2018 July. Johor Poseidon Oysterbay Kelong. Malaysia.

This was a fun weekend overnight kelong stay. For those unfamiliar with kelong, it is a Malay word describing an offshore platform built predominantly with wood for fishing and dwelling purpose, which can be found in waters off Malaysia, Philippines and Indonesia. We arranged for a private car to pick us up in Singapore and drove to Telok Sengat Jetty in Johor, Malaysia. The kelong was a few hundred metres offshore along Johor River.

     

We arrived early and had to wait for the kelong’s speedboat to bring us over, so what do we do while waiting? Eat of cos, happily, at the food stalls by the jetty, while we waited and waited for what seemed like a very very long time.

     

The boat ride took less than 5 minutes. The resort probably staggered the timings to accommodate guests check-in in batches.

       

This is a very deluxe kelong with modern facilities. It has 17 air-conditioned rooms with attached bathrooms and can accommodate large groups. Suggest you request for a room on the detached wing, away from the main living and dining area, or you may be entertained with live karaoke singing. Whether the singing is good or bad really depends on your luck, haha.

 

Plenty of communal spaces for dining and hanging out, and also facilities for karaoke, table tennis, mahjong, fishing, etc. Very comfortable set up, especially for group gatherings and activities.

           

The kelong proper, kept a variety of fishes and as its name suggest, oysters are farmed here too. There is even a bee farm in one of the sheds.

       

Tea time snacks was served at 3pm. Fried keropok and small oyster fritters. We were well fed throughout the stay. We kept ourselves entertained with Settlers of Catan, our favourite boardgame that we brought along just in case.

   

You can wander around freely and explore the kelong compound. I have always loved kelongs since I was a kid, such a romantic notion to live on floating fishing platform over water and be able to enjoy the sea views. The few remaining in Singapore are now regulated for farming purpose only and not allowed for recreational stay.

     

The feeding of fish was fierce, and I was surprised other than fish food pellets, the innards of fishes were used as well, quite cannibalistic. You can check out the video clip here.

   

The sunset view was glorious, especially with a beer in our hands and having a hearty chat. While we were enjoying the beautiful sunset, resort staff started a fire to prepare BBQ salt baked fish for dinner.

And the best part of dinner was this, huge oysters! Creamy and flavourful, sweetness from the sea. Very good quality and satisfying.

The dinner feast, served in small groups, was way more than what we had expected. Initially we thought it would be a seafood & vegetable steamboat and baked fish…

 

…but the food kept coming, one dish after another, BBQ chicken wings and squid, stir fried mutton, steamed fish…

     

After dinner, a big group of uncle and aunties were happily singing karaoke in the living area, subjective whether that was considered entertainment or noise, haha. The resort staff prepared a selection of instant noodles for DIY supper should anyone get hungry in the night. Very thoughtful.

   

Sunrise views from a kelong is a precious photo opportunity not to be missed. Actually everywhere I travel, I am always going after sunsets and sunrises. 🙂

 

Breakfast was a spread again, and this seafood porridge in particular was seriously delicious, packed with flavours from the sea.

     

After breakfast, we hanged out for a while before the speedboat took us back to the jetty.

 

On our journey back to Singapore, our driver swung by a durian plantation near Kulai and we had durians by the roadside stall. Awesome awesome end to our short overnight hangout on a kelong.

     

Links to Poseidon Oysterbay Resort’s Tripadvisor and Facebook page.