Family Holiday In Langkawi

Went on a 4-day holiday to Langkawi island with hubby, kids, parents-in-law and sis-in-law last week. We had not gone on any trips last year because of CoolTeen's exams, so this was a long awaited holiday for us.


We have fond memories of our time in Langkawi in 2010 so we decided to go again since hubby managed to book his company's holiday bungalow for a 2 night stay. We booked an extra night at Landcons Hotel at Pantai Cenang because it's really too short to go all the way there for only 2 nights.


On Tuesday morning we left KL around 6.45am after fetching my in-laws. Had a quick bite at Autocity in Seberang Perai and reached the Kuala Kedah jetty at 12.00noon. Caught the 1pm ferry to Langkawi island, and hubby insisted that we got tickets for the large 500-passenger ferry as he doesn't travel well and the smaller ferry would bounce his meal out of his tummy.


This time we rented an MPV and got a Mazda 5 to travel around the island. The kids liked the auto-sliding doors. Checked into Landcons Hotel, situated opposite the Underwater World - nothing fancy but clean, and within our budget of below RM200 per room. 

Our ride :)

We had dinner at one of our favourite restaurants, Palm View Seafood Restaurant just a short walk away from the hotel, only to find that they have raised their prices quite a bit since the last time we ate there although the food was still as good. After dinner we did some window shopping at the many souvenir and clothes shops along the street. Hubby was sad that the shop where he bought some clothes in 2010 had burnt down just about a week before our trip.


The next morning as I was brushing my teeth, I noticed that the water supply from the tap was getting less and less. That meant only one thing, so I quickly rinsed my mouth and true enough, a few seconds later, I was standing at the sink with a completely dry tap and wondering how I was going to rinse my toothbrush! There was no water supply to that part of the island on that day but thankfully we could collect water from the drinking water dispenser in the lobby.


Had continental style breakfast at a little place with no name, run by Ann and her husband Andy, because they rent a restaurant premise to serve breakfast in the mornings. The actual restaurant only opens for lunch and dinner. 

The breakfast place with no name

Then we noticed that Andy had boats for hire for day tours to the mangrove forest, so we hired an 8-seater boat for 2 hours at RM230. Departed from the Kilim jetty northeast of Langkawi island and cruised (and sometimes sped) down the river in a covered motorboat to visit the dark bat cave (where we saw little bats hanging upside down trying to sleep while excited tourists snapped away at them with their cameras), a fish farm with some interesting species of fish and stingrays (the most interesting was the 'ikan sumpit' which spits water at its prey/food and jumps up to eat it as it falls into the water), saw beautiful eagles swooping down from the sky to catch fish at the river, went through the crocodile cave (which once had crocodiles but not any more) and went out into the open sea right up to the border of Thailand...before running out of petrol on our way back to the jetty! Thankfully our boat carried extra fuel and our driver got us back to dry land safely.

Kilim jetty

mangrove trees

eagle feeding on fish

Pulau Kasut ( shoe island)

Visited the cable car but only hubby and his parents rode the cable car up to the mountain top because the rest of us have already rode in the cable car the year before, so we shopped for souvenirs while waiting.

Hubby finally walked the famous sky bridge

Checked into the company holiday bungalow at Pantai Tengah, about a kilometre from Landcons Hotel. Took a walk on the beach, then had dinner at the Orchid Ria seafood restaurant where customers queue to be seated. Every table seem to have ordered lobster so we decided to try it too. Food was ok but a little pricey, as expected from a tourist area.

Our RM180 lobster

We spent the next day shopping in Kuah town buying duty-free chocolates. The price of chocolates is very competitive in the many chocolate shops all over town so it's best to compare prices before buying any.


And of course, we had to stop by the Morac International Go Kart circuit once again, as we did the previous year, something which my kids had been looking forward to. Met a couple from Sweden who were spending part of their 2-month vacation at Langkawi..which, according to them, is paradise :)

All too soon it was time to pack up and head for home. Had a relaxing time at Langkawi - the beach is beautiful, the weather was sunny throughout the 4 days, and there was much fun and laughter as we went sight-seeing and shopping...a perfect end to the year 2011.