting after this quiet escape. So I deviated from my original plan of going back straight to Singapore. Instead, I decided to drop by the state capital Kuala Terengganu, a quick ride up. I was so glad I did. Even though it broke my target budget.
So, with just Pulau Kapas, I did succeed with being way within budget. The budget is definitely doable, something a bit more difficult to achieve on the more famous Perhentians. Here is a rundown (1SGD = 3 MYR):
040819 Sunday
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RM
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SGD
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Johor Bahru
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McDonalds (Larkin Terminal)
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20
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6.70
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Bread (SDS Bakery)
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3.60
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1.20
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1.5 litre water (convenience store)
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2.80
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0.95
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Bus Ticket (JB Larkin to Marang)
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41.80
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13.95
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TOTAL
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68.20
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22.80
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050819 Monday
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Marang
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7-11
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13.75
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4.60
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Round trip boat ride (MGH)
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40
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13.35
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Pulau Kapas
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2 night accommodation (Harmony campsite)
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30
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10
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Dinner
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20
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6.70
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TOTAL
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103.75
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34.65
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060819 Tuesday
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Pulau Kapas
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1.5 litre water (Kapas Coral)
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4
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1.35
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Dinner
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19
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6.35
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TOTAL
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23
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7.70
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070819 Wednesday
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Marang
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Bus Ticket to JB
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42.50
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16.20
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If I headed back straight GRAND TOTAL
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237.45
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81.35
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If you decide to be pedantic and count the fare from Singapore to Larkin, that would still be within the budget. And so, I would count this as a success. Under a $100- doable and worth it.
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| Thankfully, it was a smooth ride back. No bumps even! |
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| Back at Marang, on to Kuala Terengganu! |
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