Kuala Selangor Attractions

Kuala Selangor sits on an estuary where Selangor River meets the Strait of Malacca. A number of foreign tourists visit this fishing town for its fireflies but to be frank it is not worth travelling a few thousand miles just to see the fireflies here as they are not that spectacular. If you are a local and decided on Kuala Selangor as a getaway there are a few things you can do though. 

I have been to Kuala Selangor four times and listed here are the things I did during my most recent trip.

 1. Visit Pasir Penambang
We put up a night in Apps Hotel which is just 1.5km away from Pasir Penambang and came here for a few seafood meals. 

There are a number of seafood restaurants along the main road into Pasir Penambang. A popular one among tourists is River View partly due to its strategic location. The seafood here is fresh but not that cheap.

Sin Hai Ping, also located along the main road is our favorite. We come here only for the crab porridge which is also the restaurant signature dish.

A bowl of crab porridge (with 2 crabs) for two together with a plate of vegetables and Chinese tea cost us Rm43 and this is a Must Try if you are in Kuala Selangor.

There are a number of shops selling preserved seafood products and homemade snacks. We bought some home.

The market in Pasir Penambang is located along the main road just before reaching the town. This is a good place to buy fresh seafood.

The seafood here is cheaper than in the Klang Valley. Do bring a styrofoam box if you are planning to buy some. We bought crabs, a few types of fish and shellfish.

Not too far from the main road is Bagan Sungai Yu where you can catch glimpses of fishermen's activity and see the fishermen's village. This photo shows the junction which you have to turn into from the main road of Pasir Penambang to get to Bagan Sungai Yu. The landmark is "99 Speedmart" Mini Market and the road that leads to Bagan Sungai Yu is just opposite it.

The fishermen's village

A Restaurant we dined in at Bagan Sungai Yu

Dishes we had at 'Hai Ung Restaurant' in Bagan Sg Yu.

A beautiful sunset in Pasir Penambang. 

2.Visit Bukit Malawati

Bukit Malawati is a small hill at the edge of Kuala Selangor town centre. There are a number of historical attractions here. One of them is the lighthouse.

The cannons.

The bedrock.

The museums.

The Poisoned Well.

The silver leaf monkeys.

A good time to visit Bukit Malawati would be in the morning (before 9am) or in the evening (after 6pm) as it is very hot in the afternoon. 

3. Explore the town of Kuala Selangor.

Kuala Selangor town  is small with just a few streets.

We stopped by Aunty Foo's Cafe for its cendol.

The cendol served with gula melaka ice balls at RM2.50 per bowl is unique and makes a good dessert.

The post office.

4. Visit The Firefly Sanctuary 

The fireflies of Kuala Selangor live on 'Berembang Trees' (Sonneratia Caseolaris) and there are two main venues where you can view these glowing insects. During an earlier trip I visited the Kampung Bukit Belimbing Firefly Sanctuary so this time round I chose the one located at Kampung Kuantan.

The Firefly Sanctuary in Kampung Kuantan is run by the Town Municipality. Since the fireflies are found on the riverbanks  you'll need to hop onto a boat to view them. The fare for each boat which sits four is RM50.

The boat ride to view the fireflies along the Selangor Riverbank takes about half an hour and is manually rowed to cause as little disturbance as possible to the fireflies.

It was close to impossible to take photos of the fireflies on a moving boat in total darkness using a compact camera. Instead here is a photo of a firefly from www.frfly.com, well just to fill in what I have missed. Having visited both the sanctuaries I would say Kampung Bukit Belimbing is the better of the two.

5. Taste the famous Cendol Bakar at Kampung Assam Jawa

There is a famous place for cendol bakar in Kuala Selangor.  Located at Kampung Bukit Assam Jawa about 7km from Kuala Selangor town this dessert is so popular there is even a drive through counter for takeaways.

The Drive-Through Counter

A variety of flavours are available

Cendol Bakar but why "Bakar" (meaning burnt?) The girl tending to the stall explains that it has nothing to do with the cendol but it is about the way the gula melaka is prepared. It is nice but a little over rated I think.

The dine-in.

A  variety of other food are also available at the venue but taste wise they are disappointing.

We had plans to visit the Kuala Selangor Nature Park (Taman Alam) but abandoned the idea after looking at its run down condition. 

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Apps Hotel, Kuala Selangor