Leave Petaling Jaya at 7 am on Saturday and you can be on the beach in Kuantan by eleven. KL to Kuantan by car is about 252 km, roughly three hours of driving, almost all of it on one road: the Karak Highway over the Main Range, then the East Coast Expressway down to the coast.
Saturday
7.00 am: leave PJ
Get onto Middle Ring Road 2 and head for Gombak, where the Karak Highway starts. The toll is electronic, so have a Touch 'n Go card in the car; Grandpride can hand one over with the keys, loaded with whatever you choose between RM 50 and RM 500.
7.45 am: Genting Sempah
The highway climbs into the hills, and Genting Sempah rest area sits near the top, shared by traffic in both directions. It's the place for breakfast and a toilet stop. Just after it, the Genting Sempah tunnel takes you through the ridge from Selangor into Pahang.
8.30 am: Karak, and the long straight bit
At Karak the road becomes the East Coast Expressway (still the E8). The speed limit is 110 km/h for most of it, the hills give way to plantations, and there isn't much to see. Temerloh rest area, around the middle of this stretch, is a good place for fuel and coffee; Gambang comes later, closer to Kuantan.
10.15 am: Kuantan exit
Leave at the Kuantan interchange (exit 833). If you're staying north of town or heading on to Cherating, the Jabor exit a little further on is the one to take instead; our east coast road trip guide covers that route.
11.00 am: Teluk Cempedak
Kuantan's town beach is about 5 km east of the centre: white sand, casuarina trees and rocky headlands on the South China Sea. Walk along it before the midday heat, then find lunch.
Afternoon: Sungai Pandan waterfall, or nothing
Sungai Pandan, about 30 km west of Kuantan, is a waterfall in several tiers. Or check in and do nothing until dinner. Both are fine choices on a three-hour-drive day.
Sunday
8.00 am: north-west to Sungai Lembing
Sungai Lembing is about 42 km from Kuantan, a tin-mining town that worked its mine from 1886 until it closed for good in 1987. The Sungai Lembing Museum, in the old mine's bungalow, tells the story. On the way, stop at Gua Charas, a cave temple in a limestone hill with a large reclining Buddha inside; it's about half an hour from Kuantan.
12.30 pm: lunch, then head home
Back through Kuantan to the expressway. With lunch done by 1.30, you'll be through the Genting Sempah tunnel and back in PJ in the late afternoon, before dark. The Karak Highway is much busier at festive times, so on a holiday weekend leave earlier; our guide to festive season traffic explains why.
The mileage on this weekend
The two drives come to about 505 km. Add Teluk Cempedak, Sungai Lembing and back, and driving around town, and you're near 630 km.
| Rental length | Included (120 km a day) | With +100 km a day | Choose |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 days | 240 km | 440 km | Unlimited |
| 3 days | 360 km | 660 km | +100 km a day covers it, just |
Unlimited costs less per kilometre than paying the car's per-km rate after the trip, and it takes the arithmetic away. Our guide to mileage and toll cards explains the add-ons. Return the car with the same fuel level it had at collection.
Which car
An SUV is the comfortable choice for the climb over Genting Sempah and two people's weekend bags. The Range Rover Velar, the model that sits between the Evoque and the Range Rover Sport, is RM 3,300 a day; the Toyota Harrier, from RM 600 a day, is the lower-cost option. All of them are on the SUV list. Only the named renter may drive, so whoever books drives both ways.
November to March
The northeast monsoon brings heavy rain to Pahang and the rest of the east coast roughly from November to March, and some years it floods. The beach is no fun and the sea is rough. If your weekend falls in those months, check MetMalaysia's warnings before you set off, and read our guide to driving in the monsoon season. Never drive into floodwater, in any car.
