Here are ten things to do in Langkawi, Malaysia! Langkawi offers sun and swimming, but also lots of activities such as sailing, carpet rides and boat trips in the mangrove swamps. It's been a few years since we were there and we've already blogged about the trip, but now we want to gather all our tips in one post. Have you been to Langkawi too? Do you have more tips?
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Things to do in Langkawi
Langkawi is an island, or rather a group of islands, belonging to Malaysia, located off the north-west coast of Malaysia, near the border with Thailand. The largest island is called Pulau Langkawi and many tourists come here every year to sunbathe and swim and... well, what? Today we're sharing ten things to do in Langkawi!
1. sunbathing and swimming
Most people travelling to Langkawi probably have sun and swimming in mind. Beach is called pantai in Malay and the two most famous beaches on Pulau Langkawi are Pantai Cenang and Pantai Tengah. Cenang is the most popular beach, and here you'll find plenty of restaurants, bars and accommodation in various price ranges. South of Cenang is Tengah, which is a little quieter with slightly fewer but larger hotels.
Other beaches are Pantai Kok, which is a family-friendly beach near the cable car, and Teluk Datai and Tanjung Rhu on the north side, where you can find a few exclusive hotels. We stayed at Patai Tengah, and felt very happy with this.
2. Eat good Asian food
When you're in Langkawi, it's important to eat good Asian food. We write "Asian" food and not Malaysian, because in addition to Malaysian food, there are plenty of restaurants that serve Thai, Chinese and Indian food, for example. Almost all food tastes good, but if you want that extra something, you should do some research.
3. Visit Underwater World
At the southern end of Pantai Cenang beach is one of Langkawi's most popular attractions: Underwater World. At this attraction you can see lots of animals from the marine world such as stingrays and clownfish, but also many other animals such as monkeys, seals, penguins and birds from different climate zones. A visit here is perfect if you want to take a break from the Asian heat.
4. shopping
If you want to, you can walk up and down the shops in the neighbourhood of Pantai Cenang, and you'll find that shop such as T-shirts, summer dresses, sunglasses and jewellery. There is also a large duty-free shop right next to Underwater World, where you can buy alcohol and cigarettes. However, what Peter "shopped" was mainly two things tattoos …
5. Take a carpet ride on the island
A good way to get around the island is to rent a scooter. Renting a moped is not difficult. There are many places that rent, it's relatively cheap and (as you can see) it was great to get a helmet.
It's exciting to look around, of course, although we did get a interesting experience when we realised that in some parts of the island there were only exclusive hotels, and that it was difficult to get down to the beaches...
6. join a sailing trip on a catamaran
One of the excursions we went on was a sailing trip with a catamaran. This tour was truly amazing! On board the boat, we were served drinks and Asian lunch, and there was also the possibility to follow the sailboat in a net. After a while the boat docked at a small island where we could sunbathe, swim and do a "jungle walk". We don't think the company that organised our tour is still around, but we highly recommend similar tours!
7. Experience the Mangrove Swamp
Another amazing excursion we went on was a boat ride through the mangrove swamp. We were picked up in a small bus that took us to a river, where we got into a boat with a guide. Then we slowly glided through the swamp while the guide pointed out all the animals around us: birds, fish, snakes, bats and monkeys.
The tour ended with lunch at a floating restaurant where we also had the chance to hold a live dagger tail. The dorsal tail can be said to be an ancient animal, whose relatives are 450 million years old. Fascinating!
8. Ride the cable car and walk on the Skybridge
The Langkawi Cable Car or Langkawi Skycab is one of the biggest attractions on the island, along with the breathtaking Langkawi Skybridge. These attractions happened to be closed when we were there, but should be an experience. Incidentally, the Telaga Tujuh waterfall is also located nearby.
9. Relax in a cosy hotel
What kind of hotel you like is of course different from person to person, and depending on your wallet. We found a small cosy and affordable hotel with small cabins, which we were extremely happy with. The cottages were relatively simple, but very modern and fresh.
