Poking for bamboo clams in Pantai Kelanang

The mudflat off Pantai Kelanang teems with bamboo clams at low tide.

Beach-goers hunting for bamboo clams. A view of Pantai Kelanang beach translated on canvas.The beach lies not far from its more famous neighbour, Morib. low tide that draw beachcombers in droves. With their pants rolled up to the knees, they head out to the vast expanse, hunting for bamboo or razor clams, known locally as

a species of bivalves that looks like cut bamboo.

That afternoon, I was introduced to a local from Kesang, a woman in her sixties who claimed to be an expert er and her bragging rights were two paint buckets filled with the greenish bivalves.

“To catch a you only need a (spine of the palm leaf) and a cup of (cooking lime),” she explained with pride. “Dip the into the lime and head out to sea. Look out for wet mud where bubbles emerge and insert the into the hole. If there is a inside, it will start squirting water and crawl out of its lair once it tastes lime. All you need to do is to catch them.”

To cook them, she explained, first soak these bivalves in fresh seawater for six hours to get rid of the dirt and silt.

Although Pantai Kelanang has its fair share of shops and stalls, and a public toi- let for holiday makers, there are no fancy hotels within walking distance, like its neighbour, Morib. During the school and other holidays, Pantai Kelanang’s flat terrain and well-foliaged beach draw quite a crowd of campers who prefer to rough it out under the skies.

Anglers also frequent this area to fish, either from the beach or charter a boat at the Pantai Kelanang fishermen’s jetty located a kilometre inland. The signage that greets visitors as they enter the beach’s parking lot.

HOW tO GEt tHERE:

If you are coming from the Klang Valley, use the South Kelang Valley Expressway and exit at Telok Panglima Garang Toll Gate. There are a few roads that lead to Pantai Kelanang from here and most of them take you through a maze of plantation and narrow village roads before arriving at the beach.

I recommend using Waze, Google maps orGPS once you exitSKVE.