Magical Kapas

I don't think I have a vocabulary wide enough to do justice to what we experienced on Pulau Kapas. On my Facebook page I wrote  our evening walk along the beach was "magical", and Muni wrote "Masyallah" expressing amazement at the sheer beauty of the lagoon we had trekked to.

 In fact it was both magical AND amazing.

Errr... If you're looking for me in that pool...    no, this aunty did not dive into it's pristine emerald waters, not because she did not want to, but she was afraid she might awaken fossilised dinosaurs lying beneath with her ungraceful landing. The rock formation is believed to be about 200 million years old, mind you. So aunty had opted to snooze under a very shady ledge instead where she too could have been easily mistaken for one of the fossilised dinosaurs by anyone passing.

Yes, it felt truly magical for me when we hopped on board "East Coast Blue Water", Captain's boat. He had written so much about her and had promised us all a ride many times (jokingly, we thought) that somehow I couldn't believe that it has come true - but only half-true because of the absence of half my family. That means I can claim another ride with the other half, Captain?

First up, a quick tour round the island, where we could see that the beaches are on the mainland-facing side and on the other side are mainly sheer cliffs of strataed rock that drop right into the sea with beautiful spots for snorkelling and scuba-diving, or just plain diving and swimming like what the kiddoes did.

Turtles do come to lay their eggs on Kapas as well. Because turtles are an endangered species, the eggs  are collected by the relevant authorities situated on Gemia Island (see map below) who later release the hatched baby turtles back to the sea.

As we set foot on the beach fronting Captain's Longhouse, we were greeted by Captain's old friend from his army days, Mahathir and his sons. A very friendly bunch they are, there to assist Captain with the operations for the day. We were going to have a BBQ dinner at the gazebo on the beach but before that some keropok and hot refreshing tea.

a "Yoko Ono" moment (me)

Bar in the background 

with our ginger tea on the counter

OK I had informed Captain that I was not expecting to cook my own dinner but Muni and I offered to help with the keropok anyways (pssst... plus the tea wasn't going to remain steamy for long)

haaaiii... mana boleh lari dari dapor cik kak

A 3 km walk on the beach with Captain and Jane followed.

Errr... who is Jane?


(Tell you later)

I fished this map off google, it's not current but it basically shows the kind of activities you can do while on Kapas. Captain's place is No. 2 - re-named "Captain's Longhouse". We walked from No. 2 to the other end of the island, and there are walkways built above the rockier parts making it altogether a very pleasant walk indeed.

Along the way Captain introduced  us to a few of the facilities owners who happened to be outside their premises. They seem to have a great community going there, supporting one another. I do not recognise some of the names of the lodgings listed there on the map however that boat service is still in operations.

But check out these spots we came across on the walk:

This place becomes a magnificient waterfall (says Captain)

in the monsoon season - November to March

Be wary of the creatures take shelter in this cave

We were greeted by a couple of Count Dracula's relatives

- just the insignificant ones 

This is one of numerous oysters that live on the sea rocks.

Captain chipped open one to reveal the flesh,

scooped it out and popped it into his mouth

We each had one as well. 

It was the most exquisite-tasting oyster I've ever had the pleasure of savouring, and I've had my share of them in my lifetime. It was fresh, lemak and manis, out-of-this-world (but on Kapas) - I kept it in my mouth for the longest time possible before reluctantly handing it over to my digestive juices. 

Totally heaven...

 

After the walk, we all freshened up for our maghrib prayers - it was re-assuring to hear Captain's other guests doing theirs in congregation - and then the wonderful BBQ dinner at the gazebo, Mahathir's specially-brewed teh tarik, good conversation....

 Budding sea-farer about to 

wolf down a BBQ'd lamb

 

And I wished the other part of me wasn't half a world away.....

(the next one should be the final instalment)