Introduction
Kerachut Beach is a lovely stretch of white sandy beach located in the Penang National Park. It takes an easy trekking to get there, and is home to a turtle sanctuary.
What to Expect?
It shelters a meromictic lake, and it is home to the Penang Turtle Sanctuary, which is located just behind the beach.
How to get to Pantai Kerachut
There are 2 ways to get the beach:
1. The first option is to take a boat from the entrance of the National Park at Teluk Bahang (which cost you around RM100 for a boat that fits around 10 people).
2. The second and most popular option is to simply hike in through the Penang National Park. Fear not, it's not difficult to get there.
- A seasoned hiker can get there in about hour from the park entrance
- Any other casual visitors can get there in about 1.5 hours, typically under 2 hours.
We recommend that most visitors take the hiker route, to enjoy both the national park and the beach in a trip. We recommend planning ahead for back-and-forth hike, and give it a safe estimate of 3 hours.
For preparation, we recommend that you bring extra water, as you make your way through the trail and at the beach area you might not find any vendor selling beverages.
From the map, there are two paths through the national park to Pantai Kerachut.
- The first and easiest way is to walk for 1/2 km along the coast from the park entrance and take the first left up over the hill and down again the other side - This pathway is quite wide, easy to follow and not too steep.
- The other slightly longer way is to head to the Canopy Walkway and continue up the hill from there where it meets the first path near the top of the hill.
This path is a lot narrower, steeper, less used and with much more forest debris littered over it making it harder to walk along.
On the way down from the top of the hill, there is also another split in the path.
At the end of the trail, you will be crossing a bridge, which takes you across the river to Pantai Kerachut.
Here you would see meromictic lake at the end of the beach, turning left will take you around the lake to the campsite.
The Beach
Pantai Kerachut is a white sandy beach, which has much fewer crowds than all the popular beaches - including the Monkey beach in the same park. It’s quiet and peaceful there, and it’s almost certain that you’ll find some shady areas to just sit back and relax.
The beach is also a perfect spot to have your lunch picnic under the shady trees or some wooden huts. Even on weekends the crowd level is typically low, thereby the beach is always very serene and relaxing.
One thing to keep an eye on is the monkeys, so do keep an eye on your belongings.
There's also a campsite right by the beach that visitors can camp and spend a night in, they would have to get the permission from the Penang National Park.
Turtle Sanctuary in Pantai Kerachut
One unique feature of Pantai Kerachut is that there’s a small turtle sanctuary there.
Green turtles nest there from April to August, and the olive ridley from September to February. In 1995, a turtle hatchery was set up in Pantai Keracut, and is now managed by the State Fisheries Department, Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) and the Forestry Department.
The visitor gallery is a small exhibition educating user on the life cycles of turtles, along with some preserved carcasses of turtles and a egg nurturing and hatching ground.
You can also find some turtles being kept in a tub, with only one-foot deep water in it.
Meromictic Lake
There is also a very rare meromictic lake here (a lake of two layers of salt and fresh water that don't mix) but to be honest, you can't really see that much, just looks like any other lake and sometimes the lake is totally empty.
With such a beautiful beach - even if you have just walked through the rainforest and are hot and sweaty, the beach definitely worth all the efforts to get there.
Look Around
Address: Pantai Keracut, Teluk Bahang, Tanjung Bungah, Pulau Pinang
010-336 8958
Everyday 8:00 AM - 5:00 PMFeatures
Kid's Pools
Wading pools to cool the hot day down
Reviews
4.5
(485)
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Joe G
3 weeks agoNice beach. Took around an hour to hike there. Swimming isn't allowed (advised) as supposedly lots of jellyfish!
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Daryl L
5 months agoIt is a very beautiful beach, the white sand and the vibe, recommended for camping, to go there you need to hike for 1.5hour, u can also rent a boat to go there, the rental fee is rm150
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Boon Seng Yeoh
6 months agoJust a mediocre beach but probably one of the best in penang island. Better beach would be those in Pantai Timur or Borneo. Challenging trip (because I started my venture at the noon) due to hot weather and uncompromising sun. Coarse sand with many jelly like creatures washed to the shore (maybe those are jellyfish) a warning sign for not swimming or going into the water. You could sit at the jetty to enjoy the breeze. Water source (piped from inland river), toilet and praying place are available. You could opt for boat fare which I think will lessen your sense of achievement in reaching there.
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Fazid Elias
7 months agoBeautiful beach. There is a turtle conservatory at the beach. To get there you need to go through the jungle, 4 km hike, from Penang National Park entrance, one way. Or you can take a boat ride.
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Intiran Harikrishnan
7 months agoThis is another spectacular beach that a must try for anyone.
Its hidden of course and the only way there is is via foot which is a 1-2 hours jungle trekking or by boat or canoe. This used to be our fishing ground in the early 2000 but we stopped going there right after the dark figure incident one late night..
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