BY ZIEMAN

THE feeling of lazing under the hot sun with fresh breeze blowing across your face as you wonder about the waters near the Swiss-Garden Beach Resort Damai Laut in Lumut is priceless.

The resort is alovely place to chill out and relax, doing absolutely nothing, but if you’re the more active type, you can jet ski, play golf, cruise on the ocean . It all adds up to a perfect weekend getaway.

The self-contained resort with its picturesque setting offers the opportunity to visit the small town of Lumut while catching a moment of quiet and quality family time.

The journey to the resort is a pleasant drive along the winding road as the hotel management had upgraded the 4km access road, which now has streetlights, leading to the resort from Sitiawan.

The resort is almost 10km off the main road, and once inside, you will be too busy checking out all the leisure activities available.

For seafood lovers, this is the right place to be. Many say the area is a seafood paradise because you can dine like a duke without worrying about the price.

The resort has 300 rooms ranging from the Deluxe Garden View to the opulent presidential Damai Suite with private balconies and panoramic view of lush green tropical forest all around and overlooking the serene blue sea.

The rooms were recently refurbished with soft pastel shades and accessorised with traditional fittings.

Fans of Thai food should try the resort’s Thai Taste Restaurant. The extensive menu of authentic Thai dishes is satisfying while the cosy ambience makes the dining experience a memorable one.

The interior of the restaurant exudes an inviting atmosphere, allowing guests to dine and unwind in total comfort.

The service is good, food tasty and it also offers value-for-money set lunches and variety choice of a-la-carte dishes for dinner.

Those who want to venture outside the resort should pay a visit to the Villa Seafood Restaurant in Kampung Cina. The restaurant offers fresh seafood and scrumptious kampung-style dining.

Among the restaurant’s more popular dishes are the salted-egg soft shell crab, steamed scallops with shredded ginger, fried fish, and stir-fried bitter gourd.

Those who prefer the slow-paced and laid-back lifestyle can head to the spa for some pampering or they can just unwind anywhere in the resort.

The more active can opt for the activities such as island hopping excursions, snorkelling, boat rides, jet skis, all-terrain vehicle rides, horse riding, banana boat, night or day fishing, canoeing, sunset cruise and many more.

Family activity such as this is a definite bonding time if you come with your children.

Island hopping on boats that leave from the resort’s private jetty takes guests to locations like the Princess Bay, Monkey Bay and Nipah Bay.

The fascinating exploration of these bays offers breathtaking views in every direction.

It can be a truly amazing experience because the scenery varies dramatically from the semi-tropical lushness of small islands to bare, ocean-washed chiselled rock formations that look like a crocodile and python heads.

Nipah Bay is the biggest and busiest beach on Pulau Pangkor where you can enjoy snorkelling in the shallow waters or just relax lazily under the low-hanging trees under the sun.

For those who like to unwind, just spread a mat and take a short nap under the trees. Apart from Nipah Bay, another snorkelling spot is the popular Coral Beach at Coral Bay, next to Pulau Giam where you can enjoy canoeing, banana boat rides or water skiing.

Your vacation will not be complete without shopping for dried seafood and souvenirs in Lumut. The area is famous for items such as dried shrimp, salted fish, cuttlefish, fish crackers, and satay fish.

The resort recently introduced its exclusive Damai Club Lounge to cater for business and corporate travellers. The lounge is where business and pleasure mix, since its glass clad exterior and water feature create an awesome setting for cocktails over Pangkor Island.

The Garden Terrace, enclosed in glass frames, gives a good view of the infinity pool with the Straits of Malacca as a backdrop.

The Garden Terrace serves buffet meals of Asian and Western recipes and is open daily from 7am to 11pm. Room service is however available 24 hours.

The Blue Chip Lounge’s bar scene comes alive with live performances in the evening. They serve a variety of cocktails, alcoholic beverages, specially selected wines as well as flavourful mocktails that are soothing to all taste buds.

You can also enjoy an assortment of mouth-watering fusion dishes fresh from the kitchen.

The resort has the biggest pillar less ballroom in Perak, which can take in 600 guests. With state-of-the-art conference facilities, the hall is an ideal venue for major corporate events or social functions.

In fact, the Damai Ballroom can be converted into five smaller rooms with a seating capacity ranging from 100 to 260 guests, theatre style.

The conference rooms are also available for smaller receptions, which can cater for 30 to 50 guests.

The resort’s award winning 18-hole championship buggy-tracked golf course has been variously named the best resort course, home of the second most scenic hole, and third most scenic course in Malaysia.

Its beauty, bolstered by the presence of native trees, winding fairways and lakes makes Damai Laut Golf & Country Club one of the most exciting and outstanding golf courses in the country.