Chendor Beach

The beaches around Cherating aren't good for turtle watching. Chendor is windy, bare and looks like a dessert during low tide. Suggest you head up north into Terengganu and find your way to Ma' Daerah, a new turtle sanctuary not found in any guide book. There's a good freshwater turtle (river terrapin) sanctuary in Bota Kiri, near Ipoh you can also try. The conservation center is perched next to Perak river and turtle nesting banks are frequently patrolled by friendly rangers; untouristed and cost us nothing. We just tagged along the rangers.

Agree with #1. There are very few turtle landings at Chendor now.

I just came back from watching a greenback turtle hatching on Redang island.

Best way to watch turtles is to go scuba diving. They're all over Tioman and Redang and Perhentian right now. Every scuba trip I've been taking for the past couple months has featured at least one turtle sighting.

Better hurry!

Hi! #1 could you explain how to reach Bota Kiri sanctuary please? Where is exactly the conservation center? Is there any place to stay a couple of days or is it ok an excursion from Ipoh? Thanks!

Sorry, my mistake, it's Bota Kanan (not Kiri).

Yes, you can do a day trip to Bota Kanan. Bear in mind, it's non-touristy, off-grid and you have to make extra effort on transport. Stay in Ipoh. Hotels are cheap and the town is laid back. Use the Perak Roadways hourly bus that's heading to Lumut/Pangkor. No air con, old maroon-coloured bus but you can call it adventure. The bus ply Ipoh-Lumut, you can hop off half-way in Bota Kanan. Let driver know. The sanctuary is a walking distance from the main bus stop. There is signage. It's hard to miss anything in the one-road village landmarked by a great looking mosque.

Thanks for all the infos! Will look for and considering this Bota Kanan.. and timyang, Perhentian Island is also in our itinerary, but we could only take snorkeling there.. though I hope we would be able to see one or two..