Daytrip - Pulau Ketam

It was a long weekend, where Labour Day and Wesak Day gave a good stretch from Friday to Monday holiday. So, the city dwellers like us, always looking out for some adventures, decided to visit Pulau Ketam.

It’s been ages since we’ve been there and it’s been developed, so we’ve heard. Started out from Petaling Jaya about 11-ish. It took us about 45minutes to reach the jetty. It’s a good idea if you take the KTM as it is right in front of the jetty terminal. You can park in the terminal parking lots but you will find that the sign closes off, saying it’s full. You should ask the guard as he will allow you to drive in, provided there is still space available. They just don’t allow everyone to drive in, because they don’t want you to park overnight.

oh don't be shy now...straight ahead to the jetty

A breeze to buy the ferry tickets (RM7 per way) as you walk towards the jetty. A bad experience is, that while queuing for the wait, we notice loads of people just walking pass us to the front of the line. As the gatekeeper passes us, we asked him why are these people cutting the line? Apparently, there’s an “illegal” type of boat which is open air and you do not need to queue and wait! What?! That cost RM10 per way and if you don’t want to wait, just go straight to the front and board the boat, pay to the ticket collector on the journey. So, we decided to stick with our air-condition ferry which we assume is legal, safer and better.

look at the queue. the small boat is an "illegal" ride

After a 40minute wait and an hour’s boat ride, uneventfully. We reached Pulau Ketam. Everyone’s famished by now. I walked pretty fast ahead to look for a restaurant hoping to beat the crowd coming behind me. Hah! It was easy to get seats and easy to order as we already know what we want. We want crab! Among others, of course. We ordered a dish of Kam Heong Crab weighing 1.3kg, Siong Tong La La, Vegetables(Caan’t remember the name), Buttered Squid and Sweet Sour Fish. We were pretty hungry, so we thought it was a good meal overall. Note, we were pretty hungry. The bill……..RM 194.50 That’s hefty, even for a KL seafood price. Hmmmph….just bear in mind, you are the contributing factor for Pulau Ketam to survive and thrive, so don’t take it too badly.

Time for a look see. Slowly, we stroll through the street and when we turn the bend, only then we realise that, we’ve reached the island centre. Restaurants line the street both sides, with hawker stalls, mainly fried oyster and lala. Be careful, as there are plenty of cyclists, that’s the best way to get around by renting one. Through the street, you come to a local temple and open space of concrete landing, perhaps some shows go on occasionally here. We turned back and stroll leisurely, finding another coffee shop for tea time.

hotzzzzz......the open square at the end of the busy street

Close to 4.30pm, we decided to leave, as the last ferry out of there is 5.30pm. If you do come to Pulau Ketam, do consider staying at the riverfront hotel which is the 1^st building you will see when you enter Pulau Ketam.