A kampong-style holiday paradise {Club Med Cherating Beach Experience Part II + Giveaway}

So, I've shared with you about our road trip to Club Med Cherating Beach, its kampong-style setup, welcoming accommodation, multifarious food and a host of family-friendly activities that await you when you go on an all-inclusive holiday at this 5-star resort. If you have not, you can read the first post here.

In this second post, I will tell you more about the pristine beaches, an enchanting firefly tour and the fun-filled night activities Club Med Cherating has to offer. I also have an exclusive giveaway coming up at the end but do read through the post to get there!

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The Pristine Beaches

At Club Med Cherating Beach, the Resort stretches over four kilometres of fine sandy coastline along the South China Sea and has three different beaches:

• The main beach, running for one kilometre, is situated close to the centre of the Resort

• Pantai Beach, opposite The Rembulan restaurant, is a pleasant beach of golden sand that stretches for 400 yards long. It can be reached on foot through the jungle walk or by the shuttle train

• A 200-yard stretch of golden sand on which the Club's water sports activities, including sailing and kayaking, take place alongside Pantai Beach

Staying in a beach resort means there was no way we could miss out on a trip to the beach, especially when the kids were looking very much forward to it. We decided to make our way to Pantai Beach on a late afternoon followed by dinner at The Rembulan. Even though there was brilliant sunshine and a cooling sea breeze, we were surprised to see that there were not many people and we practically had the whole beach to ourselves! Woohoo!

As usual, the girls couldn't wait to get themselves all sandy, wet and mucky! So you do know what their favourite beach activity, other than building sandcastles, is, right? Yes, they love to hunt for tiny sea animals! This time round, they found hermit crabs, mubskippers and fishes too. Thanks to the hubby who was swift and nimble, we also caught two rather huge crabs which totally fascinated the little ones! (Yes, we eventually released all of them back to the sea.)

For me, I was just contented to sit on the sand, feel my round tummy, breathe in the fresh air and appreciate the tranquility. It was a moment of peace, of joy and of family bliss. Awww, that is how a good holiday should feel like, right?

Since the girls had more energy to spare, the hubby also took them for a jog. Yes, he's one real sporty dad! To many, it might just be an empty beach. But to the kids, this was paradise. 

An enchanting firefly tour

At the discovery centre which is located right at the resort lobby, the hubby and I saw a list of tours available and we were wondering if we could, and should, fork out one evening to go for a tour. It seemed like time was scarce and precious, yet we thought we should do something more special on this holiday which would hopefully leave behind lasting memories.

So, after some consideration and a talk with the GOs, we decided to go on a FIREFLY tour which sounded like the most child-friendly yet unique one of the lot, something which I knew would most likely thrill my two animal-and-bug lovers.

On the evening of the tour, we were told to have an early dinner and gather at the lobby at 6:45pm. There were only two families who signed up and I was secretly glad that it was going to be an intimate, cosy group session. It took only less than ten minutes for the shuttle bus to reach the village and to a little hut where we were going to embark on our cruise.

Yes, we were not going to look for fireflies by marching through a jungle, instead, we were going onto the boat and cruise along the river! Now, that does sound much more inviting and comfortable, right?

We were told that we should not apply any kind of mosquito repellent as this would deter the fireflies and possibly kill them. So, as a precaution, I dressed the kids in long-sleeved shirts and pants though eventually, we were surprised to realise that there were no mozzies along the journey after all.

Our guide for the tour was Mr Hafiz, who has a passion in fireflies and has done much research on them in the past few years. He gave us a brief introduction, some safety guidelines, led us to put on our life jackets and soon we were on our way!!

At the start, I didn't really know what to expect or what to hope for, although I did wish that we could see as many fireflies as we could. As the night slowly dimmed, Hafiz took us on a slow voyage along the mangrove river and began to explain to us about the different types of fireflies, their lifespans, characteristics, mating cycles and so on.

Then he kindly informed us that once we crossed a bridge, we would have to switch off our mobile phones, cameras and made sure there was no light of any sort. Yes, which essentially means I was unable to capture any video or picture to show you. Then again, Clayton, the excursion manager who was with us, took some videos with his GoPro4 but alas, the surroundings were so pitch-black that it did not manage to capture the fireflies too. So, unless you are a professional photographer with a superb DSLR camera and lens, if not, it would be virtually impossible to get even one nice shot.

On the other hand, isn't it great to put down our electronic devices once in a while, sit back, relax and purely immerse in the beauty of the night and admire the wonders of nature with our loved ones beside us?


As we passed the mangrove trees, we could see dozens, maybe even hundreds, of fireflies resting amongst the leaves. If I have to describe them, they were like tiny green speckles that don't seem that significant when they appear as a few, but try to imagine a swarm and hopefully you can visualise that sparkling beauty.

Now, the best part of the tour was when Hafiz used his torch and hand signals to motion to the fireflies, magic happened when they actually responded. What did they do? Well, they all flew towards our boat, towards us. Some rested on our shirts, some landed on our heads, some laid on our palms and some just crawled around our fingers. They were so tiny that you practically don't feel anything and all you see are those beautiful, green flickers of light.

