🌴 Heaven is a place on Earth - A Guidebook for the Island of Langkawi

Looking for Paradise on Earth? A place where you can relax in the shadow of palms, swim in the warm sea and then enjoy a drink of coconut water directly from its shell?
If the answer is YES, visit the beautiful Malaysian island of Langkawi!

Location

Langkawi is an archipelago of 104 islands located in the Andaman Sea in the northwest of Malaysia. All of the islands belong to the State of Kedah, which borders with Thailand.
Interestingly, only four of them are actually settled - Langkawi, Tuba, Rebak and Dayang Bunting.

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The island of Langkawi is the largest and most touristic of them. It can be divided into two parts: the northern and the southern. The northern part is set up by local residents, who live here a calm, everyday life on the outskirts of the tourist trails.

The southern part is a typical tourist area where you can find many attractions, shopping malls, banks, tourist agencies and gift shops. In this part, you will also find the airport and the port.

Symbol and the name

The symbol of Langkawi is the brown eagle Brahminy Kite, whose population is pretty big in this area.
The island also owes its name to this majestic bird. It was created by combining two words helang, which means an eagle in Malaya, and kawi, which means marble in Sanskrit, and then it was simplified to a nice sounding Langkawi. You can also meet other names of the island that used to exist in the past, such as Langa, Langka, Lansura, and Langapore.

When to visit Langkawi?

It is hot and humid all year round. The average annual temperature is about 30 degrees Celsius.



The rainy season lasts from September to mid-November. However, rain usually falls at night and lasts about 2 hours, that's why the mornings can be sunny even during rainy season. Of course, although they are rare, there are days of continuous rainfall.

The dry season lasts from mid-November to mid-April.
This is the time when most tourists come to this beautiful island to enjoy the full sun and all the attractions.

However, from mid-April to August there is a mid-season, where we can enjoy light rain bringing refreshment in the hot rays of sunshine.

How do I get to the island?

The island of Langkawi can be reached by ferry or plane.
Ferry connections are available from Kuala Kedah, Kuala Perlis and Penang.
Air Asia operates international flights from Singapore and Canton.
National flights are available from Kuala Lumpur-Sultan Abdul Aziz airport in Chechnya and are operated by Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia and Malindo Air.

Paradise beaches

This place is rich in beautiful beaches with delicate white sand next to the warm water of the Andamanian Sea. Here you can find places with pubs, restaurants, shisha and open air massage with a view of the sea. In the evenings all kinds of events and shows are also organized.

Cenang Beach
Tengah Beach
The most popular beach is Cenang Beach and Tengah, which is a continuation of the Cenang Beach. It is the largest and most touristic beach of the island with the longest coastline.
Other popular beaches where you can find interesting attractions and even exclusive resorts are Burau Bay, Pantai Kok and Datai Bay.



On the spot, you will find a wide range of offers for water sports. You can choose to dive, parasail or swim on Banana Boat. You can also take a trip by kayak, jet ski or motorboat. There is also a great possibility to get to the surrounding islands by sea and get to know their exotic beauty.
What's interesting, despite many tourists coming to the place, the island of Langkawi is really clean! The government takes great care of this archipelago.
The beaches are cleaned regularly and there is an active campaign against the environmental risk posed by plastics bags and other hard-to-recycle waste.

Attractions

Besides the relaxing atmosphere and the sound of the sea, the island has a lot to offer!

Sky-Bridge & Cable-Car
This is the number one attraction!
To enjoy breathtaking views and unforgettable experiences from an altitude of 660 meters above sea level, go for a walk on the Sky-Bridge!To get to the bridge, you first need to take a CableCar ride and then transfer to the SkyGlide lift.
This unique bridge is located on top of Gunung Mat Cincang, which is the second highest mountain on the island. From here you can admire the magnificent panorama, as well as the south-western part of Thailand.

Seven Wells Waterfall
You can admire the beauty of Malaysian waterfalls, cool down in the refreshing water and in designated places even go down from them like from a slide and feel the closeness of nature.
Above all, Telaga Tujuh Waterfalls, also known as Seven Wells Waterfall, should be on your list. It is a place created by nature, which amazes many visitors and local people. It is a combination of seven natural swimming pools powered by seven waterfalls from the mountain Mat Cincang.
This place can be found in the north-western part of the island, near the first attraction, which is Sky-Bridge.

Kilim Karst Geoforest Park
Karst Geoforest Park is located in the north-eastern part of the island. It is a place where you can admire the true beauty of exotic flora and fauna. Here you can meet limestone formations that are over 500 million years old, magnificent mangrove forests or caves with huge stalactites and stalagmites. You will also see the colorful world of wildlife in the area. You will find here macaques, lizards, white-tailed eagles, bats, tree crabs and many, many more.
More about the attractions of this island in the next article.

Stores & prices

The cost of food, clothing and other accessories is not too high. Of course, also here we have a rule for higher prices in the area of typical tourist destinations and lower prices in the side streets or in the interior of the island.
You will easily find everything you need here. There are supermarkets, shops with clothes and other accessories stores, pharmacies and SPA salons. Of course, there are also many smaller stands with local treats, fruits, cold drinks, jewelry and souvenirs.

Every day, in a different corner of the island, there is also a Night Market. It is one of the cheapest places to buy delicious local food, fresh seafood, vegetables, fruits and other items.



What is interesting, the whole island is a duty-free zone.This means that the prices of some goods are really low. This also applies to products such as cigarettes and alcohol, which are really cheap here. A pack of cigarettes can be purchased from RM2 ($0,5 USD). The price of a large can of beer starts with RM3 ($0,7 USD). Prices of such products are even 5-6 times lower than in other places in Malaysia.

Accommodation

The island offers a lot of places to stay. You can choose from guesthouses, hotels and exclusive resorts with sea views. In each of these places, you will, of course, find Internet access via WiFi.



You can book a room through AirBnB, Trivago or any other broker, or simply by walking and choosing the perfect accommodation for you already on the spot because there are a lot of them.

Transport on the island

You can rent a car, scooter or bike to travel on the island. There is also a GrabCar (Asian Uber) and taxi services here. However, you will not find public transport here, which is not a problem with reasonable prices offered for renting your own vehicle or paying for the GrabCar ride.
The roads are safe and not damaged, and the fuel is really cheap. 1 litre is RM2.2 = US$0.53.

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Language and communication with the locals

You can easily communicate in English with almost anyone.90% of the locals are Malaysians, who are open and very friendly. Therefore, even when there is a communication problem, you can reach an agreement with gestures and smiles.

Other forms of spending time

If you still don't have enough attractions, you will be interested in other forms of spending your free time on the island. There is a lot of options!



You can ride in go-karts on fresh air, play golf, take part in Quiz Night, play Poker, participate in karaoke, smoke shisha or spend time with friends in one of the pubs serving exotic drinks.



If Langkawi will enchant you as much as me (and probably it will), I have another good news.
A tourist visa will allow you to spend 90 days in this exotic paradise! Free of charge and without any paperwork. Is there anything more you can want? :)

I hope that you enjoyed my Langkawi guidebook. If you don't want to miss the next articles, follow my profile!

@see-it-feel-it
www.MySTEEM.pl

All pictures without links are taken by me.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langkawi
http://www.langkawi-info.com
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g298283-s208/Langkawi:Malaysia:Weather.And.When.To.Go.html