Planning a weekend staycation or day trip in Johor Bahru? Instead of spending a day shopping, watch movies, do a massage and probably a night stay in a concrete forest, try something different — a more laid-back getaway to a peaceful town or quiet fishing village in Pontian.
Both Pontian Kechil and Kukup Fishing Village are in Pontian District (笨珍) of Johor, to the west of Johor Bahru. Geographically, Kukup Fishing Village (龟咯) is much nearer to Singapore than Pontian Kechil but, when travelling on the road, one will have to pass through Pontian Kechil before reaching Kukup. This is due to the presence of Pulai River and large areas of mangrove swamp that makes direct road link between Kukup and Singapore difficult.
Pontian Kechil is not a tourist destination and that makes it great for travellers who want to experience local lifestyle and culture away from touristy activities and crowds. On the other hand, Kukup Village is a rather popular destination for short holidayers from Singapore and also Malaysians from other states. Kukup usually sees more crowds on weekends.
As such, it is much more convenient to use Pontian Kechil as a base for exploring the southwestern corner of Johor. A short 2 to 3 days itinerary can be worked out easily for a short stay in Pontian Kechil, as the town itself is not very big. This arrangement is suitable for those who wants a slow-pace, easy get-out-of-the-city trip and prefer activities that are not beach-related (too much hypes about expensive beach resorts as the “best” getaway destinations — I never buy that!).
Now, let’s see what are some of the things to do in Pontian Kechil. I listed 7 of them. You can check the locations of mentioned places using the map at the end of this post.
1. Hunt for Local Food
Eating local food is a must when travelling overseas and when visiting local towns (not tourist towns). That applies to Pontian Kechil too. Most of the eating places here are cheaper than in Johor Bahru and still very traditional — they are prepared for locals, not tourists. There are quite a number of eating places around the small town centre if you do not want to venture too far. Just go on a food hunt!
The most sought-after food in Pontian is the local-style wanton noodle (meat dumplings noodle) with thinly sliced barbecue pork. The noodle is mixed with tomato sauce — different from Singapore’s wanton noodle that uses light soy sauce. Quite a number of shops in Pontian sell the local-popular wanton noodles. You can’t miss it!
For traditional coffee, a popular place will be Kheng Guan Hiong (琼源香) next to Pontian Fish Market (see 2.). This is a great coffee shop to have nice traditional coffee and charcoal-toasted breads with eggs while waiting for the fish market to release its supplies of fresh seafood for the day. You can also order food from the coffee shops next door.
Read: What Local Food to Eat in Pontian Kechil (柔佛笨珍)
2. Buy Fresh Seafood at Fish Market
At 10-11am every morning (except Monday), fishermen will return from the sea with the day’s fresh catches and deliver them to Pontian Fish Market (Pasar Awam Pontian) in Pontian Kechil. Fishmongers will in turn sell the seafood to individual customers or in bulks to restaurants or other retailers through bidding. The fish market is where locals and in-the-know Singapore residents go to buy fresh fishes and other seafood and bring them home.
Pontian Fish Market has a newly-built section with more stalls for fishes, meats, vegetables and fruits. The environment is also much cleaner than what it used to be.
You can also observe the bidding process behind the wet market in a large shed in the older section. Buyers will call out their prices for batches of seafood and haul them away after successful bids. But the strong fishy stench in the air here is also something to behold — skip the shed if you can’t take the smell.
It will be difficult for travellers to buy raw seafood from other markets even though they are very fresh. But not so in Pontian Kechil. You can get your own choices of fresh seafood and go to the coffee shops opposite the fish market and have them cook for you. Look for either Ah Huat (亚发代炒) in Kedai Kopi Seng (锦成茶餐室) or Lai Ho (来好海鲜代炒) in Kedai Makanan & Minuman Ong Siew Lian (泉珍茶餐室). Kheng Guan Hiong (琼源香) coffee shop is right beside them. Very easy to find.
Depending on the size or quantity of the seafood you bought and how you want them to be cooked, the prices will vary between RM8 to RM20. Of course, the more tedious cooking methods and additional ingredients, like veggies, garlic, ginger, etc, provided by the stall owners will cost a little more.
Below are some dishes that we tried — squids in squid ink, chilli clams, steamed pomfret and salted egg prawns. Fresh fishes are always best when steamed.
And each of the dishes costs only RM10 to be cooked. The seafood was from us, of course.
3. Visit a Pineapple Farm
Pontian is home to a number of farms and plantations, especially pineapple plantations. Walking around the town of Pontian Kechil, you will notice pineapple-related symbols and wall arts almost everywhere. Most fruit stalls in Pontian will sell the locally-farmed fresh pineapples and most local product shops will have locally-made pineapple products too.
