Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
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RM3,800 ($1,102/£684) suite. The resort is a 30-minute drive from the airport and 5 minutes from Kuah.
Amenities:
2 restaurants; lounge; pool bar; 4 outdoor pools; 2 outdoor lighted tennis courts; health club
w/Jacuzzi; spa w/bar; sauna; bikes; watersports; concierge; airport transfers; room service; babysitting.
In
room:
A/C, 42-inch plasma TV w/satellite programming, DVD player and in-house mo vies, minibar, hair
dryer.
WHERE TO DINE
If you're out at one of the mor e secluded resorts, chances are, you'll stay there for most
of your meals. If you find yourself at Pantai Cenang, try
Nam Restaurant
(
&
04/955-
6787
), the best r estaurant on Langkawi and perhaps in all of M alaysia. Located within
the small and charming Bon Ton Resort, Nam serves “West meets spice ” dishes along
with an ex cellent selection of wines and dr eamy desserts in a B alinese-inspired setting.
Arrive at sunset for pr edinner drinks, and stay after y our meal for drinks at the r esort's
fun Chin Chin bar. If you're in Kuah town looking for something good to eat, the best
local dining experience can be found at the ev ening
hawker stalls
just along the water-
front near the taxi stand. A long r ow of hawkers cooks up ev ery kind of local fav orite,
including seafood dishes. You can't get any cheaper or more laid back. After dinner, from
here it's easy to flag down a taxi back to y our resort.
ATTRACTIONS
Fifteen years ago, Langkawi was just a backwater island suppor ting small fishing com-
munities. When the government came in with big money to dev elop the place for tour-
ism, they thought they needed a catch, so they dug up some old moldy “legends ” about
the island and have tried to market them as bona fide cultural attractions. Basically, these
attractions appeal more to local tourists.
In terms of beaches and waterspor ts, most r esorts ar e self-contained units, offering
their own equipment rentals and planning their own outings.
Outside of y our resort, there's some fairly decent diving to be had.
Asian Overland
(
&
04/955-2002;
www.asianoverland.com.my) can arrange day trips with two div es to
Payar M arine Park within Langkawi 's extensiv e island networ k. They charge RM280
($81/£50). You can also snorkel for the day for RM160 ($46/£29) per person. There's an
interesting snor kel attraction off Langkawi—a platform in the middle of the sea that
floats above a coral reef. Day trips to the platform include rides in a glass-bottomed boat,
snorkeling, and lunch on the platform. I t's an all-day affair for RM230 ($67/£41) per
person, starting at 8am and getting y ou back to your resort just before dinnertime.
Asian Overland also plans round-island boat trips to “island-hop” at beaches and into
mangrove swamps (inter esting), with a stop at the P regnant Maiden Lake (one of the
before-mentioned overhyped places). The mangrove tours are very educational, but ask
them to show you the eagles, not feed them. They'll tailor your tour so y ou can see the
sights that most interest you.
The best thing going for Langkawi is that the island 's natural assets hav e been pr e-
served despite the modern infrastr ucture to accommodate tourists. U nlike B ali and
Phuket, visitors can r elax on the beaches and not be hassled b y hawkers tr ying to sell
things.
One piece of infrastructure that stands out is the cable car that extends to the summit of
Mount Macinchang. It's a dramatic, near-v ertical lift high abo ve the rainfor est canopy to
the 706m-high (2,316-ft.) r ocky summit. F rom here visitors can see most of the island 's
attractions and peer off into the distant islands of southern Thailand. The departure point
for the ride is Oriental Village at Burau Bay. There is a carnival-like atmosphere here, with
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