Forest City was established somewhere in 2016 and last year was their ongoing 4th year anniversary. With this celebration, we had the chance to travel to this destination to escape the busy city life in Johor Bahru (during RMCO). We drove for about 37 kilometers from the City Center to this place.

It has been a smooth journey for us on our way to this destination. Not much traffic and the road were quite empty. We directly went to the car park of Forest City upon our arrival. They have their ongoing trial service for their car parking system. This was new to us that why it’s a bit of a hassle for us to go to the parking area.

Don’t worry- no need to pay – just need to validate the ticket at their parking ticketing system which is located inside the lobby of Phoenix Hotel. There were also few locations for you to validate your parking tickets.

With the new ruling of this destination amid the threat from #Covid19, guests and residents are required to wear a mask, undergo digital temperature screening before entering any of their facilities. If you are not wearing a mask, a loud auto voice notification will be heard reminding you to wear your face mask.

When going to their public beach, the landscape was well maintained. Flowers are everywhere but some sections like the parking area and some of their tenants at level 1 were closed (I think almost 60 % were closed or not in operation). For level 2, I would say almost 30% were closed or not in operation too. It was not lively as last year when we visited this place—especially that it is a public holiday.

The sales gallery was also empty in terms of clients and/ or guests. Not many guests inside the hall. Their aircon was not that strong (perhaps due to an expected low footfall of clients/guests due to Covid19).

What’s New To This place?

The thing that we noticed was their stairway to heaven which is quite doing well in terms of people taking Instagrammable photos. It was a good idea to help bring people to this destination- so it can help their tenants to have customers too.

There were also some packages for their outdoor activities like Jetski, Flyboard, Kayak, Zorb Ball by Flyboard city Watersport Center but unfortunately, no one was seen taking them (I think the activity was closed due to SOP ruling amid to this pandemic).

They also have their waterpark and new playgrounds, unfortunately, it was not yet open to the public. (I guess this was due to the SOP ruling from the government).

Suitable Time To Visit This Place?

When we visited this place, it is good to get here early in the morning around 9 am to enjoy the scenery. Not much crowd which gives you ample time to enjoy the facilities and adventures available here.

If you are to be late, you can also enjoy the facilities in the evening which starts around 5 PM. It is windy and the place is quite happening.

Ultimately, this destination is recommendable for a small family to just get out from the city and have a glance at a new environment like the beach. It was considered a very relaxing experience for us.

The kids enjoyed it. This place is really a kid-friendly with a lot of surprises and animal structures, they can explore. We removed their shoes and let them enjoy playing in the sand under a bright blue sky.