Monkey Beach & Muka Head Light House Are Penang’s Hidden Treasures – Located at the far North West end of Penang island where the country’s smallest national park is – Taman Negara Teluk Bahang, there lies a few trekking routes in this mini rainforest. I’ve trekked the Pantai Kerachut route before and this time was to Monkey Beach which further leads up to the Muka Head Lighthouse.
Didn’t knowing about the difficulty of the trek, we just embarked on a walk in the rainforest with route lies by the seaside. It was a nice morning, joining explorers from different places. Though, I realised that the crowds had increased compare to years ago where it was still a quiet national park.
Upon registering yourself at the national park, the trek to Monkey Beach took an hour for us and we were welcomed by a pristine ivory sandy beach, but without the crystal clear water. Stalls trying to make some money out of the hot weather with cold drinks and light food were aligned on the beach with boat operator touting visitors to take their boat to another side or back to the port.
Not many people was in the water due to the presence of jelly fish, but the beach was not overly crowded like Batu Ferringhi, but happenings.
The real trek started from Monkey Beach to Muka Head with 45 minutes of full ascending route which exhausted my energy pretty much upon reaching the top. It’s difficult, for a person without much regular exercises. BUT, the top was definitely not disappointing with a very good breeze and a beautiful peaceful view of another side of Penang that one doesn’t see usually.
Spent half an hour up there for a short rest before leaving back to the beach and hired one of the boat (RM40/boat) to take 6 of us back to the entrance.
Registering before heading into the national park is compulsory for all.
This is Monkey Beach. How could you resist the relaxing side of Penang? However, no monkey was sighted here!
A dead huge jelly fish that looked like plastic bag washed up shore. Not surprise to see floating jelly fish on the water surface, just don’t get close to them.
The stall does fried rice too!
It’s lovely place to camp too!
The lighthouse built by the British in 1883. One of the few colonial lighthouses left in Malaysia. It tough getting up here!
The inside of the lighthouse.
The view from the top of the lighthouse, overlooking the Andaman Sea.
1 Comment
vivien
September 26, 2016 at 1:35 pmRm40 only per boat to go back? Is this the normal price?