Teluk Bahang

Teluk Bahang is a friendly fishing village in the north western tip of the island Penang. The name Teluk Bahang means the "Bay of Heat Wave", probably pointing to the high temperature of the sea breeze coming in to shore. It's only 5 kilometres distance from the touristy place of Batu Ferringhi. Teluk Bahang used to be famous for his fish restaurant "The end of the World", but that restaurant was destroyed by the tsunami. Now there's another restaurant in Teluk Bahang by that name, but it has its style. Another good fish restaurant is the Fishing Village.

The sea off Teluk Bahang is not suitable for swimming, due to presence of jellyfish on account of the sewage discharged by the establishments and habitations along the coast. The five star resort Mutiara is under renovation until 2007. Opposite the Mutiara is the Pinang Cultural Centre. This centre operates on the format of guided tours. Each tour lasts for two hours and 30 minutes and begins at three pre-scheduled times daily. The 6pm-10pm evening tour is packaged with a sumptuous dinner based on native cuisines. Tour participants will get to see the gamut of cultural and ethnic showpieces including a demonstration of a traditional welcoming ceremony, native games, Malay martial arts, handicrafts, a longhouse and dance performances.

Teluk Bahang is the entrance for the Penang National Park. Previously it was known as the Pantai Aceh Forest Reserve. First you have to register and then you can go into jungle to visit beautiful beaches, like Monkey Beach or Pantai Kerachut. The park is unique as it contains several different types of habitat including a meromictic lake (a lake in which some water remains partly or wholly unmixed with the main water mass at circulation periods), wetlands, mangroves, mudflats, coral reefs and turtle nesting beaches. The dusky leaf monkeys and the long tailed macaque can also be seen. Birds are aplenty, noticeable big birds like the White Bellied Sea Eagles and the Brahminy Kites and kingfisher occasionally can be see here.

Mammals such as wild boars, wild cats, civet cats, sea otters, mousedeer, rats, bats and squirrels and crabs, fishes and large prawns, monitor lizards and snakes are common here.

The entrance to the National Park is free of charge. You just have to register at the Registration office near the fishing boats. They want to know who comes in and out. Teluk Bahang has a "Wet Market" (photo at the right). A wet market is a market, which doesn't only sell fruits and vegetables, but also fish and meat. In this town the vendors at the market sell a lot of fish. You'll understand that it's a very busy market during the morning hours. The market is called officially: Pasar Teluk Bahang. The market is situated on the left side of the road, when you're going to the Registration Office of the Penang National Park or the pier with the fishing boats.

The Penang Butterfly Farm is more than just a tourist attraction. It is set up as a 'live museum' to educate the public as well as a research centre to develop breeding methods. Butterflies are beautiful creatures of the wild. The visitor to the Penang Butterfly Farm, finding himself surrounded by a myriad of fluttering butterflies within a seemingly natural setting, is likely to think himself in a sort of enchanted wilderness, bejewelled with the colourful gems of creation. Today, the Penang Butterfly Farm is the first tropical butterfly farm ever set up in the tropical world, with an average flying population of 4000 Malaysian butterflies of 120 different species, including the rare Indian Leafl (Kallima paralekta) and the endangered Yellow Bird wing (Troides helena).

The latest attraction in Teluk Bahang is the Forestry Museum. Visitors of the park can spend the day exploring, on the many footpaths, as the park is home to cool refreshing streams and numerous species of flora and fauna. This 247-acre recreational park in Teluk Bahang houses several fresh water pools, rest huts and offers a range of outdoor activities. A children's playground, jungle trails, and Forestry Museum are all fun activities. The museum highlights an array of usages for tropical timber. The park is also home to countless species of flowering plants, ferns, insects, birds, butterflies, snakes and lizards