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 District (笨珍) of Johor, to the west of Johor Bahru District.
Pontian Kechil (the district capital), Pekan Nanas (a.k.a, the “Pineapple Town”) and Kukup Fishing Village (龟咯) are in Pontian District. Geographically, Kukup Village is nearer to Singapore but when travelling on land, one will have to pass through Pekan Nanas and Pontian Kechil, before reaching the small fishing village due to the presence of Pulai River and its surrounding mangrove swamp. In 2023, a bridge was completed over Pulai River and greatly reduced the journey between Gelang Patah and Kukup Village to about 30 minutes, however, except for private vehicles, no public buses use that route.
Pontian Kechil and Pekan Nanas are not tourist destinations and that makes them 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 out-of-town Malaysians. Kukup usually sees more crowds on weekends and can be very quiet on weekdays too.
As such, it is much more convenient to use Pontian Kechil as a base for exploring the southwestern corner of Peninsular Malaysia. A short 2- or 3-day 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 sun-scorching, beach-related — there are too much hypes about expensive beach resorts being the “best” getaway destinations.
Now, let’s see what are some of the things to do in Pontian. I listed 8 of them — and they can be easily done without driving. 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, non-tourist towns. That applies to Pontian too. Many eating places in Pontian are much cheaper than in Johor Bahru and still very traditional — they are prepared for locals in mind. There are a large number of eating places around Pontian Kechil if you do not want to venture too far to other rural towns.
The most sought-after food in Pontian is the local-style wanton noodle (meat dumplings noodle) with thinly sliced char siew, which is braised with red sweet-savoury sauce rather than using traditional roasting. The thin egg noodle, usually homemade, is mixed with tomato-based sauce and other condiments — different from Singapore’s wanton noodle that uses light soy sauce and fragrant oil. Quite a number of eateries in Pontian sell the local-popular wanton noodles. You can’t miss it!
Aside from Pontian Wanton Noodle, there are old-school bak kut teh (pork ribs soup), fried kway teow, satays, cendol, roasted delights and many others found in traditional coffee shops, modern Nanyang kopitiams and in Pontian Lau Pasar (Pontian Old Market). Fresh seafood is also a popular option in Pontian (see 5.).
More: Johor Eats & Buys: Pontian & Pekan Nanas (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 to bring home.
Pontian Fish Market has a newly-built section with more stalls for fishes, meats, vegetables, fruits, sauces and condiments, etc. The environment is also much cleaner and orderly than what it used to be few years back.
More: Pontian Buy: Pontian Fish Market Fresh Seafood @ Pontian Kechil
It is usually difficult for travellers to buy raw seafood from markets even though they are very fresh, but not so at Pontian Fish Market. You can get your own fresh seafood here, go to a coffee shop opposite the fish market and have them cook for you. Look for Ah Huat Kitchen (亚发代炒) in Kedai Kopi Seng (锦成茶餐室).
Depending on the size or quantity of the seafood you bought and how you want them to be cooked, the prices will vary. The more tedious cooking methods and additional ingredients, like meat, veggies, garlic, ginger, etc, provided by the stalls will cost a little more. We had squids in squid ink, chilli clams, steamed pomfret, salted egg prawns, fried chilli prawns, fried fish, etc, on two visits.
More: Pontian Eat: Ah Huat Kitchen (亚发代炒) Cook-on-Behalf @ Pontian Kechil
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 see 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, the “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 varietals 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 also available for sale.
More: Pontian See: Nictar Pineapple Park @ Pekan Nanas
Aside from pineapple farms, there is Uncle Tan Orchard Stingless Bee Farm (see Facebook) and also couple of durian plantations.
4. Buy Traditional Pastries / Cookies / Biscuits
Pontian is also home to several biscuit factories, including some well-known names like Chai Huat Heng, The Cookies Factory, and Lee Biscuits, for traditional Chinese pastries, cookies and biscuits — they are all called “biscuits” in general.
Kedai Biskut Chai Huat Heng (再发兴饼家) is an over-80-year-old, family-run traditional bakery that makes a wide varieties of Chinese traditional pastries, wedding cakes, longevity buns, etc, and also mooncakes during Mid-Autumn Festival.
More: Pontian Buy: Chai Huat Heng (再发兴饼家) @ Pontian Kechil
The Cookies Factory is a premium cookies and biscuit manufacturer offering a wide range of colourful cookies, with flavours of almond, peanut, butter milk, butterscotch, green pea, nutty salty caramel, etc, and also crisp biscotti. Mooncakes are also available during Mid Autumn Festival.
More: Pontian Buy: The Cookies Factory @ Pontian Kechil
Lee Biscuits (南益饼干), since 1934, has a factory not very far from Pontian Fish Market and the aroma of its traditional biscuits filled the nostrils when walking pass the factory. The factory does not have a walk-in retail section but may hold warehouse sales at times and that will be when it is opened to public. Products of Lee Biscuits can be purchased from local supermarkets (cheaper) and also from supermarkets in Singapore.
5. Visit Kukup Fishing Village
Kukup is a century-old traditional village with seafood restaurants, houses and chalet-style homestays built on stilt over mud-lands along the coastline. The villagers live by the sea and depends on it for their livelihood. Fishes caught by fishermen are sold in Pontian Fish Market. A ferry terminal in the village has daily ferry services to and from Tanjung Balai, Indonesia. There are also boats near the ferry terminal to Pulau Kukup (Kukup Island) National Park and the floating fish farms (kelongs).
More: Pontian See: Kukup Fishing Village (龟咯渔村)
Many people visit Kukup on 2D1N / 3D2N group packages where chalet-style accommodations, meals, transports and entertainments are provided for large group of people — usually for at least 10 people. Few know that Kukup can actually be visited from Pontian Kechil, or from Singapore, on a half-day or full-day trip. You will need a full day in Kukup to explore the fishing village and take a boat to Pulau Kukup and/or the floating farms. To explore just the fishing village itself, 2-3 hours will be more than sufficient.
6. Dine at Seaside Seafood Restaurants
Some (air-conditioned) seafood restaurants may be opened for business throughout the day in Pontian Kechil, and in Kukup Village, but majority of them will open around evening time. Some restaurants along Jalan Delima 3, by the seafront, will setup tables and chairs on the wide pavement across the road where its customers will be dining with the sunset or under the stars — unless it rains.
The seafood sold at the restaurants are fresh and comparatively cheaper than in Singapore and Johor Bahru. So, it is not to be missed as one of the evening highlights.
7. 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 and household stores, such as Eco-shop, EconSave, S Plus Cash & Carry, Target Supermarket, etc, and also Mr. DIY around Pontian Kechil. Most items sold in these supermarkets and stores, away from Johor Bahru city centre / downtown areas, 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 tend to be higher.
8. Staycation 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 (as mentioned above), including visiting farms (such as Nictar Pineapple Park), Kukup Fishing Village on a day trip or exploring Pekan Nanas for hidden gems too.
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 a typical characteristic of a fishing village — if you can take it.
Many of the accommodations in Kukup Fishing Village are chalet-style homestays 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 (East Mount Hotel / 东山酒店) and a new homestay for at least 2 pax (海上阿嫲家) 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. 1~7 can be done in a day but it may take up many hours, including at least 4 hours to travel by public buses 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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