One of the pineapple “farms”, called Nictar Pineapple Park, is opened to visitors in Pekan Nanas, or Pineapple Town, about 35 minutes from Pontian Kechil. The eco-park is a great place for kids, and adults too, to explore and learn more about different species of Malaysian pineapples and other fruits and plants. Pineapple-made products, such as pineapple juice, pineapple jam, sweet pineapple-chilli sauce, pineapple tarts, etc, are available for sales too.
More: Pontian See: Nictar Pineapple Park @ Pekan Nanas
4. Visit Kukup Fishing Village
Most people visit Kukup on 2D1N group packages where accommodations, meals, transports and entertainments are provided for large group of people — usually for at least 10 people. Very few people know that Kukup can actually be visited from Pontian Kechil on a half-day or full-day trip.
Kukup is a small fishing village with seafood restaurants, houses and chalets built on stilt over the water near the coast. The villagers live by the sea and depends on it for their livelihood. Fishes caught by fishermen are sold in Pontian Fish Market (see 2.).
You can spend a couple of hours to explore the village on the sea, greet the friendly locals and also try their local specialties. Kukup Laut Fishing Village is more residential and scenic, especially during high tides. One of its entrances is between Tong San Hotel and Kukup International Ferry Terminal.
The ferry terminal has daily ferry services to and from Indonesia. It also has boats to Pulau Kukup (Kukup Island) National Park and the floating fish farms on the way back. The boats will go to both the island and a fish farm in round trips and cost RM5 per person.
To Pulau Kukup
Kukup Island is a mangrove island with no settlement and about 1Km from the mainland. It is a designated national park named “Pulau Kukup Johor National Park”. There are boardwalks, watch towers and suspended bridges for visitors to access the whole island to check out marine life and mangrove plants.
Entrance Fee: RM5/adult, RM3/child (excluding boat fare)
To Floating Fish Farms
These are fish farms on the sea, rearing mainly saltwater fishes. Visitors can check out the various marine life in the nets that are separated by walking planks — just don’t fall into the sea. If you are interested in any of the live seafood, you can buy them from the farm directly.
You will probably need a full day in Kukup to explore the fishing village, Pulau Kukup and floating fish farms. To explore just the village, 2-3 hours will be sufficient.
5. Dine at Seaside Seafood Restaurants
A couple of restaurants are opened throughout the day in Pontian Kechil while most seafood restaurants will open for business towards the end of the day. They are mostly located along Jalan Delima 3 by the seafront — or the wetland during low tides. These restaurants will open after 5pm and tables will be setup on the wide pavement across the road. You will be dining with the sunset or under the night sky by the sea — unless it rains.
The seafood sold at the restaurants are fresh and comparatively cheaper than in Singapore or Johor Bahru. So, it’s not to be missed as one of the evening highlights.
The street may be crowded on weekends but there are several restaurants stretched out along the coastline.
6. Shop at Supermarkets
One of the things that most Singapore residents do in Johor Bahru is to shop for groceries and daily necessities. You can find several supermarkets, such as Eco-shop, EconSave, Target Supermarket, etc, and also Mr. DIY outlets located along a single stretch of road from Jalan Delima to Jalan Johor in Pontian Kechil. Most items sold in the supermarkets here are considerably cheaper than in Johor Bahru.
If you are staying overnight in Pontian Kechil, shopping at the supermarkets can be done after dinner as there aren’t many things to do at night in the quiet town. For travellers, it will be good to replenish some necessities in Pontian before hitting the big cities where prices may be higher.
7. Stay in Pontian
As mentioned earlier, Pontian Kechil is a non-tourist town so it is still possible to go on a weekend, except that accommodations might be limited. Staying in Pontian Kechil is more convenient for smaller groups and solo travellers with more activities to do, including visiting farms (such as Nictar Pineapple Park) or Kukup Fishing Village on a day trip.
Another reason for staying in Pontian Kechil is to avoid the fishy stench that filled the air in Kukup Village when the winds carry them inland. It is very typical of a fishing village — if you can take it.
Many of the accommodations in Kukup Fishing Village are chalet-style and rent out by the whole chalet. They cater mainly to larger groups of people and may not be suitable for small families, couples and solo travellers. There is a budget hotel and a new homestay near Kukup International Ferry Terminal, but availabilities are usually tight on popular weekends, so do book in advance.
With the above activities, one can easily plan a leisurely 2- or 3-day trip in Pontian. A one-day trip may also be possible but a little rush for all the activities. In fact, the sequence of events from No. 1~6 can be done in a day but it may take up many hours, including at least 4 hours to travel to Pontian from Singapore and back.
How to Get There:
Take BAS.MY J50 from Larkin Sentral or CW4 from Singapore. Read: JB Bus: To Pontian / Pekan Nanas in Johor.
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