Kuantan Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids Kuantan

Country	Malaysia
State	Pahang
Time zone	UTC+8 (MST)
• Summer (DST)	Not observed

Kuantan is the state capital of Pahang, Malaysia. It is located near the mouth of the Kuantan River and faces the South China Sea.

Kuantan is the 18th largest city in Malaysia based on 2010 population, and the largest city in the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia. It has been expected that Kuantan will be officially declared as a city in 2019.

One of its major economic activities is tourism. Domestically, it is famous for the production of handicrafts, batik, keropok (dried fish crackers) and salted fish.

Kuantan serves as the administrative and commercial capital of Pahang. Trade and commerce are important in the economy of the town. The timber industry, ice cream and the fishing industry also play major roles in the local economy.

Tourism

Kuantan

Kuantan's main sightseeing attraction is the beach at Teluk Cempedak or Palm Beach. There are scenic beaches popular among vacationers in the city's vicinity also. Near Cherating (Club Med is located here) there are turtle sanctuaries. A few kilometres away from Cherating is Pulau Ular (Snake Island).

Kuantan Beach

Kuantan is known to tourists for its waterfalls. The most well-known is the Sungai Pandan Waterfall. Two others are the Sungai Berkelah Waterfall and the Jerangkang Waterfall.

Sungai Pandan Waterfall

There are four parks in the city, the Gelora Park, Teruntum Mini Zoo, Gambang Safari Park and Agriculture Park at Indera Mahkota. A small park in front of the Hospital is named the Esplanade Park or Downtown Kuantan. Here, it is possible to go on a river cruise from the small jetty.

The Kuantan area also produces handicrafts and batik. Other tourist attractions include the State Mosque (Masjid Negeri).

Sungai Lembing is located about 26 km northwest of Kuantan. It used to contain the world's deepest underground tin mines. There is an interesting Tin Museum in the former mining town of Sungai Lembing. On the Kuantan-Sungai Lembing road there is a limestone mountain which houses a large Buddha in the Charah Cave.

Keropok

Chicken satay

Bukit Gambang Resort City (BGRC) is one of the largest water theme park resorts in Malaysia, spanning 547 acres with a 17.1-acre lake and a 24,000 square feet wave pool. There is also Bukit Gambang Safari Park to explore.

Kuantan is famous among locals and tourists for its delicious fish crackers (called keropok in Malay) and salted fish, where the fish are marinated mainly with salt and left out to dry in the sun for days and sold at the market. Fresh grilled fish can be purchased at Tanjung Lumpur and Beserah area mostly located near fishermen's village.

Many types of local food can be found at the city centre.

Very popular and sold by street vendors (especially at the night markets) are varieties of satay which consists of grilled meat on a stick which is dipped into peanut sauce and roti canai, a thick chapati-like bread dipped in a unique curry style sauce.

Typical ethnic Indian dishes include the naan and tandoori chicken.