Port Dickson or PD to locals is a beach and holiday destination situated about 32 km from Seremban and 90 km from Kuala Lumpur. It is located in the state of Negeri Sembilan in Peninsular Malaysia. It takes just over an hour by car to travel from Kuala Lumpur to Port Dickson along the North-South Expressway.
This small town used to produce charcoal, but it was later developed as a small port by the British during the Strait Settlement period. Port Dickson was also known as Tanjung. In Malay language that means "cape". The oldest shophouses were the four situated presently at Jalan Lama. There was also a carbon mine at the first mile of the coast road (Jalan Pantai), and therefore Port Dickson was also called "Arang" (charcoal) in the Malay language.
Tin ore was plentiful in Lukut, an area within the Port Dickson district, during the 1820s, and it attracted Chinese immigrant miners. The British considered the area to have great potential as a harbour. It was intended to supersede the port in Pengkalan Kempas. The in-charge officer's name was Dickson, and thereafter the town was named Port Dickson. Others claim that Sir John Frederick Dickson founded Port Dickson and Pulau Arang in 1889.
Port Dickson evolved into a busy trading centre. Railways were constructed to facilitate the growth and development of Port Dickson. Although Port Dickson experienced rapid development, the beautiful beaches are fairly well preserved. Now, Port Dickson has become not only a beautiful tourist destination, but a large municipality with about 89,000 residents.
The 18 km extent of beach from Tanjung Gemuk to Tanjung Tuan is a popular holiday destination for visitors coming as far as those from Kuala Lumpur itself. Many Singaporeans have invested in holiday homes in and around Port Dickson.
Back in the late 1990s, Port Dickson went through a boom of hotels and resorts. Some of these projects never took off the ground and the unfinished construction projects can still be seen along the tourist town. However, today, with the economy improving and tourism booming in Malaysia, the projects are being revived.
Linking the Indian and Pacific Oceans, the Straits of Malacca is the shortest sea route between three of the world's most populous countries - India, China, and Indonesia. Inspired by the sea trade, expats founded the Royal Port Dickson Yacht Club in 1927, which until today, offers dinghy sailing courses and runs regattas.
The newer 5-star Admiral Marina & Leisure Club has good dock facilities for yacht travelers, sailboats and luxury cruisers. It is a transit point for racing sailboats joining the Raja Muda Selangor International Regatta, Royal Langkawi International Regatta and Thailand's Phuket Kings Cup regattas. Admiral Marina also hosted the sailing event of the 2006 FESPIC Games. It will once again be the venue for disabled sailing, this time the 2009 ASEAN Para Gamesin August.
Port Dickson are among either tourist attraction in Negeri Sembilan. This coast always visited by tourists and local people because this is the only beach in Negeri Sembilan. Furthermore, close ranges between Port Dickson and states vicinity such as Malacca and Selangor also contribute to the city development.
Cityliner among of the bus companies which offers bus service in Port Dickson with bus terminal Port Dickson as station to take and unload passengers. Both - express bus which uses highway and local bus which uses toll-free road which connects Port Dickson with Seremban are the fixed bus here. Travel time is an hour and ticket priced is around RM2.50 for every journey. Local buses also link Port Dickson with Sungai Pelek in Daerah Se¬¬pang in Selangor where there are exchanged buses to Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA)
Source: Wikipedia
