Monday, August 11, 2014

Island Hopping in Langkawi


I booked for this activity at 35 myr ($11 July 2014).  The agent also offered pick up from Kuah Jetty to our lodge in Cenang and charged us 30 myr.  Since I can split the cost with a friend and taxi fare are the same, (FYI! Transportation Fees in Langkawi are regulated by the government) I agreed to the offer and lucky enough we were picked up by a luxurious Mercedes Benz Sedan.  Travel from Kuah to Cenang takes around 30-40 minutes.

picked up from Kuah Jetty by this car at 30 myr!



At 2 PM,  another agent picked us up and brought us to the station where we waited for our boat to bring us to the islands. 


that is our boat for the island hopping. We were a group of 21 people plus the boatman


Here is the itinerary plus some tips if you want to take this tour:

1. Pregnant Maiden Mountain or Dayang Bunting: the boatman will stop the boat for a while and will show you the mountain which has an image of a pregnant lady lying on her back.

The Dayang Bunting or Pregnant Maiden Mountain

2. Dayang Bunting Lake: this lake has a story to tell where a Mat Teja, met the beautiful fairy princess, Mambang Sari at the lake and fell in love with her. He finally won the love of the fairy and they were living happily on earth but their happiness stopped when their baby died.  Mambang Sari decided to bury their child to rest in peace in the lake.  She also blessed all the infertile and childless woman to conceive after bathing at the lake.  There’ s no harm in trying for the ladies who wants to have children.

Pulao Dayang Lake 

You can reach this beautiful lake after you take the flight of stairs going up and down, I say you maximize your time swimming here since the water is cool and fresh.  You will be given an hour to enjoy yourself here so if there’s more time why not try walking on the wooden walkway and take some nice shots of the mountain and the lake.
don't forget your bathing suits and enjoy swimming in the natural freshwater 
wooden walkway
dipping in Dayang Bunting

 3. Wet Rice Island or Pulao Beras Basah: not so safe to swim in here because of the sharp corals and shells so better wear a proper footwear if you plan to swim in the water.  Or, if you’ve had enough swimming at the lake, you can take a a relaxing nap by the seashore. One hour is also given for this.
soaking up the sun in Wet Rice Island 


Pulao Beras Basah ~ nice to nap to so good to swim
4. Pulao Singa Besar or Big Lion Island for Eagle Feeding: this is the final round of the island hopping tour.  I guess the boatmen aren’t really tour guides so they weren’t really oriented to talk about the places that we’ve been in the tour, this part was a little bit disappointing for me because he just brought out a bucket and threw something in the water, I just realized that he’s already feeding the eagles when they came swarming into the water.  So, if you will have the similar experience, better ready your cameras when you see him bringing out a bucket.
eagle feeding in Pulao Singa Besar


Review:
I will give 3/5 of this tour.
My favorite part: swimming in Dayang Bunting Lake.
I don't like that: 
> I hurt my feet in one of the corals when I tried swimming in Wet Rice Island. 
> I rented a snorkeling gear for 10 myr and didn't see any fish
> the boatman was not kind enough to tell when it's time to feed the eagles already and he was a little bit rude coz he always rush the people, they should be at least oriented on courtesy towards the tourists, and please don't smoke on the boat!
> a monkey nearly stole our snack
Amount of this tour: 35 myr/head ($11 USD)
Length of time spent on this tour: 4 hours

Things to bring:
1. Water to hydrate yourself from the scorching heat.
2. Snacks, they are available in Pulao Beras Basah but if you want to save money better buy at the shops in Cenang.
3. Comfortable footwear like rubber slippers or sandals, especially if you plan to go dipping in Pulao Beras Basah where sharp corals and shells are present.
4. Ziplocks or plastic bags to put your valuables so as not to accidentally get them wet.
5. Sunblock, sunblock, and more sunblock!
Others:
1. Monkeys are everywhere, don’t let them outsmart you and grab your snacks.  Keep your food out of reach!
2. They’re renting out snorkeling gears but don’t bother getting one, no fish to see.  Not worth your penny.
Some helpful websites:
Where I booked the tour:
Zam: +60175419705 (he also does the pick-up transfers)
> You can also book from the place I stayed with my friend at Rainbow Lodge ask for Kumar:

Kumar’s Phone Number: +601126552412
the monkey who nearly stole our tidbits!

Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)