Boating, biking & boarding – in Southeast Asia

The East Coast of Malaysia is a real charmer, islands, beaches, clean water and even a kiteboarding school!

Kuantan is a nice City on the east coast here you can find a Hilton Hotel on the beach but it’s more famous for Club Med which is sited on Cherating Beach about 20 minutes north of town.

From Kuala Lumpur, Kuantan is easily reached (about 3 hours by car and even less by superbike). The best (entertaining) road to take is the Karak Highway which winds its way out of KL and over a saddle at the base of the Cameron Highlands. The first 60km’s are bikers heaven with sweeping corners before hitting the flats that lead to the coast. Naturally there are rest stops at intervals down the East Coast Highway and the Cameron Highlands rest stop has a Macdonalds with the bet setting on the Peninsular!

From Singapore. Take the East Coast Road that it will be a good 6 hour run. The East Coast Road is nice and will take you on a scenic tour of Malaysia’s East Coast towns. Take the 2nd Link, exit to Johore Bahru and then follow the signs to Kota Tinggi. Once in Kota Tinggi, pick up the Mersing signs and then keep going.

Leo Watersports is located on the grounds of Duta Village Resort.
This in itself is right next door to Swiss Garden Resort which is north of Kuantan town by 7km’s. There you have it, stay in Swiss Garden if you want the 5-star treatment or, Duta Village if you want a nice clean chalet under the trees for RM 140/night – value!

Leo Leow is the pro-boarder in the area and there’s not a lot he doesn’t know about the surrounding waters! Leo’s kiteboarding haunt is well known amongst kiteboarders in Sigapore and KL who regularly make the journey there to sample the Northeast Monsoon at its best.

From November – April the NE Monsoon will be diagonally onshore at about 18-25 knots with some fairly decent waves. The turbulence created by the NE means that the East Coast “shuts down” and there’s even less people around.
Between the NE Monsoon season the SW Monsoon will make its presence. This is a diagonally offshore breeze of lesser strength but the real beauty is that the water clarity shoots way up and diving on some of offshore islands becomes a stunning reality!

Leo is an affable chap and very obliging. I had my first trial with a training kite on the beach with him and can say he’s very passionate about the sport. It was also a treat to have the whole beach to myself – that’s the real beauty of the East Coast! It’s charming a laid back – perfect!

When winds aren’t so favourable, Leo will use his Rhino Rider to teach the basics of boarding riding – wakeboarding style. When I first paid a visit there, I was stunned at just how beautiful this stretch really is. Its a great, inexpensive way to spend a weekend. Leo has some 2nd hand gear available so a few people to store their gear there and then just bike over.

If you wanted to learn kiteboarding – just do it, its a mix of wakeboarding and sailing, a great combination and a great place to hit it! In about September it’s possible to get some big depressions over the South China Sea. These pump out some nice waves and make real surfing a reality in Cherating… get ready now.

Contact Leo at…
www.kiteboardingmalaysia.com
Mobilel: + 60 123291336

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