The Cameron Highlands area of Malaysia is known for tea plantations, mountain views, flower gardens, and of course…strawberries! Visiting the area for the first time, the littlest in our family was most excited to pick his own strawberries at a Cameron Highlands strawberry farm!
Where We Went and Why We Chose It
So, one of our top priorities in visiting was to have a quintessential Cameron Highlands strawberry farm experience. We visited several different farms and ended up picking our own strawberries at 2 different farms.
What to Expect at a Cameron Highlands Strawberry Farm
The strawberry farms are mostly located on the side of the main highway that runs through the highlands – highway 59. Which means that they are sitting on the side of the mountain.
As you drive through the mountains, you notice many signs for strawberry farms – do be aware that a number of strawberry farms do not have the pick-your-own activity, but rather just have a stand with strawberries for sale. This is a good option if you are not wanting to do the picking yourself (and from our observation – the price per kilo is generally much cheaper to buy directly from a stand).
However, the experience of picking is worth it if you have kids and are looking for a family-friendly activity in the Cameron Highlands.
Payment
You arrive at the strawberry farm, and you decide how much you are picking and how much you want to pay. Each farm does payment a little differently, so check with the farm you wish to go to about their prices and cost. See below for a few specific farms and the cost to pick strawberries at that location.
Baskets
They will give you the number of baskets based on how much you are picking. Most farms only allow 2 people to pick together and just use one basket (the basket might be 200 grams, 500 grams or somewhere in between). One place did allow us to have 2 children and one adult pick together and sharing a basket.
No Eating While Picking
Every farm that we interacted with made this very clear to its pickers. You may not eat while you pick. Every strawberry must go in your container and then the container will be weighed at the end. Absolutely no picking. They watched carefully.
The Strawberry Rows
So, the way the strawberries were grown was definitely the most unexpected part of our strawberry picking experience in the Cameron Highlands. Other places we strawberry picked in the world, had the bushes on the ground in rows. But here, they were in pots or dirt bags and off the ground. Some of them were even high in the sky on a second-floor metal structure! The irrigation hoses went between the plants and the strawberries hung down from the plants. It was easy to see the ripe berries and pick them.
Cafe/Shop
All the strawberry picking places that we visited had a shop where they weighed our strawberries at the end (and charged extra for any weight over!). There were other items there too – strawberry products and souvenirs from Cameron Highlands.
Other Activities
Some strawberry picking attractions are part of larger attractions. For example, we visited the Lavendar Garden and also chose to add on strawberry picking while we were there. Many places have flower gardens and flower shops.
Entry Fees:
Cameron Highlands strawberry farms are generally free to look around, but you are paying to pick the strawberries. For the strawberry picking that is inside another attraction, like the Lavendar Garden attraction, you will pay to enter the Lavendar Garden, but the pick-your-own strawberries will be cheaper because of that.
What We Loved (and What We Would Do Differently!)
The kids loved finding the largest, reddest, juiciest strawberries on the farms. The excitement when they found bushes with multiple huge red strawberries was contagious!
We treated it as an attraction, so we took our time and really found the best strawberries we could. Everyone competed for finding the biggest strawberry! It was a lot of fun and it’s always fun to be able to eat what you picked directly afterwards!
What would we do differently? We would take our time finding a strawberry farm that allowed all 6 of us to pick together with the cheapest price. Having 6 people often meant needing to buy 3 of the minimum amounts which ended up costing us a lot and giving us a lot more strawberries than we needed! We just wanted a strawberry snack, so this didn’t work out for us personally.
Nearby Attractions
Remember that you are in the Cameron Highlands and that strawberry farms are just one of the many attractions there. We recommend enjoying all of the Things to do in the Cameron Highlands – tea plantations, flower gardens, taking in the view while drinking tea and eating scones, etc.
Final Thoughts
Despite the steep price and unconventional look of the farms, we really had a great time picking and would go back to a Cameron Highlands strawberry farm on our next visit. We would recommend not making this a sole reason for visiting the Cameron Highlands as there are many different things to do there to fill up your time.
Practical Information on Major Strawberry Farms
Big Red Strawberry Farm
Where
Outside of the town of Brinchang in the north part of the Cameron Highlands
Open
from 9am-6pm
Cost
Deposit of RM100, must buy a minimum of 1 kilo
2 people picking per kilo, pay RM10 for an extra person to pick
RM60 per 1 kilo
Healthy Strawberry Farm
Where
Off the highway between Tanah Rata and Brinchang in the center of Cameron Highlands
Open
from 7:30am-7pm
Cost
Pay for amount planning to pick when you enter
2 people picking per 500 grams
RM35 per 500 grams; RM7 per 100g over
Lavendar Garden
Where
In the far north of the Cameron Highlands about 15 minutes north of the town of Brinchang. Lavendar Garden is much more than a strawberry farm. While its strawberry farm is extensive and well worth it, Lavendar Garden offers a stunning display of flowers.
Open
9am-6pm
Cost
Pay after picking
2 people picking 200 grams or 2 children + 1 adult
RM12 per 200 grams, percentage of original cost for any grams over the 200 gram minimum