Alohaaa, friends! This week, let me take you on a Malaysia day trip to Pulau Ketam (Crab Island)🦀😊
Last week, my auntie and uncle visited me. It wasn’t their first time in Malaysia, they’d seen the city and some places. So, we decided to visit Pulau Ketam for a change of scenery.
In the previous blog post, I shared with you my favourite seafood restaurants. Pulau Ketam was also famous for its fresh and affordable seafood, especially crabs!
To reach this island, first, you have to go to Pelabuhan Klang (Port Klang), then buy return tickets to board a small ship to the island.
Return tickets cost you RM20, while a one-way ticket will cost you around RM12. Oh ya, the best time to visit Pulau Ketam is in the morning, when the weather isn’t too hot.
Make sure that you reach the port by 10 am 😊☀️⛵
The boat departs every 30 minutes and there are a few types of boats. I was lucky that I got a nice, small boat Alibaba 5. It had an upper and lower deck.
The lower deck was very comfortable, complete with AC, TV, and toilet. It was very clean and cool.
If you feel sleepy because you woke up too early for this Malaysia day trip, you can sleep for 30 minutes, hehe! 😁
The upper deck was a small open space, but there were few seats. Since it was raining when we were there, we chose to sit on the lower deck.
It was a comfortable 30-minute boat ride. I even watched an interesting Chinese drama though I didn’t understand a single thing! #banana
Also read: “Vietnam Day Trip: Tam Chuc Pagoda”
Also read: “Amsterdam: Van Gogh Museum, Canal Cruise & Red Light District”
Pulau Ketam Malaysia Day Trip: Crabs, Scooters, and a Peaceful Neighbourhood
As the name suggests, there are many fishermen in Pulau Ketam, Malaysia. It’s also one of the reasons why locals and tourists flock to this island – to eat fresh, affordable seafood!
I didn’t lie when I suggested that you reach Port Klang by 10 am. There were tour buses + locals who fancy this island for a weekend getaway.
The main transportations on this island are scooters and bicycles. There are many scooters available for rent but you don’t have to rent one.
To me, exploring the island on foot is the best!
Since there are many scooters, please be careful when you explore Pulau Ketam. Look to the left and right before you cross the street, and make sure that you don’t walk in the middle of the road.
It’s a peaceful neighbourhood which makes it a pleasant walk. Please keep your voice low and don’t litter.
When I was there, there was many trash in the mud, in the neighbouring area (not the port area). You may see most crabs at the port but please keep the neighbouring area clean too.
💖 15% OFF ALL TOURS! Click below and enter my discount code: 💖
CLARA15
Click “Add Promo Code / Voucher” and enter CLARA10 when you checkout at onelifeadventures.com
There were some types of houses that you could see in Pulau Ketam, from the humble ones, the normal ones, to the very modern ones that usually had few scooters on the terrace.
Although their neighbourhood was constantly visitted by tourists, the locals were friendly. They would smile at you and wouldn’t be angry when you tok photos of them or their houses.
When my family and I were in Pulau Ketam, one particular house was very popular among the tourists because it had a nice garden.
The owner even opened the house gates so people could go inside and take a look!
We took photos of the mini garden (papaya, watermelon, etc) and the house itself. An old lady was sitting on the terrace and she smiled at all of us.
Also read: “The Desperado Commando”
Also read: “Free Kuala Lumpur Walking Tour: East-West Connection”
Malaysia Day Trip: Fresh Seafood and Food Hunting in Pulau Ketam
When my family and I went to Pulau Ketam, we didn’t eat seafood. We thought we just wanted to eat some street foods and had a meal in Klang, sampling the original ba kut teh.
What a bad decision!
The guy that I liked told me that the crabs in Pulau Ketam were good, especially flower crabs.
“It’s almost impossible to find fresh and nice flower crabs in Kuala Lumpur now!” he said.
Other than crabs, he also suggested that I tried a very special fish, the bombay duck fish aka “teh heu” (Teochew dialect).
It was also my first time seeing this kind of fish crab. We all thought that it was a fish, but NO.
“Don’t eat the horseshoe crab! Their population is now low, we need to protect them,” he continued.
“Their blood is blue and expensive, used for medicinal purposes. They’re also older than dinosaurs.”
Eh, whaat? I knew the fisherman told us that the crab was 500 years old, but we didn’t believe it 👀👀👀
“How could they survive the apocalypse back then?” I texted him.
“They are living fossils. They could live in the water and survive on the land for 1-2 weeks,” he explained to me.
💖 15% OFF ALL TOURS! Click below and enter my discount code: 💖
CLARA15
Click “Add Promo Code / Voucher” and enter CLARA10 when you checkout at onelifeadventures.com
Unfortunately, my uncle told me that he had eaten a horseshoe crab before in Indonesia.
So, friends… now you know that it’s an endangered species. Please don’t eat them! 😖😖😖
Ok, back to our food hunting. A Malaysian day trip is incomplete without food hunting. Now, let’s sample some street foods in Pulau Ketam!
These shiny, golden balls were fried vegetable choi pan. They were made of rice flour and were typically filled with taro, yam, and chives.
This vegetable choi pan was very chewy and delicious!! But it was very oily too… so control your appetite, guys! You don’t want to leave the island gaining some KGs, hehe!
Oh God, this ice cendol was really, really good!!!
The cendol was chewy and the shaved ice was made of soy milk. If only the seller used Melaka brown sugar, it would taste even better 😍😍😍
Another street food that you have to try when in Pulau Ketam was the oyster omelette. Not a fan of oysters? Don’t worry, they had mushroom and prawn omelettes too!
The omelette that my family and I tried was the one from this stall, at Kedai Kopi Chuan Hiang. It was different from the oyster omelettes that we had in Kuala Lumpur.
The oyster/prawn omelettes at this Pulau Ketam stall were chewy because they were cooked with tapioca flour. Yes, they were oily – but YUMMY! 🤤😋🥰
By the way, if you’re health-conscious like me, please be noted that many places in Pulau Ketam don’t sell hot tea, so you can’t cleanse the oil and fat.
The reason? Because tea is cheap! The locals want to sell drinks that cost at least RM2 so they could get some profit.
If I ever return to Pulau Ketam for a Malaysia day trip, I would bring a thermos so I could enjoy the street foods and drink my tea afterwards!
Alright, I hope you like our short Malaysia day trip to Pulau Ketam (Crab Island). Remember that the boat leaves the port every 30 minutes, guys!
So, what do you think of Pulau Ketam? Will you visit this island? Let me know what you think in the comment!
💖 15% OFF ALL TOURS! Click below and enter my discount code: 💖
CLARA15
Click “Add Promo Code / Voucher” and enter CLARA10 when you checkout at onelifeadventures.com
Also read: “Cuti-cuti Malaysia: Kuala Selangor and Sekinchan”
Also read: “Best Seafood in Malaysia: Restoran Makanan Laut Jeti & Veg Fish Farm Thai”
