Famous for its cheap booze, white sandy beaches along side its myths and legends. Langkawi is made of 99 islands hidden in the Andaman Sea. The islands are part of the state of Kedah.The name Langkawi is a combination of "Lang" and "Kawi". "Lang" is the native malay word for Helang which means eagle, and "Kawi" means RED. As in the past, the land was home to plenty of red eagles.This explains the large eagle structure that greets you as you get off at the jetty. The island is dotted with different attractions (below is a picture of the Telaga Harbour at night), with most of the nicer beaches been cordorned off, by the 5 star hotels. Backpacker central is located along the Cenang/Tengah beach stretch, just 25 mins by cab from Jetty, 15 mins from Airport and 2 mins to the beach! You dont have to walk far because theres plenty of shops, food, and guesthouses on the stretch.

Packy Facts
Population: 54000 ppl
Country Code + Area Code: 604
Seasons: Rainy Season: Sept–Nov, Mid Season: April- August, Dry Season: Nov - Mid April  

3 Reasons why you'd love it!

1. Duty Free Booze and Ciggaretes - A bottle of Vodka Smirnoff costs ONLY RM 38 (11 USD), and beers are <  50 cents USD (cheaper than a can of coke!) - Other parts of Malaysia is not duty free. Same can of beer costs RM 6.50.
   
2. Fresh delicious value for money seafood restaurants in Kuah Town
3. Clean white sandy beaches that offer you seclusion and privacy at the same time
   

YAHHOOO IT'S DUTY FREE!!- Customs and Duty Free Information
Officially you need to stay at least 48 hours on the island before you are eligible to buy back any liqueur or cigarettes. The customs are stricter at the airport. We have noticed that, if you take a ferry, the customs only do random checks. And sometimes we walk away with triple our duty free allocation. The trick of course is not to make your bags look heavy and just confidently walk pass the check.  (In our observation, the customs seem conduct less checks on foreigners. We think it is because, the government is encouraging more buying).
Duty Free Allowance
Alcohol : Not exceeding 1 litre
Tobacco : Not exceeding 225 grams or 200 cigarettes
Cosmetics/perfume : Not exceeding RM 200
WARNING : THE CUSTOMS AT THE FERRY TERMINAL NOW HAVE SCANNERS. ALL BAGS WILL BE CHECKED. (which only means you got to hide the stuff you want to smuggle on your body!) - They apparently are not that strict with foreigners. Good Luck!


Cenang Beach, click map for a closer look

Getting here and around
Flying
Langkawi is an island off the northern state of Kedah. You have a few ways of getting here. The easiest is to fly into Langkawi International Airport.  There are regular flights into Langkawi International Airport. The airport is roughly about 25 minutes drive from Kuah town and 10 minutes from Cenang Beach. A Taxi from the Airport to Cenang beach costs RM 18 per taxi/one way. (July 2010)

Bus and Sea Route
There are ferries to Langkawi. You can get to Langkawi by ferry from Satun Thailand, Penang Malaysia, Kuala Kedah Malaysia or Kuala Perlis Malaysia.
From Penang (only 2 ferries in the morning) take about 3hrs ride to Langkawi pier. On occasions they do stop over to Pulau Payar (an island with a floating platform, where there are tours for snorkeling and diving) on the way there (the stop is about 10 minutes). There isn’t accommodation on the island, and usually people just do day trips. For information on the day trips, please check here >> Pulau Payar.
The ferry times from Penang are 8:15 and 8:30 and costs about RM115 return for adults (RM60 for a one way ticket). It is a proper speed ferry, which has semi comfortable seating’s inside, air-conditioned, tv, and toilets. The ferry roughly takes about 3 hours.



