Travel: Malaysia - Langkawi

[kohbee2.06303gmail.06303com]

Dnls_mum:

JR:

We went to Langkawi last year June. My recommendations are found in Page 3 of this topic. If you need more details, feel free to ask.

Thanks JR. Looks like we have similar holiday destinations!
Did you arrange car rental before you arrive? We would like to take it easy and as the resort that we are staying is doing renovation in some area, they are providing some free tours. So I am hoping that we can see what is being offered and play by ear, and make arrangements while we are there.

Ya, isn't it a coincidence...

We didn't book a car as we are unsure if it was more cost effective to get a cab or rent a car. In the end, we only call a car rental company through one of the brochures we collected at the airport in Langkawi. There are a few rental company counters. So you can shop around for the best deal. But be warned that the car you may be getting may not be in the best condition as it was for my case since my booking was quite last minute. Can't remember how much I paid.

It is quite easy to drive around. Just follow the signboards. Much more flexible to get a rental car than depending on taxis which I don't really find that common in Langkawi. Maybe you can go for the free tours and then get a rental car for the remaining free days to do other trips. It is also good to play by ear, especially that some activities may be weather dependant.

JR:

The mangrove boat ride was educational. I would recommend Dev's Adventure Tours. Although expensive, the guide was very informative and really passionate about the ecological role we have to play. The lunch provided was quite good too but the fish feeding was a bit disappointing.

Did you book in advance? Is this a private tour or a big group tour?

We called the company when we were in Langkawi hotel to confirm that we are taking up the tour. There were a few others in the same tour as us. I think total number about 8 fitting into a boat. I think I found them through trip advisor. You may check out the latest reviews before deciding on your needs. What I like is that they are quite eco friendly and the guides are good.

JR:

Another place I would recommend will be Laman Padi. The guide was informative and can explain quite well about padi cultivation. And its free.

The Mardi Agro farm visit was so-so. We get to taste only a few types of fruits (pomelo, jackfruit, starfruit, pineapple and papaya). Better to go around July where there are more fruits in season.

Can you just drive to these places? Any prior booking required? Is it easy to find these prices on your own?

:thankyou:

Like I said, it is easy to drive around. I used a simple tourist map which you can get at the airport. Not that many roads in Langkawi. As long as you drive on the main roads, you will be safe. It is ok to ask for directions, the people there are quite friendly. There is no need to book in advance. But better check the opening hours before hand. Won't be nice to find out that the place is closed only when you arrive.

Sorry, writing this purely on memory. Can't recall some of the details. Hope my info helps.

[Dnls_mum]

:thankyou: JR.

[happydl]

We went few years back. Rented a car from airport for 1 day at only RM50 per day and pump RM25 petrol.


We went to hotspring, Eagle Square, Kuah Town, Oriential Village/Cable car.

Langkawi’s road is very easy to drive. Not much cars on the road, more like kampong. Can see chickens, cows, buffaloes, monkeys and etc along the road. Very relaxing.

Only at Kuah town, you get to see more cars. Most of the time parking is free. Don’t worry, very easy to drive. That was our first overseas drive. We drove based on the map from airport.

Do consider island hopping trip. We didnt get to go as it was raining 2 days out of 4 days during our trip in September.

[Dnls_mum]

happydl:

Do consider island hopping trip. We didnt get to go as it was raining 2 days out of 4 days during our trip in September.

Oh dear! :yikes: Hope we don't encounter rain too often during our sept trip :xedfingers: We so look forward to a relaxing beach vacation.

[Dnls_mum]

I am checking the weather forecast for Langkawi now that our 1 Sep trip is coming up and sadly, weather seems wet. If it rains when we are there, are there any suitable wet weather activity that we can do?

[kohbee2.06303gmail.06303com]

Dnls_mum:

I am checking the weather forecast for Langkawi now that our 1 Sep trip is coming up and sadly, weather seems wet. If it rains when we are there, are there any suitable wet weather activity that we can do?

