Surf's up, and so are tourist numbers in Cherating

East Malaysia's Cherating Beach, once abandoned by surfers due to overdevelopment, has turned its fortunes around with a surfing festival. 

Located 47 kilometers north of Kuantan in Pahang state, the sleepy beach town was a popular surfing spot in the 1970s. 

But tourism numbers dwindled in the 1990s as surfers paddled over to less developed beaches.

Tourism Malaysia's recent refocus on promoting Cherating as a surfing spot has seen visitor numbers jump from 194,000 in 2008 to more than 300,000 in 2010.

“Tourists are returning to the beach as surfing is possible throughout the year. The waves are ideal," said Idros Yahya, general manager of Pahang's Tourism Ministry in a report by The Star Online.

Cherating tends to see three-to-five foot swells with left-hand waves and over the last three years Cherating's surf cred has grown also thanks to the annual Cherating Surf Festival.

• More on CNNGo: Best 5 winter surfing spots in Korea

The recently held Billabong Cherating Pro 2011 competition -- held in conjunction with the Cherating Surf Festival -- was the last leg of the inaugural 2011 Asian Surfing Championship season, which attracted surfers from all over the world.

Indonesians Raditya Rondi and Yasnyiar "Bonne" Gea emerged champions in the men's and women's open division.

• More on CNNGo: Where to surf in Sydney

“This year, Billabong has included Pantai Cherating in the Asia Surf Championship. This shows that the beach has been acknowledged as a surfing destination,” said Yahya.

Cherating Beach is the only beach in Malaysia that has been turned into a surfing beach and has been listed among 19 new tourist destinations in Pahang.