THE beach along Cherating is unlike any other in Kuantan as the coast and its surrounding settlements are popular with tourists for its idyllic setting.
It was once a small village on the outskirts of Kuantan but it became an internationally renowned beach town when luxury vacation resort Club Med Cherating was built in 1980.
Local business owner Mazlan Ismail, 48, said the economic landscape was significantly different prior to that, as villagers made a living from fishing and making charcoal.
“There were tourists who came to see the villagers play gasing and wau, as well as to watch trained monkeys climb coconut trees to pluck the fruit.
“There were not many guesthouses but after Club Med Cherating was built, tourism took root and began to grow,” he said.
Mazlan said today, surfers and enthusiasts from all over the world congregate at the beach during the monsoon season to catch the wave.
“Surfing in Cherating started about 20 years ago but it was not so popular back then.
“It was not really competitive and we could only buy equipment from surfers from Australia,” he said.
Zairil Zainal, who runs the surfing school Cheratingpoint, said the best time for surfing was from late October until March.
“Expatriates from Singapore and Kuala Lumpur will usually come up during the weekends for lessons and I will teach them the theory and fundamentals of surfing,” he said.
However, he lamented that even though Cherating was a famous beach, there was still lack of support for the local community from government agencies.
“The government does hold surfing events but these do not involve the local villagers.
“So, we organised our own surfing competition earlier this year through private funding,” said Zairil.
From the beach and across the street bisecting the village is the Cherating river.
Mohd Hafiz Abdul Majid, 45, who is crazy about fireflies, takes tourists by boat to see the lightning bugs in their natural habitat every night.
For an hour, visitors will be able to cruise along the river where fireflies flicker in the mangrove. Mohd Hafiz tells visitors interesting facts about the insects during the cruise.
“I studied how the fireflies communicate and developed a technique to talk to them using my flashlight. It is not black magic,” said the owner of Hafiz’s Cherating Activities.
Mohd Hafiz said he primarily focused on delivering educational tours of the river to create awareness on the importance of preserving the environment.
“It is not merely doing business. I also tell visitors the importance of knowing the value of the fragile mangrove forest.
“We used to hear how common fireflies were but today, we have to pay to see these insects.
“If we continue to carelessly destroy nature, our future generation will only be able to enjoy the environment in pictures,” he said.
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