The weather is gorgeous today!
Fully recovered and utterly excited about the day ahead of me, I hurriedly gave the cute suit the wake up call I had promised her...
.. 10 minutes early! Hehe.
But it didn’t matter though. She was already awake and probably just as excited as I was about our island hopping adventure!
It is worth mentioning that the Island Hopping Tour is one of the more popular activities in Langkawi, and that almost every resort or motel will offer this package. Although this tour is available almost everywhere, the price of this tour package varies depending on the agent selling it – so do try to look around for the best prices. Prices will range between RM35 – RM55 (even though almost all the packages are exactly a like!)
The tour that we chose consists of touring 3 islands off the main island of Langkawi; Pulau Dayang Bunting, also known as the Isle Of The Pregnant Maiden, Pulau Singa (Lion Island) and Pulau Beras Basah (The Island Of Wet Rice).
A van picked us up from The Sunset Beach Resort around 9.35 a.m. to bring us to the jetty where we would begin our island hopping adventure. The jetty was about 10 minutes away from Pantai Cenang and was already filled with van loads of tourists by the time we got there! Designated stickers were handed out to different groups (depending on their package) and each group had to wait at certain areas of the jetty to keep order and to eliminate total chaos! Yeah, imagine being as excited as Shasha and I were… times 100 people! Yikes!
Once we were allocated to our respective speedboats, our tour guide/boatman whisked us to our first destination; Pulau Dayang Bunting. On the way there, he stopped at a certain area in the open sea, where the formations made by the mountains made it clear to me why this island is named the Island of the Pregnant Maiden. The mountain range depicted a shape of a pregnant lady, lying on her back. There is also a lake in the middle of the island where, according to local folklore, if barren woman swims in the lake and drinks the water, she would get pregnant! Well, hope that folklore only applies to girls cause I intend to swim in that lake!
Wow, now I understand why Langkawi is so mythical and legendary. As our boat slowly made its way to the shore of Pulau Dayang Bunting, a calm feeling swept through me and I felt excited and curious to explore the island.
Stepping up onto the island pier, we saw that it was very crowded (as it was a combination of a weekend AND school holidays) but that wasn’t going to stop us from visiting the famous Dayang Bunting Lake.
I must admit, even for a rugby player like myself, the hike to the lake was pretty challenging! With steep and unleveled steps, and constant up-down hill paths, it wasn’t a stroll in the park I tell ya! Especially when there are 20 other people behind you, eager to get there as well, it’s hard to stop to catch your breath! But thankfully, there are a few rest spots along the way.
After the long hike, we finally arrive at the lake! Stepping out of the beaten path and walking onto a pier where lots of people jumping into the lake, swimming, running around and obviously enjoying themselves, I felt as though I stumbled upon a lost civilization! Everyone was completely in the moment, having lots of fun. For those who were not looking to get pregnant.. whoops, on swimming I mean, paddleboats were available for rental.
Shasha and I discovered a very unique and new feature at the lake; a real cat fish spa! Yes.. I kid you not. 4 foot long, large cat fish sucking on the scum of your feet. If that doesn’t say ‘Ahhh this is the good life’ to you, I don’t know what will! Hehehe.
After dipping my feet into the ‘NO CATFISH ALLOWED’ part of the lake to cool off, and to enjoy the wonderful scenery, Shasha and I said our farewells to Dayang Bunting’s Lake and made our way back to the group’s meeting point to carry on to the second part of our tour.
My suggestion is that, if you’re keen on visiting Pulau Dayang Bunting avoid school holidays and weekends. That way, not only will you be able to take your own sweet time without having to worry about holding other tourists up, you’ll also appreciate the island more as it’d be way more intimate! But nevertheless, it was fun and definitely a place my buddies would love to go to!
A short boat ride away from Pulau Dayang Bunting is Pulau Singa. We were told that we would not be getting off our speedboat for this leg of the tour, instead, we were going to to feed eagles! Hmmm I smell a photog opportunity!
