Sea Cruise, Fishing / Crabbing

☆#1 Pandan Beach

Directly by the beach where Pandan GoldCoast Holiday Villa is located, you will find a breathtaking view of a horizon of crystal clear water and colorful fishing boats. 

Guests may jump onboard a traditional fishing boat for a sight-seeing cruise or fishing trip. However this must be an advance booking, as we need to arrange the perfect timing according to sea tide and weather. 

If you fancy a picnic by the beach, we can also assist to arrange for packed food such as sandwiches, fruits and drinks for you to have a cozy little picnic by the beach. Mats and towels will be provided too. 

Exploring the area around the beach is a must, if not for the captivatingly untouched nature maybe for the little pleasant surprises you may catch. 

There are 4 routes for various activities & trips available as follows: 

A.SIGHT-SEEING CRUISE – 60min

Once safely onboard, the sightseeing journey starts by going East (right side) towards Siah Beach. Being out at sea looking back at the beach gives you a fresh perspective of how beautiful the stretch Pandan Beach looked with shady palm trees that overhang the beach stretch. Not forgetting the amazing silhouette of the mountains that lined the horizon from afar. 

As we pass by different depths of the ocean floor, do take notice of how the seawater reflects a different hue as we pass by different sections of the sea. It may seem like just a simple tour on a little boat, but the scenes that you take in will awe you and make your trip to Kuching a lot more memorable. And please do not forget your camera.

~ Jelly fish processing 

As we approach the river mouth, we will reach a small cluster of zink-roofed wooden buildings that may seem to be quite run downed and deserted. It will be quite empty and unoccupied most of the time, because this is a place for villagers to process jelly fish when they are in season. Come jelly fish breeding season, there will be hundreds and thousands of them brought right into the river mouth by the rising tide. Villagers will hurriedly scoop them up one by one, as a fully-grown jellyfish can weigh about 10 kilograms! Not an easy task and very daunting for those lacking muscle strength. Jellyfish caught will be brought into the buildings where another group of workers are tasked at processing them before they are packed and exported. Visits to watch and experience this can be arranged. 

~ At the river mouth  

At one end of the Pandan beach stretch, we will find ourselves surrounded by emerald green water and white sandy beaches. This little piece of pristine beach is inaccessible by car making it quite untouched by humans. You can choose to disembark from the boat ride to take a little dip or do some photo taking before heading back to the villa. If you do intend to stick around and do some swimming or picnic, do bring along some snacks and extra clothes to change though sitting wet on the boat ride back is perfectly fine with us. Washing up will have to wait till you reach the villa do to the lack of fresh water and changing room on our boat! 

B . CRABBING RIVER CRUISE – 60min

If you opt to add on the crabbing river cruise, our friendly boatman will be more than happy to prepare the cages with bait for you. Therefore you will need to let us know earlier so that we can make the necessary arrangements. 

~ River cruise 

The river cruise will start from the river mouth, which is just a few meters away from the holiday villa. The ride will bring you a few kilometers upstream where swamp vegetation thrived along the river. It is a great ride for you to hear the sounds of nature, see the amazing greeneries and feel for yourself the wonder of living so close to Mother Nature. With such amazing biodiversity a swamp holds, we might come across monkeys swinging from tree to tree, kingfisher bird at work or even snakes slithering away startled by the noise of the boat. 

~ Crabbing 

This will require a lot of experience in terms of understanding how to prepare bait, how to watch the tide and of course the most important, the best time and place to put the bait. Do not worry as our guide is very experienced around these waters and you will be all prepped up to go. To give you a general idea of how this process works; Bait is prepared beforehand and installed in the cage, the perfect spot has to be has to be of shaded and not too shallow, as we slowly put down the cage into the water, tie the other end of the rope holding the cage to a branch. The other end of the rope is usually tied with an empty bottle with a unique mark so that you can find your cage later on and not to mistakenly take someone else’s cage. Usually it is advisable to take up the crab-catching trip together with the fishing trip, as you’ll have higher chance of trapping the crab successfully by allowing more time to leave the cages longer while you’re going for fishing in the sea.

C.FISHING TRIP – 120min

Again we shall head to the river mouth, where there is a rocky area that is a good location for fishing. From experience, on a bad day with the least of luck, even the worst fishing enthusiast will at least caught little fishe you don’t have to worry about going home empty handed. The good part about having caught little fish is that you could use it as bait hoping to catch bigger fish!

A word of caution, be extra careful when handling the fishing rod especially when throwing the hook out. It is important to make sure the hook is far away from other fishing teammates and you lift the hook high enough when you throw that there will not be someone getting in the way of your hook. Surely it won’t be very fun for the person that ended up getting hooked by you. Fortunately, you will be briefed with demonstrations for beginners before we set off on the fishing trip. Highly advisable for travellers who is very patient and can talk softly as real life fishing takes a lot of patience and luck. I’m sure fishing enthusiasts will know what we’re saying J

For beginners who may not fancy too much of direct sunlight, it is advisable to bring a big hat, a fan and sunglasses. As for ladies, do bring your sunblock along because you will need to reapply it. You may look queer to the local fishermen as they are very used to fishing under the hot sun, as long as you don’t mind the local fishermen laughing behind. Otherwise, be a sun lover and take off your shirt for some serious sunbathing while waiting for the fishes.

You may have the opportunity to watch the local fisherman counting their catch as well, and may buy from them on the spot at incredibly low price to have a fresh seafood meal later.

When you have had enough with fishing, take a jump down from the boat and have a refreshing swim. Our villa has snorkeling equipment available for rent and you will get to watch school of small fishes swimming around you. Do take note however, the swimming and snorkeling is to commence after everyone has decided you do not want to fish anymore. No point putting bait on a fishing rod and sit there waiting patiently for a fish to bite when you friend has scare all the fishes away, right?   

D. CRABBING & MANGROVE TRAIL – 60min 

Pandan GoldCoast Holiday Villa is situated at the river mouth, facing the sea. When the tide is high, we can go by fishing boat for a crabbing trip. When tide is low, it will be safe to walk on the mud to experience the mangrove trail, you will be amazed by unique plants, colourful crabs, most probably able to bring something back for lunch, be it edible wild plants or some lucky catches.

It will certainly be a memorable trip!