The largest man-made lake in South East Asia surrounded by the world’s oldest rainforest?  This had to be investigated!

 

Lake Kenyir was named after Kenyir River, one of many rivers whose level rose due to the construction of Jenagor Dam. This resulted in the mountains and hills being submerged to become 340 little islands.

HOW TO GET THERE

We had 3 options available to us

• Bus 
• Taxi/Grab —> Just ask any taxi driver to take you there. It is a return trip and they have a fixed rate as they need to wait for you at Kenyir until you are done with your explorations.
• Rent a car —> We wanted to explore, so we decided to rent a car which was actually not that more expensive than taking a taxi. (You can watch our adventure here)
  

  Road Trip to Lake Kenyir

WHY VISIT LAKE KENYIR?

• ISLANDS – 340 islands are spotted throughout the lake. To imagine that these were once mountaintops and highlands.  The peaks are quite inviting to any adventurous hiker on a mission to explore.
• WATERFALLS – More than 14 cascading waterfalls to spend the day having a picnic or just relaxing in mother nature.
• CAVES – Only 2 caves can be explored as the 3rd one is now submerged after the creation of the dam.  The caves are reached by boat only. The smaller cave houses beautiful stalactites and stalagmites.  The bigger cave shares stories of history where prehistoric humans once called this cave home.  Pots, axes and eating utensils from the stone age confirms prehistoric human activities.
• PARKS AND GARDENS – Hop between different themed islands — Bird park — Butterfly park — Herbal Park — Orchid Garden — Tropical Garden
• SANCTUARIES – Visit the sanctuary to numerous species of freshwater fish or visit the giant of the jungle at the elephant conservation village.
  

  Islands of Lake Kenyir

  

  Island from above

ACTIVITIES

Tour guides offer several packages to suit everyone’s needs.  A trip to the above attractions can also include several activities:

• Island hopping
• Fishing – need a fishing permit
• Camping and jungle trekking
• Bird watching
• Water sports – kayaking, canoeing and lots more

ENTRY POINT

Visitors to Lake Kenyir should enter at Pengkalan Gawi Jetty as this is the principal port of entry.

ACCOMMODATION

Book your stay in advance as it was quite a challenge for us to find accommodation upon arrival.  Luckily we found a cabin on a stationary houseboat for the night.

 Resorts (Lake Kenyir Resort), chalets, floating lodges (Kenyir Eco Resort), house boats, camp sites and home stays can be found in and around Lake Kenyir. 

LAKE KENYIR DEVELOPMENT

There’s a lot of construction at Lake Kenyir.  These new developments will be awaiting an influx of tourists from early 2018.

• Kenyir duty free zone – Kenyir Trade Centre which will be a shopping haven, business centre and a 3-star hotel.  An iconic bridge will link the trade centre to the jetty. 
• You can also expect to find a 40-seater jet boat, cable car, theme park and a 2nd jetty for visitors from the west.

 

 

IMPORTANT TO KNOW

• Don’t just show up, book in advance or if you show up, make sure it is during Terengganu’s “office hours”

In Terengganu, the working days are from Sundays to Thursdays. Fridays and Saturdays are considered Weekends. The typical operation hours of the offices here are:

-> Sundays to Wednesdays : 8:00am to 4:45pm
-> Thursdays: 8:00am to 4:30pm

• Constructions going on – some of the resorts are closed for refurbishments.
• Check the weather before you go, it was very rainy we went and we therefore decided against any boat cruises or activities 😦

It is really a spectacular place to visit, we would recommend any traveler to explore the breathtaking nature of Lake Kenyir.

Happy Wanderlusting!!

 

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