Tg Piai's water attraction

The seawater rushing in to flood the Tanjung Piai National Park is a yearly phenomenon. Pic by Anja Asmara

JOHOR BARU: The Tanjung Piai National Park, located at the southern tip of the Asian continent, will turn into a water park every year end, especially during high tide. The high tide will flood the 926 ha park with seawater.

This phenomenon would occur every November and December, when the sea level rose to 3.6 metres. This, in turn, caused the area to become a tourist attraction as visitors would come to enjoy a "water festival".

The park's assistant manager, Siti Nor Aizan Derapar, said this year, the phenomenon occurred over four days. "Every time the phenomenon takes place, we close the road to the end of the continent due to the flooding. This does not cause any problem for the park but, in fact, helps to clean the oil residues that get stuck to the mangrove trees," she said.

Siti Nor Aizan said during the phenomenon, up to 500 visitors a day would come to the park to "play" in the water.

Resident Julia Mustapha said her family always looked forward to this time of the year. "We don't have to spend any money to play in the water like we have to when visiting a water park," she said.

Yu Seng Chon, a visitor from Penang, said the phenomenon was an unexpected surprise for he and his friends.

-nst online.