Slacker’s guide to a beach vacation in Desaru: Food, family fun and foiling

---

DESARU – I went to Desaru as a child more than 40 years ago for my first beach vacation outside Singapore.

 

At the time, it was an affordable beach vacation spot for a heartlander family that could not afford to travel to more exotic destinations.

 

My childhood memory of the place is of a sleepy beachside town which revolved around its long sandy beachfront and crystal-clear waters. 

 

My family played on the beach as the sizeable waves crashed in and entertained us. We stayed in a local motel and had our meals at roadside food stalls, alfresco-style.

 

The new ferry connection between Singapore and Desaru prompted me to give the destination another chance. The 90-minute ferry ride is shorter than watching a Spider-Man franchise movie. No flying. No traffic. No fuss.

 

Desaru is the perfect locale for a slacker beach vacation. This guide follows the letters that make up the word “slacker”, which is exactly how the vacation for my family of four turns out. 

 

S: Slacking on holiday

 

What better place to slack than on vacation? Vacations are for downtime, and mean food and fun with the family.

 

Planning for a beach vacation should not feel like work. Going to Desaru allows you to start slacking in three easy steps.

 

Step 1. Book the ferry.

 

Step 2. Book the hotel.

 

Step 3. Kick back and start slacking. 

 

L: Level up

 

I travel frequently for work and the last thing I want to do while on vacation is to get on a plane.

 

Even though Desaru is less than 100km from Singapore by car, crossing the border during the school holidays can be stressful.

 

Taking the ferry allows you to level up your travel. Once you get on the boat, your holiday has started.

 

You can take a nap or catch up on Netflix. Or you can do what I do, and experience the schadenfreude of looking at the Land Transport Authority border cameras as you speed to Desaru, not sitting in congestion.

 

Unfortunately, one of our two sons misses the ferry departure due to his national service duties and has to work his way through the jam using public buses followed by ride-share from Johor Bahru to Desaru. More on that in the Getting There section.

 

A: Amusement

 

Desaru’s reputation as a sleepy beach town is being transformed with the injection of world-class resorts such as Westin, Hard Rock Hotel and Anantara. 

 

Each property offers a host of activities to entertain its guests and includes world-class spas for pampering. The resorts also offer kids’ clubs to help manage little ones as the adults party.

 

At the Westin, where I stay, clowns are stationed in the lobby to entertain young and old with their balloon-twisting skills and antics. During teatime, complimentary shoulder massages are offered in the lobby along with free popcorn, drinks and snacks to help refuel guests. 

 

We spend a day at the Adventure Waterpark Desaru Coast (RM150 or S$43 for an adult day pass; it is cheaper if you buy ahead on travel websites).

 

Our two grown boys enjoy the selection of water rides on offer, from the region’s first water coaster to water slides of every imaginable variety. The wave pool where metre-high waves are generated keeps them amused for over an hour. 

 

Despite the school holidays, the water park is not overcrowded and the queues for rides are between 15 and 30 minutes long.

 

At the water park, my wife challenges me to a round of mini golf. She soundly trounces me with her precision shots and multiple holes-in-one.

 

On the topic of holes-in-one, the Els Club Golf Club in Desaru offers two championship courses to choose from, which should give golfers plenty to do.

 

C: Cuisine

 

Food is an important part of any family vacation. With a son doing national service in-camp, each meal that we have together while on holiday is extra precious. 

 

The best way to describe the cuisine options available in Desaru is world-class.

 

Sea.Fire.Salt at Anantara offers steaks cured in seawater and seafood grilled to perfection. 

 

Prego at the Westin serves authentic Italian food with no corners cut.

 

Our favourites are the pizzas baked in the restaurant’s stone ovens and the beef carbonara, where the pasta is finished tableside in a Parmesan cheese wheel. Overall, I find the food at this Prego significantly better than the Prego in Singapore. 

 

We have several meals in Jalan Jelutong, a 1km stretch of five-footway shops, food and services. The dining options are great, reasonably priced and varied, from Chinese zi char to sublime Malay food to durians.

 

The makeshift kampung durian stall in front of Clinic Adham at the start of Jalan Jelutong is a find and is consistently crowded.

 

My recommendation is to eat outside in the evenings. World-class Malaysian food comes alive when it is eaten in the cool of the evening, under the stars of the Desaru sky. 

 

K: Kinetic

 

For some, engaging in kinetic activities during a slacker beach vacation is not on the cards. But there needs to be some way to burn off the calories accumulated from the abundant food options here.

 

Long walks on the Desaru coastline are a great way to burn off calories. The sandy beaches stretch for 5km or more. 

 

The sheer length of the coastline makes you feel like you have the whole beach to yourself. Unlike some beaches that I have visited in the region, the beach here is free from litter and the waters are crystal-clear.

 

There is a wonderful intertidal zone just east of the Anantara hotel bordering the Els Golf course. The intertidal zone extends out about half a kilometre and it keeps us busy for a whole morning as we explore the tidal pools and rocks for sea creatures left behind by the receding tide.

 

A beach walk with tour operator JungleWalla has been arranged, but our guide falls sick and her replacement cancels the tour on us five minutes before we are due to depart the hotel for the intertidal zone.

 

We go ahead with the walk ourselves and still have fun.

 

Besides the pools at the resorts, their water sport centres also offer a range of fun options including kayaks, jet skis and paddle boats.

 

During the stay, I am able to catch a wingfoiling session every day with my personal wing-surfing gear that I have taken along. 

