PENANG NATIONAL PARK

I was in Penang two weeks ago and I must say that I enjoyed the trip.  Top in my list, I enjoyed the food, mamak food at Line Clear, hawkers' food at Gurney Drive and Batu Ferringhi!  I can't forget the steamed calamari with dipping at Gurney Drive and mixed fruit pancake at Batu Ferringhi.  Other than the foods, I enjoyed the only hiking activity that I did there.

I took the opportunity to go to Penang National Park, located in Teluk Bahang, about 4 km from Batu Feringghi.  It's the smallest national park in the world covering an area of 9.9 square miles and it boasts a 
collection of habitats not found in other national parks in Malaysia: meromictic lake, wetlands, mangroves, mudflats, coral reefs and turtle nesting beaches! 

There are eight beaches in the park and due to the fact that they are not easily accessible,  these are some of the beautiful beaches in Penang.  Most of the beaches can only be accessed via hiking for about 1 hour or so or via boat from the park's management office. There is no admission fee to the park.  However, you have to pay RM5 if you opt for the canopy walk. 

I planned to go to both destinations in the park; Muka Head (with light house and beaches as attractions) and Pantai Kerachut on the other side (with meromictic lake and other beautiful beaches as attractions).  However, due to the weather condition, I managed to go to Pantai Kerachut only!  Even then, we had to rent boat to go back.  True enough, it started raining when we reached the park's management office.  

The boat ride was an experience by itself and the friendly boat operator showed us around and pointed to rock formations in the form of turtle and crocodile head! It cost us RM80 per boat for 15 - 20 minutes ride. 

This is the starting point for any hiking activity in the park. 

This is the view of fisherman's jetty located next to the entrance of the park.  The boat ride ends here and if you're lucky you can see the catch of the day by the fishermen!   

We came across small waterfalls in the park, on the way to Pantai Kerachut.  We were advised not to drink the water here just in case it was contaminated.

The bridge connecting the trail area to the beach with meromictic lake running beneath it.

Meromictic lake was the highlight of the trip. It's my first time seeing meromictic lake. There are not many of such places in the world. In Asia, it is only here in Penang and in Palau! It's called meromictic because both fresh water from the river and salt water from the sea do not mix. The low density of fresh waters layers the top of the high density of salt water.

The fresh water from the meromictic lake goes into the sea here at Pantai Kerachut.  it's one of the beautiful beaches in Penang. I don't fancy the idea of swimming at Ferringghi beach.  But not here!  It's crazy to miss it.  I was not prepared to come here for swimming.  What the heck, I went in with my hiking pant!  I had to cut short the trip as it was about to rain.  I missed the canopy walk on the other side of the park; of which I had bought the ticket earlier.  Nevertheless, I enjoyed the hiking experience at Penang National Park.    I'll definitely come back!