Weekend Hiking at Tanjung Tuan (Cape Rachado) - Complete Trails

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 Weekend Hiking at Tanjung Tuan (Complete trail)




Key highlight of the hike: This is definitely one of the best and interesting hiking trails that I ever explore to date. You get to venture through dense tropical rainforest, coastal and rocky hills, sandy beach hike, a one-of-a-kind sea cave and finally ending the hike up the rocky Batu Putih hill.

Note: This is my 2nd hike to Tanjung Tuan (as my first hike was cut short due to heavy rain) and the plan we set forth were to explore the coastal trail from Pantai Keramat, passing through Pulau Intan, venturing to the cave and walk back-up toward the lighthouse and ending the hike by climbing the Bukit Batu Putih (elevation of 233masl).

Our plan hiking trails.


We started at the Tanjung Tuan main entrance (just beside the hotel) and took the Pantai Keramat trail instead of following the usual hike on the tarmac road to the lighthouse. This trail is fairly easy and comprises mostly of dense forest and small incremental slope which is very manageable. 

Forest trail @beginning of Pantai Keramat trail



Forest trail @reaching the Pantai Keramat area



Beautiful coastal trail @Pantai Keramat



Beautiful beach with crystal clear water @Pantai Keramat



This is a big surprise to me to see the pristine beach area and the crystal-clear water in the surrounding beach areas.  (Note: As most people known this as a fact that Port Dickson area is never been associated with a clean/visible water.)

Beautiful beach with crystal clear water @Pantai Keramat



Rocky cliff at the coastal trail @Pulau Intan




Interesting mangrove tree root formation



This site does have a very strange looking feel. The mangrove root does look like alien live form sticking out from the shallow beach areas.

The look of a happy hiker



Lone hiker passing through the rocky beach trail.




Hikers passing through the coastal trail toward the cave.


During the low tide, the rocky trail is expose and you need to extra careful stepping on this slippery and sharp rock as you hike toward the cave area. It will take around 30 minutes of walking time to pass these challenging areas.

Rocky trail leading toward the cave area.



The trail is largely comprising of mixed of big boulders and loose rocks.... and quite slippery as these rocks are covered with moss and submerge underwater most of the time. The only time it is exposed is during low tide season like today.

Entrance to the cave.

The cave areas are only accessible during low tide season. Hence, do check the calendar to ensure you go at the right time and get the chance to explore the cave. (Note: During high tide, the cave is submerged in sea) 

After visiting the cave area, we return use the trail leading back to the Rachado Lighthouse area. I would say this must be the most challenging (umm... and also, the most energy sapping) part of the trail because is hiking up all the way. 

Cape Rachado Lighthouse


It takes us almost 30-40min of non-stop walk to finally reach the lighthouse tower. We took a quick break before moving to our final destination, which is the Bukit Batu Putih.  

Staircase leading down from lighthouse.


Signage at the entrance area to the lighthouse





Trail@Bukit Batu Putih.


Hiker at the entrance of the Bukit Batu Putih trail.
From the entrance, you need to hike about 25min (1 way) to get to summit of Batu Putih. Again, this is a fairly easy walk, but I will highly recommend it as definitely worth the effort spend when you get to there.

Treet root trail toward Batu Putih.


I love this part of the dirt trail as is quite unique in its own way... with lots of natural tree roots above the ground... like spaghetti all over the place. Hahaha... this is probably Mother's Nature way of having some fun with arts.


Reaching the summit of Bukit Batu Putih.

Mission accomplished. 
Finally, we managed to complete the entire 6 km trail and get rewarded with magnificent view of the Straits of Melaka and surrounding hills.

Difficulty level: Between low & medium (Low, Medium and Difficulty) 

Hiking distance: 6+km

Duration: 4+ hours (including refreshments & photo breaks)

Gear to bring along: A pair of good walking booth, walking pole is recommended and preferable to have gloves especially toward the cave as you need to use your hand as well when passing through the rocky areas. 

Light refreshments: Recommended to have at least 1.5L of water and some energy snacks to keep you hydrated. 

Summary: I would highly recommend to all fellow hikers to try this trail out. Tanjung Tuan is close enough to KL (1.5 hours' drive @1way) to make it as a day trip. Otherwise, you can also stay a night at Port Dickson and treat this as a mini 2D1N holiday.

Happy hiking everyone.




Location: Tanjung Tuan, 71050, Malacca, Malaysia
Love going to back to nature and enjoy the beautiful environment and landscape created by mother nature. Happy to share my travel experiences and hope it can help to encourage everyone in learning to appreciate our nature and do their best to protect the environment.

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