Carey Island, Selangor

In the early 1900's, an English planter by the name of Edward Valentine John Carey acquired an island called Pulau Si Alang from the Sultan of Selangor, Sultan Sulaiman in order to start a rubber plantation.

The island, separated from the mainland only by the narrow Langat river, at that time was inhabited by the indigenous Orang Asli ("Original People") tribe called the Mah Meri.

E.V. Carey introduced rubber to the island in 1905, and by 1907 had established a permanent workforce comprising mainly of South Indians.

Today, Pulau Carey or Carey Island is still mainly plantation land, mostly belonging to Sime Darby Plantations. Most of the 38,000 acre island still belongs to the plantation with the balance state land comprising of 5 Mah Meri villages and an indian settlement.


How to get to Carey Island

The only real practical way to get to Carey Island is to have your own transport. The easiest way is to drive along the South Klang Valley Expressway ("SKVE") towards Banting. The expressway currently terminates at an intersection with Route 5 of the Klang-Banting road. Turning left at this traffic light would bring you to Banting, instead turn right and head towards Klang.

Eventually you will reach a small roundabout. Take the road on the 9 o'clock position, not the other road at 3 o'clock which goes towards Klang. The 9 o'clock road will eventually come to a crossroads. Take the right turn which will bring you to the bridge which crosses over the Langat river and into Carey island.

Things to do on Carey Island

1. Seafood

If you have timed your visit right, you would be just in time to have lunch at a seafood restaurant. Just before the bridge crossing over to Carey Island there is the seafood restaurant called Kang Guan. Located on the left hand side of the road, there is ample open air parking for you to park your car.

The restaurant is a simple timber framed structure located on the bank of the Langat river, overlooking the mangroves of Carey Island on the other side. Kang Guan is extremely popular and if you do not arrive early, you would probably have to wait for a table.

Kang Guan restaurant

The specialties here are the Butter Prawns, Marmite Crabs, Yam Basket and Crispy Mantis Prawns. Kang Guan is a Pork-Free restaurant.

Kang Guan Seafood Restaurant

Address: No 2, Batu 1 1/2 Jalan Bandar Lama, (Tepi Jambatan Pulau Carey), Teluk Panglima Garang, Kuala Langat, Selangor.
Tel: +603 3122 7737

Operating Hours: Monday-Friday 12pm - 2:30pm; 6pm - 11pm. 
                            Saturday 12pm - 4pm;  6pm - 11pm.
                            Sunday & Public Holidays 12pm - 4pm; 5:45pm - 10pm



2. Heritage Island, Sime Darby

After your big lunch, drive over the bridge and into Carey Island proper. Drive down the extremely straight road pass the palm oil plantations on your left and right of the road. These palm oil plantations owned by Sime Darby have basically replaced most of the rubber trees planted by E.V. Carey. If you are lucky, you may see the palm fruit stacked by the side of the road awaiting pick-up by lorries. If you have not seen the fruit before, stop and take a few snapshots.

After a while, you will see a sign proclaiming the words "Heritage Island" with a road branching off to the right. This is the entrance to Sime Darby's West Estate. A police guard house blocks your entry into the estate which is after all private property. Register with the police sentry in order to gain entrance.

Police Sentry Post

The West Estate is a long drive down the road from the guard house. Inside, it is a little like stepping back in time, with some beautiful colonial mansions left over from British times in the early 1900's. The curiously named Hatter's Castle, the former plantation manager's house is one outstanding example of the colonial plantation architecture from pre-war times.

Hatter's Castle

The West Estate settlement is self-sufficient with a mosque, temple, church, palm oil mill, hospital, school and even a 9-hole links golf course and club house.

Golf Club House

3. Mah Meri Cultural Village

After leaving Heritage Island, you will next come to an intersection to the left with a signboard pointing towards the Mah Meri village of Sungai Bumbun.


The Mah Meri (pronounced Mak Miri) were the original people of Carey Island. The Mah Meri (Mah meaning people and Meri meaning forest), originally known as the Besisi, also call themselves Ma Betisek, which means, "people with fish scales". The Mah Meri are one of the nineteen Orang Asli people groups of Peninsular Malaysia. They are officially classified under Senoi subgroup.

The Mah Meri community has managed to preserve a tradition of spiritual woodcarving that is truly world class in terms of quality of its craft and artistry. The art, which has rich mythological meanings behind the images and symbols, is handed down from father to son.

Mah Meri mask

You can see samples of their woodcarving and handicraft at the Mah Meri Cultural Village. There is a small gallery with exhibits of their exquisite carvings of masks and statues. Call and book in advance if you wish to view traditional dances or demonstrations. Otherwise if you just walk-in it would cost you RM5 per person but there wouldn't be much to see other than the small gallery inside, which will hardly take 15 minutes of your time.

Mah Meri Cultural Village

Entrance fees.

4. Beach

After the Mah Meri village, drive down the long straight road for what seems an eternity. As you drive along the road, you may be lucky enough to see troupes of macaques or spectacled monkeys or maybe even raptors flying overhead. Eventually the road peters out at a few ramshackled shacks where it meets the sea.

This is a muddy rocky beach where the island ends at the murky polluted waters of the Straits of Malacca. Look out over the water at the container ships plying up and down the straits as the sun goes down to the west.

Naughty macaques on a car.