 

Wingfoiling involves installing a hydrofoil on a surfboard which is powered by a handheld wing. With the wind and waves in Desaru, I am able to get the board to hydrofoil out of the water and to visit a few resorts in this manner along the Desaru coastline. 

 

In an age of inflatable stand-up paddle boards and sail boats, independent adventurous travellers can consider taking along their own boards or boats on the trip, pumping them up and exploring the Desaru coastline in a cost-effective manner.

 

E: Endearing

 

There is an endearing quality about Desaru. The location is not far from Singapore, but could not be more different.

 

Instead of murky seawater, the water here is clear and clean. Instead of litter picked up by an army of cleaners each morning, the long sandy Desaru beaches are clean. 

 

While just 90 minutes away by ferry, you can be at any quality beach resort anywhere in the region.

 

Despite the arrival of world-class resorts in Desaru, the staff and locals are still a little shy about interacting with visitors. What I find particularly charming is a genuine desire to please and connect. 

 

For example, I ask for bananas at breakfast one day. The Westin has run out of bananas due to a supply issue, but the restaurant manager, Ezri, offers bananas to us the very next day when we sit down to breakfast, without any prompting. 

 

He also takes it upon himself to seat us at the same table for breakfast during our stay, which is a feat given that the 300-room resort is fully occupied, with hungry hordes descending for breakfast each morning. 

 

R: Remember

 

During an alfresco dinner of Malaysian food under the stars, my wife shares that the name Desaru is made up of the Malay words plantation and casuarina. 

 

In its early days, Desaru must have been a plantation of casuarinas, which explains why many casuarina trees still dot the beach front.

 

It reminds me of the poem Our Casuarina Tree by Tora Dutt, an Indian-Bengali poet, which I read in my youth.

 

Dear is the Casuarina to my soul:
Beneath it we have played; though years may roll,
O sweet companions, loved with love intense,
For your sakes, shall the tree be ever dear.

 

Our slacker beach vacation in Desaru has given us so much. For me, it is a chance to reminisce on the holidays that I took as a child. For the family, it has been an opportunity to share new experiences and bond over food and fun.

 

Desaru and its casuarina trees will ever be dear to us, as we savour the memories of our time there, long after we have gone back to work and school.

 

Getting there

 

The return ferry ticket from Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal to Desaru costs $108. Go to str.sg/iUqz

 

Our elder son misses his ferry due to national service, so he takes a public bus ($2) across the border to Johor Bahru, where he gets a Grab ride to Desaru for RM137. The special bus lanes at the border allow my son to speed through the congestion and it takes him only two hours to make the trip to Desaru. 

 

Self-driving is an option if you are prepared to fight the traffic across the border. Having a car in Desaru is convenient, but note that parking fees are charged at the resorts. 

 

Getting around Desaru

 

There is a free regular ferry terminal shuttle bus that serves the Westin, Anantara and Hard Rock Hotel. 

 

Similarly, a free and regular shuttle bus service runs among the resorts and the Els Club golf course so that guests can patronise food outlets at other properties.

 

We are unable to get a ride-share to pick us up from the hotel and drop us off in town. Somehow, no cars accept our rides and we have to hire a taxi via the hotel for RM30 to drop us off each time we go into town. 

 

From Desaru town back to the resort, we have no trouble getting a ride-share car ride for about RM10.

 

The resorts offer bike rental services, but the roads are quite narrow and we do not feel safe cycling into town, which is about 8km away.

 

What to eat

 

The gathering point for Singaporeans in Desaru seems to be the SKS Mall downtown. We bump into several friends from home who are also in Desaru at the same time. The first instinct of Singapore travellers seems to be to look for a mall and eat nearby. 

 

My advice is to skip the mall and instead head directly to Jalan Jelutong. The supermarket Pasaraya Jiason is a local landmark and right in the middle of the food street, which will allow you to explore all the local options here.

 

The street is bookended by the makeshift kampung durian store outside Clinic Adham, and Yam918 Kopitiam which serves Singapore-style zi char and seafood.

 

Consider satay pondok-hopping along Jalan Jelutong. There are several roadside satay stalls that set up as soon as the day turns to dusk, each with its rendition of plump grilled satay and delicious satay sauce made from scratch.

 

Aunty G’s in the middle of the street offers a wide selection of Malay zi char dishes. Her soup dishes are featured as a speciality on her restaurant sign – and the mutton soup and clam soup are heavenly. 

 

In addition, Jalan Jelutong offers the usual mix of chain and convenience stores such as Family Mart, Subway, KFC, llao llao and other recognisable food-chain brands.

 

• Abel Ang is a regular columnist in The Straits Times. He is the chief executive of a medical technology company and travels frequently for work.
• Some of the writer’s activities were hosted by Desaru Coast.

 

 

Source: The Straits Times © SPH Media Limited. Reproduced with permission.

 

 

---

ALL views, content, information and/or materials expressed / presented by any third party apart from Council For Third Age, belong strictly to such third party. Any such third party views, content, information and/or materials provided herein are for convenience and/or general information purposes only. Council For Third Age shall not be responsible nor liable for any injury, loss or damage whatsoever arising directly or indirectly howsoever in connection with or as a result of any person accessing or acting on any such views, content, information and/or materials. Such third party views, content, information and/or materials do not imply and shall not be construed as a representation, warranty, endorsement and/or verification by Council For Third Age in respect of such views, content, information and/or materials.