Lounging around in Langkawi
Whether wildlife-watching, zip lining through pristine rainforest, or simply enjoying the beach, this Malaysian island makes a great winter escape
By Ben West
If you’re looking to unwind on a tranquil Asian tropical island, you can’t go far wrong with Langkawi in Malaysia. With its virgin rainforests, impressive wildlife watching and a host of child-friendly activities, there’s a great mix of things to do every day – if you can prise yourself away from the pristine powder white sand beaches.
Malaysian Airlines flies daily from London Heathrow to Langkawi, via Kuala Lumpur. The airline is currently offering a free return flight (from Kuala Lumpur to Langkawi with only domestic airport taxes to pay) for customers booking flights to Australia or New Zealand, as a bonus stopover.
Extending almost 500 sq km, Langkawi is the largest island on Malaysia’s west coast, and makes up part of an archipelago of ninety-nine islands. It is the perfect base for a relaxing holiday.
The elegant, colonial-style Danna Hotel is ideal for a stay here, with its sumptuous rooms and even more luxurious private beachside villas, four excellent restaurants, the largest infinity pool on the island, and beyond it an often completely empty beach that it’d be criminal not to lounge on for a while. It overlooks a wonderful seafront of warm, crystal clear blue waters and a couple of inviting little islets that are easily swimmable. The hotel is away from all the bustle of Pantai Cenang town, but that just makes it an even more ideal retreat.
When you check in at the hotel, instead of queuing at the front desk you lounge on a sofa and are given a refreshing cold towel and a welcome revitalising juice concoction. If that wasn’t relaxing enough, a masseuse then appears and gives you a shoulders and neck massage. This is certainly no Travelodge.
Langkawi is Southeast Asia’s only site to have been granted UNESCO Geopark status. The entire island is deemed a World Geopark, defined as ‘a territory encompassing one or more sites of scientific importance, not only for geological reasons but also by virtue of its archaeological, ecological or cultural value.’ That means it’s got a remarkable collection of rocks, including the Dayang Bunting Marble Geoforest Park’s caves and karstic landscapes, the 400-million-year-old Machinchang mountain ranges, and the rugged karst limestone formations of the Kilim Karst Geoforest Park.
The latter makes a great day out discovering the mangrove swamps. Boarding a boat at Kilim Jetty, you tour the often narrow waterways of the park, with wildlife-rich rainforest unfurling either side of you. The sight of seemingly endless exposed twisted roots of the mangroves is striking, and nestling amongst the vegetation are pythons, long tailed bonnet macaque monkeys, huge water monitor lizards and more. Langkawi provides a habitat for more than 200 bird species and you may spot the likes of drongos, hornbills, herons and kingfishers on this excursion.
There’s an area where eagles and red kites particularly like to congregate, and if you stop the boat here you are likely to see two or three at a time flying above you. Unfortunately, tourist boat companies have for a long time been throwing food to attract them, which has resulted in them becoming lazy and hunting much less. This has caused the number of snakes and rodents to sharply increase, which they’d otherwise normally have caught, creating a wildlife imbalance in the area.
At the park you can also enter caves within limestone formed 550 million years ago to see an amazing array of bats hanging from the walls – or flying around you.
A completely different experience is the 2.2 kilometre-long Skycab cable car ride, which carries passengers above the rainforest almost to the top of Machincang mountain, 708m above sea level. With panoramic views of Langkawi and surrounding islands, you can also walk along the Skybridge here, a curved 125 metre-long suspension bridge and walkway above a chasm.
Another exhilarating way to experience Langkawi’s jungle is to fly through it, using ziplines. Umgawa Zipline Eco Adventures’ ziplines fixed to the towering trees reach as high as 80 metres and are up to 200 metres in length. The immersive and engaging two-hour tour encompasses 12 ziplines, including one crossing the spectacular Seven Wells Waterfall.
And for water-based activities, there’s nothing like a tranquil sunset cruise, enjoying some music and good food, and perhaps a dip in the water, as you’re anchored offshore.
If, conversely, you’re after a real adrenaline rush, an afternoon spent island-hopping on a jet ski is certainly a thrill. Jet skiing has received some bad press over the years, but the staff at Langkawi’s Megawatersports Jetski Safari are very safety-conscious, ensuring riders keep to an arrow formation, slowing down to a gentle, quiet amble when approaching land.
While there’s certainly a number of beach resorts on Langkawi, you can still find laid back beach shack-type bars, especially on the sands of Pantai Cenang. There’s a good choice of restaurants and bars around the island (at low prices, partly due to Langkawi being a duty free zone), but the superb choice of restaurants and bars with a variety of cuisines from around the world at the Danna means you’ll seldom feel the need to venture out.
Further information
The Danna Langkawi: thedanna.com
Malaysia Airlines: malaysiaairlines.com
Activities
Mangrove boat tour – Dev’s Adventure Tours: langkawi-nature.com; Langkawi Skyride and Skybridge: panoramalangkawi.com; Umgawa Zipline Eco Adventures: umgawa.com; Sunset boat cruise – Avante Yacht Charters: avante-holidays.com; Megawatersports Jetski safari: megawatersports.com
Further reading
Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei (Lonely Planet, £17.99)
Thanks to Langkawi Development Agency (lada.gov.my) for their help with sponsoring this trip.
