Batu Feringghi, Penang's golden coast

Although I spend 3 months in Penang in 2007, I only saw Batu Ferringhi once. The beautiful beach is located in the northern part of the island and you need to take a bus from Gurney for about 20min to reach there. Actually the whole area is huge, I'm not sure where we stepped off the bus, I think not at the most touristy part. The name means "White man's stone", "ferringhi" is akin to Thai "farang" which means foreigner, usually a Caucasian. Not sure, why they named it that way, maybe the British loved to go to the beach here. Well, this was definitely the right place to be for me and not because I'm white, but because I love the tropical sandy beaches with a deep blue ocean and a never ending horizon. I remember the water was very warm, it was a pleasure to swim here. That day the beach was pretty empty and nobody bothered us. Only some Malay guys on horses kept asking, if we want to ride. We declined.

See some photos (I wish I had a better camera):

The sandy beach of Batu Ferringhi.

The neverending Indian ocean.

One of the most beautiful sunsets I've ever seen. And the only good photo I took that day.

The area features many hotels and shops with great food.

We could have certainly explored more beaches and areas, but we didn't have a car. And Penang's buses are not the best way to explore the island. But we still had fun on the beach for few hours, then we had a good meal and returned to Gurney. It was a memorable day.

[My MALAYSIA page][My PENANG page][All photos by MKL, 2007]