A sculpture of a giant golden crab can be found at the South Port Terminal Jetty in Port Klang. — Photos: SAMUEL YESUIAH
Pulau Ketam is a wonderful small island near Port Klang in Selangor that offers visitors a lovely glimpse of life in a fishing village.
The houses there are on stilts, and you can see fishing nets getting mended at some of the houses. There are also plenty of small fishing boats around.
Recently, a small group of us – retired teachers, their spouses, and my nephews – made a trip to Pulau Ketam for a small fellowship. Getting to Pulau Ketam using public transportation was a breeze. We took the KTM Komuter train to Port Klang from the KL Sentral station; It only cost RM3.20 one way for senior citizens.
From the Port Klang station, you can either walk, or take the bus or taxi to the South Port Terminal jetty, which is very near. The jetty is where you need to go to take the ferry, which runs every hour, to Pulau Ketam.
The ferry ticket cost me RM10 for a one-way trip – I was disappointed to find out that there were no concessions for senior citizens. Anyway, the 40-minute-or-so ferry ride was superb as it was air-conditioned; you can also go to the open-air upper deck if you love the sea breeze.
The small group of friends who visited the island recently, with the writer on the far right.
Surprisingly, a public toilet was the first thing we saw at the gateway into the island. Luckily, it was clean.
There are no cars on Pulau Ketam and the main modes of transportation are bicycles and escooters or ebikes, which whizz through the narrow concrete walkways every now and then.
On either side of the walkway are restaurants, small hotels, wet markets, sundry shops, souvenir shops and houses, all of which were built on stilts. There’s also a police station, a government clinic, a secondary school and a kindergarten, as well as an old folks’ home.
The main walkway has many intersections that lead to these facilities, as well as to private houses. Pulau Ketam is predominantly a Chinese fishing village, and most of the people make their living from the sea. Fortunately, tourism is picking up here and more visitors are staying overnight in hotels and homestays to experience life in a fishing village. Some also stay longer so that they can savour lots of fresh seafood.
There are no cars at Pulau Ketam so if you need to get from one spot to another on the island, you would need to walk or ride a bicycle/escooter.
We spent about an hour or two walking around the village. There were a lot of things to see and discover, and we took pictures of anything and everything in sight.
We saw how life on the fishing village was more relaxed, slow-paced and peaceful. The community was a close-knit one and everyone seemed to know each other. The shopkeepers and restaurant owners were friendly and welcoming, too.
We had a fantastic seafood lunch in one of the bigger restaurants in the village. For dessert, we had “cooked” ice cream which was cold and piping hot at the same time.
There were other stalls around that sold seafood delights like squid, crabs and prawns.
Pualu Ketam at low tide.
Pulau Ketam makes for a wonderful fuss-free weekend getaway or day trip, as it is not crowded and very accessible. I think it is a perfect trip for senior travellers who prefer a more relaxing pace when it comes to touring.
The best thing about it – for us, at least – is that the whole trip cost each senior citizen no more than RM40. It would have been cheaper if only the ferry service had discounts for senior citizens.
We left Pulau Ketam with fond memories of the village, and of our time together.
The views expressed are entirely the reader’s own.
