Kukup and Kukup Island are situated at the Southern tip of the State of Johor of Peninsula Malaysia.
A visit to Kukup town and Pulau Kukup (Kukup Island) is definitely a complement to the visit to Tanjung Piai, the Southernmost tip of the Asian Mainland, because it is famous for seafood and leisure activities. Kukup town is just about 15km from Tanjung Piai.
Kukup consists of 3 villages - Kukup Laut, Air Masin and Kampung Melayu. The villages used to be made up of wooden houses built on bakau stilts.
Kukup is a fishing community that is famous for seafood and restaurants and cage-cultured fish farms.
Tourists especially Singaporeans come to Kukup for seafood and holiday. Visitors may visit the fish rearing area known as "kelong" (cage-cultured fish farm) in the sea between Kukup Jetty and Kukup Island. There are private houses erected by the seaside which are only accessible by boat from the ferry terminal. Tourists may book and stay in those private house and carry on whatever leisure activities like gambling, mahjong, angling, barbeque etc.
Visitors may buy dried fish (ikan bilis) and squid, "keropok" (crackers) and other marine based food produces and condiments like "belacan"(dried ground prawn), "cencaluk" (seasoned small prawn) and "agar-agar".
Kukup Island is situated just about 3 minutes boat ride away from Kukup Jetty. The boat ride will cost RM5-00 including return trip. Visitors will have to pay RM10-00 if you stop a fish farm along the way.
There is an immigration check point at the Kukup Jetty. Visitors can travel to Batam and Tanjung Balai (Karimun), Indonesia from the Kukup Jetty.
Kukup Island is one of the largest uninhabited mangrove island in the world.
For decades, people tried to settle on this island but not successful. It remains uninhabited until today.
Kukup Island has an area of approximately 648 ha and is surrounded by 800 ha of mudflats. In the old days, it was floaked by vanguished pirates and early prisoners. Its importance reduced abruptly due to decrease of fortunes. Now it is revived to be bustling tourist hub with Singaporean visitors coming for leisure and seafood.
Kukup Island was gazetted a national park in March 1997 and is now run by Pulau Kukup Johor National Park.
In January 2003, Kukup Island was granted the status of a "Wetland of International Importance" or RAMSAR Site by the Geneva-based Ramsar Convention Bureau.
Boardwalk is built deep into the mangrove of the island. Visitors may take a 45 minutes walk into the mangrove using the boardwalk. Explanation signboards are erected by the side of the boardwalk showing the species of flora and fauna on the spot. It serves the purpose of education for the children and adults.
At the end of the boardwalk is a 6 level watchtower. It brings visitors above the tree canopy and affords visitors a 360 degree view of the Kukup Island. It is a stunning horizon of green sea with gentle bliss blowing on the face.
Water birds including migratory species from Russia and China congregate at the Southern part of Kukup Island i.e. the mudflat area. It is definitely a spot that cannot be missed by an ardent birdwatcher.
Other fauna like mudskipper, fiddler fish, wild boar can be seen on the Kukup Island.
This article is written by Chai Yong from http://www.temasekmap.com which provides physical map of Singapore, map of Batam & Bintan, map of Johor & Johor Bahru and an ebook; and from http://www.window-safety-lock.com which is about a keyless Griloc window safety lock.
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