Ferries also depart from Kuala Kedah or Kuala Perlis to Langkawi. This is a cheaper alternative if you are coming from the Malaysian Peninsular. Ferries start at 7am and runs every hour till 7pm. Ferry from Kuala Perlis – 1hr (Adults: RM 18 one way, RM 36 return, Child: RM 13 one way and RM 26 return), Ferry from Kuala Kedah- 1hr 45 mins  (Adult: RM 23 one way and RM 46 return)
To get to Kuala Kedah/ Kuala Perlis from Penang you will need to cross over to Butterworth (Penang) via the slow ferry which is free when you are going from the island to Butterworth.Then you will need to board a express bus headed for Alor Setar. Tell the ticket person you want to go to Kuala Kedah/ Kuala Perlis. (bus ride costs RM 9.90). Bus ride is  1 hour 30 minutes. Stop at Pekan Rabu, which is a town before Alor Setar. The ferries at Kuala Kedah or Kuala Perlis have more regular departures, as it caters more to the locals, who travel often to Langkawi. So if you miss the Penang ferry in the morning and still want to go to Langkawi, you might want to consider taking a bus up to Alor Setar and a ferry across.
We have compared the cost of taking a direct ferry from Penang versus a bus to Alor Setar and then ferry from Kuala Kedah. We do save about RM 20 per way/per person. But the journey is can be tiring especially if you have plenty of luggages.

Here are some links, costs and contacts to help you get here:
Malaysia Airlines
Flies frm RM 106 one way frm KL to Langkawi.
Air Asia flies frm KL to Langkawi frm RM 63.50 one way.
There are plenty of international and local flights to Langkawi.
Ferry frm Kuala Perlis (04 9851899/9852690)
7am-7pm, every hour, 45mins ride
Adult RM 18  Child RM 13
Ferry frm Kuala Kedah (04 7626295/7626296)
7am-7pm, every hour, 1hr ride
Adult RM23  Child RM17
Ferry frm Penang (604-2642088) 8.15am & 8.30am, 2.45 hrs ride
Adult RM 60 (1 way), RM 115 return.
Child RM45 (1 way) RM 85 return.
Depart Langkawi 2.30pm and 5.15pm.

Ferry frm Satun (Only 4 trips daily)
Langkawi : 604-9661125/9661126
Satun : (6674) 725 294
From 9.45am to 5pm, 1.15 hrs ride
Adult RM 30 (1 way), RM 60 return.
Child RM 23 (1 way) RM 46 return. Check out Langkawi Ferry for more details on ferry times and rates

However the ferry prices for Penang - Medan has increased to RM 150 per way and RM 220 return.  (As of March 2010) - Ferry take about 6 hours, and only departs from Penang on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Check in at  8.30am, but ferry doesnt leave till 9 +.

Getting Around
Most taxi’s here charge a certain fixed rate for each destination (taxi’s here don’t run on meters).
Please be advised : Latest taxi rates from Kuah Jetty to Cenang Beach (Pantai Cenang) is now RM 24 (May 2010).
There are car/ motor cycle rentals at the Kuah Jetty as well as along Pantai Cenang / Pantai Tengah and at all the major hotels. Rentals / day cost (Van: RM 120-150, Sedan: RM 80-130, Small car: RM 50, Scooter: Automatic Scooters RM 35- Manual scooters RM 20, ). You will need a copy of your driving license and identification card. Plenty of rental shops can be found around the Jetty or in Cenang Beach.

An economical and easy way is to rent your vehicle at the ferry terminal when you arrive. To get to the operators, just walk out of the ferry terminal, cross the road to the other building (near the car park). This way you save on one way transport to your hotel. If you haven’t decided on where to stay, this is even better as you can just drive or ride around looking for a place to stay at your own time. When you are leaving Langkawi, simply return the vehicle at the jetty. It can be a little more pricey if you rent it from the jetty, if you are wondering the price difference. But if you calculate the taxi fare from the Jetty to Cenang, you actually save quite alot.

Most of the petrol stations are in town, with only a few in the small villages. So make sure you are constantly running on a full tank. There aren’t many mechanics around. The only ones we have seen are near Kuah town. And mind you that the shops close after 5pm. It is handy to have the rental agencies phone number written somewhere.