The Club Med Experience (Cherating, Malaysia)

An 80 hectare rain forest, home to monkeys and 45 minutes away from Kuantan Airport in West Malaysia Peninsula lies a tropical paradise along South China Sea, welcome to Club Med Cherating.

From the moment one arrived at Kuantan Airport, you will be treated as a GM. Do not be mistaken, when we say GM in Club Med, it stands for Gentils Membres (Gracious/Nice Guests/Members).  Club Med staff call themselves as G.O ((Gentil Organisateurs) treat us.

Upon arrival at the airport, there is a Club Med Representative who will greet you after the baggage claim area and you will be whisked off to the Club Med Resort, an area where I would boldly call it PARADISE. Situated 45 minutes from the airport, we arrived at the Club Med Resort. Upon alighting, you will be cheer by the G.O and will brief you on the amenities at the resort. Below, a welcome drink from Club Med:

At Club Med, every night is unique as there are special theme for the night. If you want to be spontaneous and go along with the colour theme, please contact Club Med Toll Free number : 1800 CLUBMED (258 2633) . They often pick up the phone very quickly as I had phoned in twice prior to my trip.

Alternatively, you can refer to the programme sheet and the dress code placed at the main restaurant entrance.During my 3 nights stay, the theme were as follow:

Thursday: Comedy Night (Yellow theme)

Friday: Fright Night (Black theme)

Saturday: Circus Night (White theme)

If you are staying at Cherating, my humble recommendation would be stay at Blk Falak. Why? Simply is near to the beach tram to Pantai Beach (Heaven place) and is near to main hall where we have the theaters, swimming pool, dining area.

As there are simply so many things to do arranged by Club Med, you have limited time to spend in the room. Nevertheless, picture of the room.

Needless to say, Breakfast, Lunch , Dinner is buffet style with a wide spread of Western, Chinese, Korean, Japanese food. One would be spoil for choice.

If you are still hungry after the main dining area is closed (12.15pm- 2.30pm is lunch hour) or even late at night, there is always a Noodle Bar which you can continue to fill your stomach. Did I mention the noodles are yummy? 3 choices to choose from: Spicy Prawn Noodles, Fishball Noodles, Japanese Curry Noodles.

A hearty breakfast to kick start the day ahead! And if you think one will be FAT after a few days at Club Med with the crazy huge consumption of food, you will be WRONG. Because there are simply so many fun fill sports activities to do , so carry on gobble down the food and engage in sports activities!

So much things to do, yet so little time!A useful tip would be not to rush into the engaging in all the activities. Some activities maybe a repetition everyday, which meant you can do it on the next few days of your stay. Instead, focus on activities that you can only do during certain period of time.

Each day, the guide on things to do for the day will be on display at the entrance of the Main Dining Area.  At time, there are walking kitchen tour to witness how food is prepared.  A good guide on the timing and days to take note of following activities at Cherating, Malaysia:

Turtle Sanctuary Visit:  Every Thursday, Sunday, Tuesday (Meet at Orchard Bar 11am)

Beside Sanctuary visit, one can spot sea turtle footprints left behind by previous night turtles who came up the shore to laid eggs. Best timing to spot is around 2.30am and from April to October season. Turtle footprints spotted!

Art & Craft (Colouring of Batik): 10am-12.30pm, 2.30pm- 5.30pm  [*Note: Quite expensive (About RM80 depending on size) if you want to try doing Batik colouring, but its very nice thou , you can take it back for display.]

Circus (Flying Trapeze): 4pm-5.30pm everyday

Archery: 4pm- 5pm everydayFitness Class: 7am- 9pm ;  Zumba, Aqua Gym, Sunset/Sunrise Yoga, Energy Step Class, Body Conditioning Class.

I did the Energy Step Class, Body Conditioning Class and it was very worth it! A must try and great workout to burn out the Fats. Truly enjoyed!

Rock Climbing: You need to time your schedule well as mentioned. For instance, rock climbing is only available on Fri, Sun, Wed between 3.30pm-5pm.

Table Tennis/ Tennis : All Day long (Outside Fitness Center and at Main Hall during afternoon certain period of time). Made some friends while playing Table Tennis. Or how about some real tennis game which is also available!

Soccer Tournament: 5pm everyday (It was fun to engage with some soccer matches with fellow travellers, pit our skills and join in for some fun! )

Shuttle Train to Pantai Beach: 8.30am- 6.30pm (Operate every half an hour). It will leave Club Med at every half hour (E.g. 8.30am, 9am, 9.30am) and leave from Pantai Beach back to Club Med at every 20 mins interval (E.g. 8.50am, 9.20am) .

The train ride takes about 7 minutes from Club Med resort to the private beach area @ Pantai.  Alternatively, you can walk to Pantai Beach via the forest walkway which can take one about 20 minutes. Its a leisure cooling walk thru the rain forest.

One can play volleyball, sailing, canoeing at Pantai Beach. Should you feel tired, have a beer or cocktail to freshen things up under the hot weather!

Please note below picture showing “The Magical Place in which the “Zen Place” is located. The Zen pool bar is open from 9.30am- 6pm daily. A must go place to suntan or swim in the infinity pool!Private Beach and some private moment….The 3 “R”s we need to practice when in Club Med. That is:Relax, Recharge & Rejuvenate. What better way then to do so at Zen Pool with exceptional panoramic views of the sea lying ahead of you! 

A plus point is this area is only open to adults aged 18 and above, thus the area is very quiet no matter what time of the day.

At Pantai Beach, we found some hidden treasures. There are bats in between the small space found between the big rocks.   By the way, should you want to purchase stuff within Club Med, please deposit money and they will give you a card with value in it. Use this card for any purchase made and have the remaining balance refunded before you check-out. By the way, since all activities are included and mostly free, one need not spend much except if you want to buy sun tan lotion, goggles, towel, excursions, etc.

Club Med is truly a heaven for families as well with it being awarded family friendly resort. It certainly deserve the title as I witnessed first hand how the kids are being treated with kids club, activities , nanny services, etc. Simply so many things for kids of all ages to do! There’s even place for teenage kids (11- 18 years old), computer games, dancing etc.

One of the signature of Club Med is the nightly performance and is performed by none other than the G.O. Every night, the performance will be based on the theme.

Thur Night: Comedy

Fri Night: Fright Night

Sat Night: Circus

What better way to end the night is to dance & party at the beach till late! Every night, there will be the night to shake your butts off, and we literally meant it! Engage in a moment of freedom as they call it! Beers on the house!

Fireworks display to end the night!

It is definitely worth an experience and sets me thinking of my next getaway with Club Med, get into the freedom spirit. A heavenly place truly. Till next time we met again Club Med!

Come on discover Club Med! If you would like to watch the video of the adventures in video, please see below:

Categories: Asia Region