Sorry to hear that. That is one thing we can't control... Nothing much I can suggest as most activities are outdoors. Go shopping at town area, I guess... Just hope for the best. :nailbite:

[Dnls_mum]

JR:

Dnls_mum:

I am checking the weather forecast for Langkawi now that our 1 Sep trip is coming up and sadly, weather seems wet. If it rains when we are there, are there any suitable wet weather activity that we can do?

Sorry to hear that. That is one thing we can't control... Nothing much I can suggest as most activities are outdoors. Go shopping at town area, I guess... Just hope for the best. :nailbite:

I better get the whole gang to pray hard for good weather then :sad:
Rain rain go away, come again another day!! :please:

[Dnls_mum]

Just came back from Langkawi last night. Our prayers were heard...no rain! :imcool:


We stayed at the Tanjung Rhu Resort, one of two resorts along the Tanjung Rhu Beach. The other is the Four Seasons. This is a high end 5-star resort and we had the all-inclusive package which included food 24 hours a day including mini bar, room service etc. There is even a fine dining restaurant on site. Food was great. Service was excellent. Beach is beautiful and serene. As it is a private beach, it is very well maintained. Only when we arrived there did we realize that this is the beach where the poster pictures of Langkawi are taken. The actual scene is as beautiful as all the hotel photos.

The rooms were huge! We had 2 seafacing suites which were 80sqm in size. The third room we had was about 50-60 sqm. They were all huge! And most importantly had very cosy design using lots of wood. The resort is a little old, but was well maintained and clean.

Kids enjoyed the beach, and it felt like we were the only ones in the resort. It is that quiet! There are some islands about 500m out from the beach and during low tide, we could walk to these islands. Along the way we saw crabs, hermit crabs, picked beautiful shells etc. it was good old fashion fun. :rahrah:

There are 3 pools, a quiet adult pool, a family pool and a sand pool. Kids did batik silk screen printing, collected shells which the staff help made into a necklace. There was lots of fishes in the many ponds in the resort and they provided fish food for us to feed the fishes too. We also had free use of non motorized water sports and the guys went kayaking to the nearby islands.

We took a mangrove tour. Went with the hotel even though it was more expensive then outside operators, but we were assured of quality and it was convenient. There were 10 of us so we had the boat to ourselves and a nature guide accompanied us. We stopped at a fish farm where we fed fishes saw and handled the horseshoe crab. Then when along the mangrove and saw monkeys, mud skippers, the colorful fiddler crabs, monitor lizard. Went to the bat cave. And of course spotted eagles. As Tanjung Rhu is an Eco resort, the guides were not allowed to feed the eagles as it changes the feeding habits of the eagles. Nonetheless, even though we did not feed the eagles, we were able to get a good view of them flying around, perch of the trees. Saw kites (bird) too.

On our last day, since our flight was at 8.45pm, we rented 2 cars and went to the cable car. The scenary was beautiful. Only unfortunate thing was that the sky bridge was under maintenance. Then we went to the Padi museum. That was ok. Show the kids something about padi cultivation. The hotel was kind enough to extend one of our 3 rooms (we kept one of the suites) to 6pm free of charge, so we were able to shower and clean up before catching our flight home.

All in all a good trip and we all love the Tanjung Rhu Resort and may consider going back for the beach and relaxing atmosphere. This is the hotel for us in Langkawi! :boogie: :imcool: don't think any other hotel in Langkawi will be able to beat it in our eyes.

[kohbee2.06303gmail.06303com]

Nice to know that your holiday plan was not spoilt by the weather. Too bad about not being able to be on the sky bridge. Any idea how long will the sky bridge be closed? At least it will give you an excuse to go back to Langkawi again when it is re-opened...

[Dnls_mum]

JR:

Nice to know that your holiday plan was not spoilt by the weather. Too bad about not being able to be on the sky bridge. Any idea how long will the sky bridge be closed? At least it will give you an excuse to go back to Langkawi again when it is re-opened...

No signage to say when it will open again. It seems to have been closed for a while already, several months perhaps. When we were there, we did not see any work being done or sight of work in progress. We were thinking there were perhaps safety issues and they may still be thinking of what to do with it :rotflmao: