Hello again Langkawi! This beautiful island located on the west coast of Malaysia is another of my favourite destinations (besides Bali) for a relaxing beach holiday where I could just do nothing but enjoy my 3S – sun, sea and sand.
In 2002, I came to Langkawi with my family while on a Superstar Virgo cruise. In 2004, I came again with my university mates on the same cruise. In 2010, I came here twice on business and stayed at The Andaman and The Westin Langkawi Resort & Spa. Both resorts were fabulous!
Here are some photos that I took of both resorts during my stay:
The Andaman
The Westin Langkawi Resort & Spa
Definitely worth considering if you’re planning a Langkawi holiday soon. π
Despite having been to Langkawi a couple of times, I was still very happy to be back while on a Sapphire Princess cruise this time round. Just like Penang, we actually had about 8 hours to spend on land before the ship left for the next port of call. However, as we didn’t plan to do much in Langkawi, we thought of just exploring what was near the jetty.
As usual, Princess Cruises would organise different land excursions of which you could purchase beforehand while on the ship. Places of interest would include Laman Padi (Rice Museum), Budaya Craft and Cultural Complex, Kilim River/Mangrove, Eagle Square, Underwater World and more. There’s also a cable car ride to the summit of Mat Cincang where you can take in the breathtaking scenery of the Langkawi archipelago or even do shopping at Kuah Town. Shopaholics would be pleased to know that Langkawi is a duty-free island. π
If you’re coming to Langkawi on a cruise like us, your ship will most likely dock at the Star Cruises Jetty located at the southwest corner of the island.
That was the Sapphire Princess ship in the background and next to it on the right was Ocean Victory, one of the world’s 10 largest yachts owned by Russian billionaire, Viktor Rashnikov. Very impressive yacht! Hubby and I went to the top deck of our ship just so we could take a closer look at the vessel – so luxurious!
If you’re taking a land tour, the coach would be right at the pier the moment you leave the ship. Alternatively, you can walk further down to the entrance of the pier where individual tour operators and taxi touts are waiting and you can do your negotiation there if you want to take a taxi down to Kuah Town or whichever place of interest you like to go.
There wasn’t much to see or do near the pier so with a map in hand, we thought of heading towards the nearest beach. Langkawi island has some of the best beaches in Asia!
After exiting the pier, we just kept to the left hand side of the road and walked for about 20-25 minutes which involved going uphill and downhill till we saw this sign that was next to The Lanai Langkawi Beach Resort.
So we followed the sign and walked down this road till…
…we reached the beach!
Beautiful sand and waters with a gorgeous view of neighbouring islands.
There were plenty of seashells on the beach and we started picking shells for almost an hour or so.
Very happy with my seashell loot!
I filled glass bottles with these seashells and used them as table decorations, not bad huh.
As we walked further down the beach, we arrived at the Holiday Villa Beach Resort & Spa Langkawi where we spent some time by the poolside and had a couple of drinks. Also saw the Sapphire Princess singers and dancers there who were basking in the sun.
In the late afternoon, our ship departed for Port Klang which I mentioned before in my previous Sapphire Princess blog post that it was just a very deserted area. One update to note was that the cruise terminal had been renamed as “Boustead Cruise Centre“.
Alas, all wonderful holidays have to come to an end. Here’s my favourite shot of sunset that I took while on the ship.
Till the next cruise, adios! π
Very nice, Geri. Will consider langkawi for a future holiday with my hubby. ?