Cherating is one of those older places in Malaysia that take me back to my younger days travelling around the country. And mind you, this was back in the 80s when this place was one of the most popular must-visit places.
Since AirAsia came about and opened up cheap options for travel destinations in the 2000s, fewer people have started to visit here. In the last few years just before Coivd19 hit, I did a little birdwatching at Cherating during a river cruise with a bunch of media people.
Birdwatching at Cherating
Cherating is located on the coastal side of Pahang and just after the city of Kuantan. It is also well known nowadays as a surfers beach where numerous local surfers head here during the monsoon season from November to January.
While you may be able to spot some shorebirds by the seaside, you may also be able to spot some raptors in the vicinity. Not forgetting the most common birds like house crows, mynas, Eurasian Tree Sparrows, etc.
However, for avid birders, you may want to take the mangrove tour in Cherating, where you will have the opportunity to see even more unique and uncommon birds there. I would recommend this versus just walking around the main Kampung Cherating area.
Cherating Bird List
While I do not have a proper list, I am still looking for anyone who may have a bird list for Cherating. During my birding trip here, I saw several birds like Night Heron, Blue-eared Kingfisher, Iora, Barbet, Chestnut-bellied Malkoha and a couple of Raptors.
I need to get back there again for another round of birdwatching. Maybe this time, focussing entirely on the birds rather than the overall wildlife like my last trip here.
I wondered if I could make a day trip, but I would have to leave very early, even before dawn, maybe around 4.00 AM, because it takes about four hours drive from KL. But realistically, I believe I would most likely have to make an overnight trip to do birdwatching in the morning here.
How to Go to Cherating?
From Kuala Lumpur, you need to get on the East Coast Highway (E8), and it generally takes about a four-hour drive one way. Cherating is located in Pahang and on the east coast by the sea.
Overall, it would be best to self-drive here and spend a night or two. There are also several other popular birding locations along the way, but you will need to know the exact locations. I will hopefully try to add more information about different areas on this site.
Conclusion
You can also look at my list of birdwatching locations around Malaysia if you are planning on doing multiple areas for birding.
For anyone who wants to do birdwatching at Cherating, I recommend you engage a bird guide here or take one of the local mangrove tours and inform them that you want to see birds.
Usually, people visit this place for the fireflies tour, which starts at dusk. A well-known firefly tour operator here is Hafiz, who apparently can call the fireflies to the boat, and I vouch for this as I experienced this first hand.