We didn't have direct access to the beach, but it was only a short distance to walk. Best of all, the staff was fantastic. We got a very personalised treatment, and in fact we still remember the different people who worked there!
10. Try the fruit Durian
This is a bubbler, we admit! Durian is a fruit widely used in Southeast Asia and sometimes referred to as the 'king of fruits'. What is special about this fruit is that the flesh of the fruit emits a very special and penetrating odour.
Some people like this scent, while others find it so disgusting that many places have had to put up signs against the use of durian. Did we try it? No, we actually only tried durian popcorn, and it wasn't a hit... Next time, we promise!
Travelling to Langkawi
To travel to Langkawi, it is best to fly to Kuala Lumpurfrom where you can fly on to Langkawi. Another option is to take a ferry from Kuala Kedah or Kuala Perlis on the mainland.
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Kenneth Risberg says:
13 years ago, I and others travelled to Malaysia. Malaysia to dive. The island we stayed on was really more for backpackers. The memory I have is when we landed on a fantastic beach, just like the one Peter is standing on. We often walked on the lovely beach where all the restaurants were located and you can probably say that it was the main street on the island, Pulau Perhentian Kecil neighbouring Pulau Perhentian Besar, the small and the big island. There were many wonderful dives and then continued to Kuala Lumpur for some recreation before returning home.
29 September 2018 - 9:31
Helena says:
Can imagine that it is nice to dive here! Cool to get to some smaller islands too! 🙂
29 September 2018 - 16:48
Britt-Marie Lundgren says:
My experience in Malaysia consists of Borneo and Kuala Lumpur, both great destinations.
I tasted (and smelled) durian on a fruit farm in Vietnam many years ago. I barely remember the taste and smell, but I know for sure that it's something I can do without in the future!
29 September 2018 - 10:17
Helena says:
Borneo seems amazing, we would really like to travel there at some point! And haha, durian seems to be a bit "special", to say the least... 😉.
29 September 2018 - 16:50
Ditte says:
Glad you liked Langkawi. I wasn't as keen but then also had lovely little un-touristy Redang to compare with, as well as some other smaller islands. Unfortunately the sea was also not clear when we were there in January and plenty of jellyfish, whose threads were burning, so the baths were not optimal either. But we tried some of the activities you did and it was nice. And there were a couple of different tours by boat. But Langkawi was not really a favourite for us. Malaysia has so many islands so if I come there again it will be another island to visit. Is in Pangkor in that case in combo with other things.
29 September 2018 - 13:30
Helena says:
I can imagine that there are other smaller islands and resorts that are perhaps less touristy and nice! But yes, we liked Langkawi. It probably played in that we found a very cosy and personal hotel on a very quiet beach.
29 September 2018 - 16:51
Ruth in Virginia says:
Introduced to durian shortly after we moved to Indonesia.
Smells like python (my sister's expression). Looks like a hedgehog on the outside,
but with much sharper spines. It is said that elephants eat them
whole to clear their stomachs. When they come out the other way, they are
just ripe and ready to eat.
The flavour? Yes, I tried to describe it as vanilla ice cream with garlic.
Something that we Westerners do not find easy to accept.
In Langkawi, you should ask for Ulrika Player, who founded a group that
is called Trash Hero. Their job is to collect rubbish on the beaches. Ullie
decided one day to leave Sweden, sold everything she had and moved to Sweden.
Langkawi, where she has become well known to the locals. A true "type"!
29 September 2018 - 15:11
Helena says:
Vanilla ice cream with garlic? Haha, no it does not sound soooo tempting 😉 What a good initiative with the garbage collection on the beaches! From what I understood, it floated ashore a lot (although it was cleaned away on the tourist beaches) very, very sad!
29 September 2018 - 16:53
BP says:
Thank you for another nice trip in front of the computer:-) Yes, except for the fruit then;-) Liked Ruth's comment and description of Durian:-)
29 September 2018 - 20:35