Selangor Archives - Teja on the Horizon

The downside of living in Kuala Lumpur is that the coastline is not particularly accessible. This is very sad for someone who loves the coastline. You have to fight through considerable traffic across miles of suburbia, before you'd get anywhere near a plausible beach. However, if you do manage to motivate yourself to get out the door, you can go to Morib beach. Can you do Morib Beach as a day trip? Pantai Morib (or Morib beach) is one of the beaches that are within day trip distance of KL. It is a public beach located next to the Morib Gold Coast resort area. How to get to Morib Beach You need a car to get to Pantai Morib. You're aiming to leave the city, heading towards Banting. Morib lies beyond Banting town. What kind of beach is Morib? Morib public beach is a fairly 'local' beach. Most of the people who come to this beach are locals. Hence, do expect that they would be enjoying the beach in the way that locals would. In other words, this isn't the sort of beach for stripping down and sunbathing on (next door in Morib Gold Coast would be the one for that). Locals traditionally swim in 'normal' clothing, i.e. T-shirt and pants. The sand is white and fine above the waterline, ending at a line of casuarina trees and the occasional coconut palm. But much of the beach is actually the finer sand flats that get exposed during low tide. This is really when visitors would wander across the flats and get their feet wet. The tidal height around Malaysia is generally not very large. So it is not as dangerous to range far out on the flats at low tide as might be the case in countries like the UK, where you can get caught by the returning tide if you're too far away from shore. Is Morib a kite flying beach? A key feature of the beach that I discovered from going twice, is the breeze. The first time was in April, and the winds then were stronger and more consistent than my second visit in December. This means: kite-flying beach! There are many kites on sale to choose from, and they're reasonably priced. An Angry Bird one would set you back RM10 if I recall right. But this was a few years ago. On my first visit, the high casuarina branches were also adorned with tiny kites, their constant fluttering tails demonstrating the biddable wind. They weren't there on my second visit. At first I was disappointed. But in retrospect it was probably best - I don't think they get systematically removed each time. Given that many of the kites are plastic, that's a lot of plastic that could come loose and become litter all over the beach. There's just another thing I should mention - it can be blistering hot here. The sun is blinding in midday, and you'd feel it even with the steady wind. What kind of amenities can I expect at Pantai Morib? Aside from the kite sellers, Morib beach is actually pretty well laid out. There is ample parking next to the recreational grounds. There are rows of little restaurants (mainly serving local /simple local-fusion /street food cuisine), bathroom facilities, and Muslim prayer rooms. It's not fancy, but everything that you need is there so you can enjoy a beachside promenade sort of afternoon. Looking for a chill beach escape from KL? Check out Morib! Looking to go a bit further afield? Check out a sample weekend at Port Dickson!