The kids were absolutely fascinated, delighted and awestruck. And so were we. Now we can tell people that we have not just seen, but even touched and held real fireflies in our lives! We went to tree after tree and did the same thing for at least an hour, yet every time it happened, it still felt so extraordinary and breathtaking. You know how lucky were we? We were the only boat out that night and had the whole river and all the beautiful fireflies to ourselves. Yippee.

Words won't do this spectacular tour enough justice and the only way you can feel what I mean is to experience it when you get a chance to. I sure hope you do.

The fun-filled night activities

As many of you know, we are a family of night owls and somehow, my kids are always bursting with energy after dinner. Remember how they made an impression and became the talk of many GOs (why, even the Chef Du Village knew their names and invited them up the stage) when they boogied every night in Club Med Bintan?

So, we were definitely thrilled to know that in Club Med Cherating, the fun doesn't stop at night too! Live theatre shows, games, dancing, all-you-can-drink bars and even circus performances - these were what made us happy to be awake even when the clock struck midnight.

At the main bar, which was beside where most of the dancing took place, the kids were delighted to find a kids' drink list and they could even place orders themselves for any drink they liked. Angel was particularly tickled by the Frozen Coke drink which had a cheeky name called "Don't Tell Mama".

I have to say these two were simply in love with the Crazy Signs Dance, which is a Club Med signature, and they would do their best to keep up with the moves and danced alongside the GOs. Even when the party has ended and there was only a live singing performance, these two just couldn't stop dancing too. Sometimes they would just shake their bodies, sometimes we would throw them up into the air, sometimes we would hold hands and spin around in circle.

Whatever the case, all we wanted to do was to immerse in the fun of the night, enjoy the music and cherish that feeling of being one happy family.

For us, one of the biggest highlights of a Club Med stay are the live performances put up by the GOs. On this trip, we watched all the shows on our three nights, which included a lip-sync singing contest, a Halloween dance show and a circus performance.

The one that earned the loudest applause and made the deepest impression in us was the wonderful performance put up by the circus team, which involved many dangerous stunts, including a rope stunt and three-person trapeze, and we were blown away by every segment of the show. What was more unique was that there was even a plot adapted to the story of Wizard of Oz to accompany the stunts, and the GOs were dressed up as memorable characters like Dorothy, the Witch, Tin Man and the Tiger.

On our last night, there was also a cocktail party by the pool and while there were alcoholic drinks for adult enjoyment, there were also mocktails dedicated for kids (and pregnant women like me), much to our delight!

After which, there was the Club Med highlight party - White Sensation, which saw fanciful costumes, singer impersonations, fireworks, dry ice effects and all night long dancing! That was definitely a great way to end off our finale night in Club Med Cherating.

Now, rather than just telling you about our experience using words and photos, let me show you all the fun we had in this video montage. Push Push by Kat Deluna was one of the Crazy Signs songs and the girls just couldn't stop singing it even after the trip!

There, are you craving to go for a family holiday too right now?

Hereby, we wish to extend our heartfelt thanks to some of the Club Med Cherating staff - Barbara, Clayton, Yee, Elizabeth - who went the extra mile to make our vacation such an awesome one.

Holidays may end but memories last forever! One thing I am sure of, Club Med is definitely a family-friendly holiday destination which promises lots of fun and joy for everyone! We definitely hope to visit even more Club Meds in future!

THANK YOU, CLUB MED, FOR BEING A HOLIDAY PARADISE AND 
  GIVING OUR FAMILY ALL THESE HAPPY, PRECIOUS MEMORIES!

Club Med Cherating Beach
H.V.O.M.
29th miles, Jalan Kuantan-Kemamam
26080 Kuantan Pahang Darul Makmur
Malaysia
Phone: 1800 2582633

To find out more about Club Med Cherating Beach, visit their website or Facebook page. 

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Now, is this the moment you have been waiting for? For those who desire to go for a family vacation, A Happy Mum is now giving away a 4D3N all-inclusive resort stay for 2A2C in Club Med Cherating! Yes, it can't get more awesome than this, can it?

To join in the giveaway, leave a comment in this post with your name, email address and state what you love most about Club Med Cherating Beach. Indicate in the Rafflecopter widget that you have done so and to increase your chances of winning, you can choose to carry out the rest of the options. Note that to be fair to sponsors and other participants, all fake Facebook entries will be disqualified. This giveaway will end on 22 Oct 2359hrs.

a Rafflecopter giveaway Terms and Conditions
- The winner has to book the trip and travel by April 2016
- Redemption is subject to room availability and excludes high season travel (peak seasons)
- This is an all-inclusive 2A2C resort stay package which includes accommodation on twin sharing in deluxe connection room, daily buffet breakfast, lunch and dinner with free flow of wine, beer and soft drinks, bar and snacking at selected timings, sports activities with tuition, kids club (Baby Club Med and Petit Club Med come at extra cost) and nightly entertainment
- Excludes flights, taxes and return airport transfers

Best of luck!

Disclosure: This is Part II of a two-part series of conversations between Club Med and A Happy Mum. We were sponsored a 4D3N resort stay in Club Med Cherating Beach in writing this review. All opinions are our own.