Drive up to Mersing, Fishing Bay Resort, Air Papan

This was just an impromptu trip up to Mersing, to check out a resort known as fishing bay resort. As Pat had worked the night shift, we only set off towards it around 2pm. But Mersing wasn't particulary far away and was reachable within slightly more than 2 hours.

The resort was a bit further form the main Mersing Town and was in fact very close to Air Papan. I had visited Air Papan sometime back and quite like the slow lazy feel to it. It was a beach that was called Papan (flat) due to the gradual sloping out. That meant that during the low tide, the water would recede very far away.

Knick Knacks at the Caltex Station that we stopped for refilling



Along the way, Pat stopped at a local petrol station near Mersing. To my amusement, they were selling some vegetables in boxes outside the station.

Arrived here



Ok, correct place



This Mc-Burgler guy keeps taking my photos



View of the lobby



Ooh..a team building is going on



Full of resort type activities



Resort even has a clean swimming pool



Nice "miami" look to it with the tall coconut trees



The rooms facing the beach



We arrived at the resort around 5pm. Although the sign at the entrance said, "parking for guest only", we drove in and parked just outside the rooms. No one came to stop us or question anything.

I was expecting the resort to be on the sea itself. Turned out that it was a beach resort. Facilities are nice, if you are looking for creature comfort. While we were there, there was a company team building going on. Looked like they were having a whale of a time.

Rustic long jetty to the sea



Sir, can I take a picture? Sure, boleh!



Planks well maintained



Family fishing at the end



Catch of a Catfish (Sembilang) and Gelamas (Croakers). Note the worm bait



Looking from the end to the land



Beside the resort, there was a long jetty out to the sea. The jetty was well kept and pretty new. Some local folks were fishing in the water. Water to me, didn't look that good as it was more esturary and even murky. The catches there were mainly Catfishes, and some Gelamas.

Beach looked quite scenic. But has some light oil slicks in the water



Making footprints on the sand



There was a small area of public beach. However, I didn't feel that the beach was clean, as the sand was dark and oily looking. It shouldn't be good to be dipping into the water here

We stopped by a fish farm on the way out



Cow saying, "what you looking at? I "poke" you with my horns then you know"



Arrived at Air Papan



Nope, they don't have Macdonalds here. Ramly burger is the household burger name here



Children better go build a sand castle here



Hmmm...no turtles here for sure



Air Papan shopping mall



Godek resort here



Standard attire here must be bright colored shorts



A beach volley ball match got red flagged



We then went onward to Air Papan which was just round the corner. This time round, the beach looked quite dirty. Due to the monsoon season, the waves were rather strong and due to the strong current, the water had a brownish tint to it from all the disturbed sediments. When we were there, it was high tide. So, we didn't get to see the beach during the low tide, which would be walkable a long distance from the beach front. We rested awhile there and tried out the Ramly burger. After that, it was another 2 hours plus back to JB for more shopping.

Nothing spectacular for this trip. Just a drive up to see if the resort was worth visiting for fishing, given the name. This was also the furthest that Pat had driven on the east coast. The next time, he shall be following me to Redang. *evil laugh*