Tanjung Piai, Johor, Malaysia – Southernmost Tip of Mainland Asia Continent

I may not have been to many places in life but THE most significant place that I have been to thus far is Tanjung Piai (pronounced: Pi-Ai) in Johor, Malaysia. It is the southernmost tip of mainland Asia Continent. You know, the land mass that we know of as “Asia” that spans from Russia in the North right down to Malaysia in the South. No, I didn’t even have to ride on a plane to visit some distant land. Malaysia itself has so many attractions to offer!

I have to admit that I have never even heard of Tanjung Piai before but when I went for my one week Johor / Singapore holiday in June, 2010, (yes, it took me this long to blog about a trip that happened almost three months ago!) we took the opportunity to visit Tanjung Piai. I should have brought the flag of Malaysia along.

Tanjung Piai, 82030 Serkat, Pontian, Johor Darul Takzim is about 20 minutes’ drive from Kukup, where we also visited. It made sense to continue south since it’s just about another 15km drive away, right? While Kukup is a predominantly Chinese fishing village where foreign tourists are also ethnic Chinese from neighbouring countries like Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan, Tanjung Piai is predominantly Malay, and strangely with mostly local Malay tourists who are on a cuti-cuti Malaysia vacation. Tanjung Piai, compared to Kukup, was rather deserted.

To reach the southern most tip of mainland Asia Continent, we had to walk past Tanjung Piai Resort. Room rates start from MYR120++, by the way and dorm-style accommodation is available too. There were people fishing (with fishing rods), but this is not a fishing village, unlike Kukup, where people make a living out of fishing. However, there is a seafood restaurant here which is quite popular from what I read on the web.

I could have enjoyed the atmosphere a lot more if not for my fear of water. Just look at the Straits of Johor! My legs turned water jelly walking on the wooden village walkway on stilts. I have quite a negative disposition but walking along Piai Cape, I was ultra negative and I kept thinking what would happen if the wooden planks gave way. We didn’t have life jackets on!

Having just returned from Singapore, I was quite fascinated that I could look across to the coast of Singapore from Tanjung Piai. What a huge difference the two places are, even though they are just separated by the Straits. Singapore is so industrialized but Tanjung Piai is still so quaint and untouched by development.

Just next to Tanjung Piai Resort is the Tanjung Piai Johor National Park (Taman Negara Johor Tanjung Piai) but because it was already closed for the day when we arrived, we didn’t have the chance to take a stroll inside. We did manage to say “hello” to some resident monkeys, though.

And this post on my visit to Tg. Piai, the Southernmost tip of mainland Asia Continent, wraps up my week-long holiday to Johor (Malaysia) and Singapore. I hope you enjoyed reading my posts as much as I enjoyed writing them!

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