A Jaunt to Desaru with the Skoda Octavia

For time-strapped Singaporeans, the nearest beach resort holiday destination has to be the Dearu Coast. Nestled on the more rural eastern shore of Johor, instead of the highly developed Iskandar region in the west and Johor Bahru city in the centre, Desaru feels like a proper getaway with its relative isolation and tranquillity.

Getting to Desaru is much easier now

Approximately an hour and a half by car from the Causeway, the roughly 100 km journey is very pleasant along Malaysia’s well-paved highways, especially on the E22 Senai-Desaru road. If you wish to include more driving and perhaps to avoid a jam at the causeway, going by the Second Link will allow you to travel the full length of the E22, increasing the journey to almost two hours.

I have a personal soft spot for the east coast, as my family used to have a home near Sungei Rengit. Back then, there would be a car ferry that runs from Tanah Merah ferry terminal to Tanjung Belungkor, which was very convenient as there was no E22 highway. The journey by car alone would almost entirely be on B-roads, which made the journey almost 3 hours long. I undertook it once in my 1989 Mazda MX-5, which was quite terrifying as I overtook massive trucks in a tiny roadster, carrying everything from livestock to palm oil!

With the ferry, the journey time is reduced to around 1.5 hours, including the sailing time which would be around 45 minutes. It was enjoyable as a kid to sit in a car being driven onto a ferry, then disembarking and enjoying the unhealthy fries and nuggets served at the cafe at the upper deck. Sadly, the car service ferry is no longer running. I suppose there is now much better connectivity by road.

Our ride - the delightfully practical Octavia

Skoda very kindly loaned us the Octavia Mild Hybrid 1.0 TSI e-TEC Style for the road trip. Although I initially thought I’d much prefer the new Tiguan, the Octavia showed its charm early when we were loading up the boot with our things. We made full use of the lift-back boot, which was easy to load and unload from, and it swallowed our luggage of a family of 3 with ease. I think a standard saloon of the same class might struggle to do so, and it would not be as versatile as well. Bonus points for the fold-down hooks that carried little items so they wouldn’t be thrown around.

The first stop - Johor Bahru City

With an intention to cafe-hop around JB, we decided first to stay around the Mid-Valley Southkey mall for a night before driving to Desaru proper. Opero Hotel proved to be an affordable and convenient location, although it is not quite pedestrian-friendly to walk to the mall. We read about a shuttle bus online that goes to the mall as well, but it was not operational during our stay.

With the trusty Octavia, our first stop was breakfast at Nimmies Pastry Cafe. We arrived early which meant we didn’t have to queue, and it was a lovely place to while away the morning with delicious food. I had their nasi lemak which reminded me of the one served at The Coconut Club. Although it wasn’t cheap, it was still cheaper than Singapore and the atmosphere made it worth a stop, I reckon.

Next, we headed out of JB for lunch at Restoran Pekin Sutera at Skudai. Although the restaurant looked expensive, it was very reasonable so long as you don’t go too crazy on the seafood. It was a comfortable stop with lots of parking and very good food.

The reason why we were at Skudai was to check out the As Clouds Cafe recommended by a friend. Parking was very tight in the small shophouse lanes, but it was a cinch in the Octavia with its parking cameras and its just-right dimensions.

The cafe was incredibly packed, so be prepared to wait up especially on a weekend. However, the experience was well worth it as you get alpacas literally walking up to your table.

They were mostly peaceful and surprisingly, there’s no ‘farm’ smell at all. They are kept squeaky clean and all they want us for you to feed them carrots. The food served at the cafe is inexpensive, too, although the cute dessert is a must for Instagrammers.

After interacting with the alpacas it was time for Desaru proper, and I reflected on how good the Octavia served us so far. Its mid-size meant that it was a cinch to drive in the sometimes crowded roads of JB, and its comfort along uneven city roads was fantastic for the whole family. Space is also a huge plus, not just in the boot as mentioned earlier in the article, but also with regards to the interior. Clever packaging meant that we all had plenty of room, including installing a small ‘table’ for my son for his playthings behind the front seat!

On to the open road

The next part of the journey is mostly on the E22, and here the Octavia continues to impress. While its 1-litre engine lacks a little low end punch, it’s actually kept on the boil at highway speeds which meant that in-gear acceleration was strong and very adequate.

Comfort is extremely well-judged too and it certainly passed the wife test (hint: not many cars can do this). The suspension is definitely skewed towards being softer and that is absolutely fine with me as it isn’t a corner carver, anyway. It is a brilliant cruiser and I can imagine driving up to the northern tip of Peninsular Malaysia easily with the Octavia (you can see that I am already dreaming of my next road trip).

With the light traffic encountered on the E22, I managed 6.5 L/100km which is close to what hybrids would achieve on the same journey. It was pleasing that I only needed to top up fuel when I was back at the border before going back to Singapore.

Highlights of Desaru

We stayed at Four Points by Sheraton Desaru which honestly wasn’t a great hotel; it felt old and could do with some maintenance. The air-conditioning in the rooms were either too cold or too hot, and they blew really damp air. The food was pretty average, too.

Better are the coastal hotels, but you would pay a premium for them. Having stayed at Anantara Desaru, I can vouch for the wonderful food, the pool the kids would love and the clean private beach. The rooms are big and comfy, too.

We were curious about One&Only Desaru Coast, although we’d probably never pay to stay there as it’s easily the priciest hotel in Desaru, and maybe even the whole of Johor. Nonetheless, we made a reservation at their cafe over tea time and were pleasantly surprised by the food. They’re high quality and about the prices you’d pay in Singapore. It’s nice to stop by for a meal, but perhaps nothing more unless you have deep pockets.

You’d realise that I’m mainly talking about hotels in Desaru, because we pretty much just stayed in the hotel for the trip (those with kids, y’know). But if you’d venture out, there’s the alpaca farm, fruit farm and waterpark. Some say a hop over to the Super Lobster seafood restaurant in Sungei Rengit is worth the trip, too.

One last drive, but on track

I made it a point to stop by RUD Karting Medini on the way back to Singapore. It was my first time there, but definitely won’t be the last. Having a lot of space to play with, the track is beautifully designed and I had tons of fun.

The Octavia brought us to dinner at Yi Jia seafood restaurant where we would have our last stop before crossing the Second Link. It was crowded, but here too had pretty decent food.

The Octavia made it all the better

I ended the trip appreciating the Octavia a lot more than when I first started. I already liked the car when I drove it in Singapore, but this trip allowed me to appreciate its stability and power at higher speeds. I could better understand how the 1-litre turbo was tuned; it has to juggle demands of responsive city driving while being worthy of the Autobahn at speeds approaching 200 km/h. In the Octavia’s case, the engine really showed its mettle on the E22.

After using the liftback, I wondered as well why aren’t all sedans designed with this. It just makes the boot so much more usable and it makes the car feel more like a hatchback or wagon than a sedan (in a good way).

It’s probably worth noting the fuel economy. My average fuel consumption after 562 km was 9.1 L/100km. Considering that I probably did about 60% city driving, that’s not too bad a figure. In the city, the car does average closer to 10 L/100km, but it’s highway driving where the car can challenge a hybrid’s consumption.

Finally, I want to mention the little things that set the Octavia above. Like the little hooks in the boot, to the umbrellas inside the front doors, and the fact that there are still physical buttons in the interior, reminds you that humans designed the car for other humans. This humanity is comforting in this age where AI is taking over everything. But I digress. The Octavia is simply just thoughtfully designed.

Photos by James Wong

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