Lake Kenyir is the biggest lake of Malaysia and this popular attraction is located within the state of Terengganu. Among people that visit the beautiful lake are locals, anglers, golfers and companies that organize their teambuilding activities. Lake Kenyir is the biggest manufactured (man-made) lake in Southeast Asia.
The freshwater lake was constructed between 1978 and 1985 to provide for a dam to generate electricity and to bring a halt to the yearly flooding. Kenyir borders the popular National Park Taman Negara; you can travel from Kenyir to Taman Negara (vice versa), but this is no easy trip as it takes several days and can only be done with an experienced guide. Kenyir area is over 200.000 hectares in size. Within the area, you can find around 340 small – mainly uninhabited – islands; many waterfalls and caves. There is also an abundance of wildlife to be found in the Kenyir area.
There are numerous great attractions around Lake Kenyir. Tours usually contain a visit to a few of the most popular attractions. Among the attractions are a visit to popular waterfalls like Lasir, Soak, Tembat, Petuang and Lata Terap. Lasir and Soak are most common to visit as they are nearest to the small village of Pengkalan Gawi. Both are equally stunning and both have areas where you can swim a bit. At Lasir you can walk the short trail to the top and from there you can enjoy an exquisite view over Lake Kenyir (watch out though as it can be slippery).
Most popular caves are Bewah and Taat. Taat is not always accessible as the entrance is located underwater during rainy season when water levels are a few meters higher than during the dry season. Bewah is always accessible. Your guide will show you some amazing and terrific Tiger spiders, with a diamond like crown on its head. One of the biggest attractions however is just going from one place to the next on your boat; the views are amazing and you can't help yourself trying to spot rare species in the trees and along the river banks.
Anglers' heaven
Another very popular reason for people to visit Kenyir is angling. Yearly thousands of anglers head over to Kenyir to try to catch species like the Kelah, Kawan, Lampam Sungei, Kalui, Toman and Kelisa. Many fishing events are held; when we visited Kenyir there was an event that attracted many locals for nearby villages (first price was RM1000). A fishing trip will cost around RM50 per person. The best time to head over to Kenyir to do some fishing is during monsoon season which lasts from October to March. The best fishing spots are: Cacing, Leban, Petuang, Saok and Sg. Terenggan. The lake itself contains more than 300 fish species; which makes it the single most popular fishing destination of Malaysia (the most popular angler destination when you do not take salt-water fishing into account). If you are an angler enthusiast, do know that you need to have a permit to be allowed to fish in Kenyir. Permits are for sale at the park entrance (Wildlife Department), but when you book a fishing tour; the organizer will arrange for it.
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