潓游集 My Journey : Kerachut Beach 可拉竹海滩

Have been thinking which location should i write as my first post here. And finally i decided to blog about one of the famous beaches in Penang Island, Kerachut Beach. This beach is really a good place to go during weekends for Penangites, and for tourists , you can include this beach in your trip other than Batu Ferringgi beach, i am sure you will have surprise on this. This beach located in Penang National Park, Teluk Bahang.

想了好久，我的第一篇文章到底该选那一个地方或景点来写呢,于是我决定先由槟岛的其中一个著名的海滩写起，那就是可拉竹海滩。对于槟城人，这海滩是不错的周末之选，而对于游客，除了巴都丁宜海滩，也可以考虑将这海滩列为旅游的其中一个景点，说不定会有意想不到的惊喜哦！可拉竹海滩座落于槟岛直落巴巷的国家公园。

Now let's us have a peep on Kerachut Beach.
现在就让我们一同看看可拉竹海滩：

Here is the entrance to Penang National Park ,remember to register at the counter before enter the national park. It is free of charge. We have taken around one hour jungle trekking before reached Kerachut Beach. There is a ready trekking path provided along the way, so it is not hard at all for this jungle trekking. You also can enjoy the beautiful scenery of jungle on the way to the beach and listen to "symphony" of ocean waves and insects.

这就是国家公园的入口处。记得进去之前到柜台去填写资料.值得一提的是，这国家公园是没有收费的。我们大概走了一个小时左右，才到达可拉竹海滩。沿途都有完善的徒步径，所以一点都不难走。同时，沿途可以欣赏森林的美丽风景，及聆听海浪和昆虫的交响曲!

Here is the view of Kerachut Beach, with blue sky, clean sea and beautiful beach . There are camping sites and some other facilities provided here. ( but we are not allow to stay overnight on the beach during the turtles nesting season -you have to double check with the park office)

这就是可拉竹海滩的景色，蓝天，清澈的海和美丽的沙滩。可拉竹海滩这儿还设有露营区及一些设施。（不过，如果遇上海龟下蛋的季节，人们是不能在这里过夜的，关于这，你可以询问园内的工作人员）

Look, what is it? Yup , it is baby turtle. There is a Turtle Sanctuary Center on Kerachut Beach. The Center is actually very small and only in charged by few workers. After ask for permission from "Abang" in the center , he let us entered and also allowed us to take photo with this cute baby turtles. （ turn off flash when you capture photo inside the center) I'm so excited when look at this baby turtles, they are so cute. "Abang" told us that it is Green Sea Turtle, and they are becoming less and less nowadays, they will come to the beach to lay eggs around April to August .

Apart from Turtle Sanctuary Center, Another attraction in Kerachut is Meromictic lake ( but i forgot to capture the photo of the lake). Meromictic lake is unique because there is two layers of water, upper layer is cool while lower layer is warm, these two layers do not mix up. And, this Meromictic lake in Penang is one of the two Meromictic lakes in the world, another one in Australia. During our visit to Kerachut Beach in May, the lake still dry , what we can see was just a "muddy" lake. So if you want to see a beautiful meromictic lake, do come during moonsoon season, either March and end of the year.

看! 这是什么？对，这就是海龟宝宝。在可拉竹海滩上有一所海龟保育中心。这中心的规模还蛮小，只有几位工作人员。获得他们的许可后，我们便进去保育中心，并和小海龟们拍照。(记得关掉闪光灯）我非常开心可以看到这些小海龟，它们好可爱哦！工作人员告诉我们这些都是绿海龟，如今这种类已日益减少了。通常绿海龟都会在每年四月到八月份左右会到可拉竹海滩来下蛋

除了海龟保育中心之外，可拉竹的另一个卖点就是半对流湖(meromictic lake) （不过我没有拍下这湖的照片）。半对流湖的特色是它有两层的水；上层是冰冷的，而下层是温的，这两层水是不会混合的。还有，这可拉竹的半对流湖可说是世上其中两个半对流湖之一，另一个坐落在澳州。我们去时是五月份，所以那湖是干干的，所见的是一片烂泥。如果，你想欣赏美丽的半对流湖，可以季风季节前往，大概是在三月份左右及年尾。

How to get there:

如何前往此地：

You can take Rapid Penang B101 from Jetty to Teluk Bahang, the journey takes about one to one and the half hour, only get down from the bus when you reach the last bus station in Teluk Bahang. Less than 10 minutes walking distance, you will reach the entrance of the National Park. You will pass by a fishing village, which is just next door to the park.

If you do not want to go to the beaches through jungle trekking, there is another option, go to get a boat ride from local fisherman , remember to bargain the price. if you are lucky you may get a boat ride around Rm 50 per boat . The usual price for boat ride is from Rm50-RM100 per boat.

你可以搭 Rapid Penang 101 的巴士，从码头去直落巴巷，路程大约是一个到一个半钟，记得在直落巴巷最后一个的巴士站才下车。过后，大约步行少过十分钟，你就会到达的国家公园

入口处。途中你会经过一个渔村，这渔村就在国家公园入口处附近。

如果你不想走路到达可拉竹海滩，你可以到渔村里去搭船，记得要商量价钱哦！如果幸运，你可以大概用五十零吉就可以雇一艘船。通常一艘船的收费是从五十到一百零吉。

For more information,

Department of Wildlife and National Parks Penang

40th Floor, KOMTAR Complex

Penang Road

10000 Pulau Pinang,Malaysia.

Tel. 04 - 2613039 Fax. 04 - 2610330

E-mail: jphltnpp@tm.net.my