Pulau Singha which is a mangrove island, is inhabited by different species of eagles.
The last item on our agenda was a chill out session at Pulau Beras Basah!
We arrived at the island of Beras Basah around 12.25 p.m. The Sun was out, it was breezy and the tourists were out to play! There were kids making sand castles in the sand, college students playing volleyball in the water, couples walking down the beach hand in hand Shasha chasing the waves on the shore and me -- the utterly stereotypical tourist, with camera in one hand, and tour booklet in the other! Haha, I felt as thought we were on one of those cliché ‘Wish You Were Here!’ Postcards and it was great.
All and all, I think for RM40 per person, the Island Hopping Tour lived up to its expectations and money well spent.
Fully recovered and utterly excited about the day ahead of me, I hurriedly gave the cute suit the wake up call I had promised her...
.. 10 minutes early! Hehe.
But it didn’t matter though. She was already awake and probably just as excited as I was about our island hopping adventure!
It is worth mentioning that the Island Hopping Tour is one of the more popular activities in Langkawi, and that almost every resort or motel will offer this package. Although this tour is available almost everywhere, the price of this tour package varies depending on the agent selling it – so do try to look around for the best prices. Prices will range between RM35 – RM55 (even though almost all the packages are exactly a like!)
The tour that we chose consists of touring 3 islands off the main island of Langkawi; Pulau Dayang Bunting, also known as the Isle Of The Pregnant Maiden, Pulau Singa (Lion Island) and Pulau Beras Basah (The Island Of Wet Rice).
A van picked us up from The Sunset Beach Resort around 9.35 a.m. to bring us to the jetty where we would begin our island hopping adventure. The jetty was about 10 minutes away from Pantai Cenang and was already filled with van loads of tourists by the time we got there! Designated stickers were handed out to different groups (depending on their package) and each group had to wait at certain areas of the jetty to keep order and to eliminate total chaos! Yeah, imagine being as excited as Shasha and I were… times 100 people! Yikes!
Once we were allocated to our respective speedboats, our tour guide/boatman whisked us to our first destination; Pulau Dayang Bunting. On the way there, he stopped at a certain area in the open sea, where the formations made by the mountains made it clear to me why this island is named the Island of the Pregnant Maiden. The mountain range depicted a shape of a pregnant lady, lying on her back. There is also a lake in the middle of the island where, according to local folklore, if barren woman swims in the lake and drinks the water, she would get pregnant! Well, hope that folklore only applies to girls cause I intend to swim in that lake!
Wow, now I understand why Langkawi is so mythical and legendary. As our boat slowly made its way to the shore of Pulau Dayang Bunting, a calm feeling swept through me and I felt excited and curious to explore the island.
Stepping up onto the island pier, we saw that it was very crowded (as it was a combination of a weekend AND school holidays) but that wasn’t going to stop us from visiting the famous Dayang Bunting Lake.
I must admit, even for a rugby player like myself, the hike to the lake was pretty challenging! With steep and unleveled steps, and constant up-down hill paths, it wasn’t a stroll in the park I tell ya! Especially when there are 20 other people behind you, eager to get there as well, it’s hard to stop to catch your breath! But thankfully, there are a few rest spots along the way.
After the long hike, we finally arrive at the lake! Stepping out of the beaten path and walking onto a pier where lots of people jumping into the lake, swimming, running around and obviously enjoying themselves, I felt as though I stumbled upon a lost civilization! Everyone was completely in the moment, having lots of fun. For those who were not looking to get pregnant.. whoops, on swimming I mean, paddleboats were available for rental.
Shasha and I discovered a very unique and new feature at the lake; a real cat fish spa! Yes.. I kid you not. 4 foot long, large cat fish sucking on the scum of your feet. If that doesn’t say ‘Ahhh this is the good life’ to you, I don’t know what will! Hehehe.
After dipping my feet into the ‘NO CATFISH ALLOWED’ part of the lake to cool off, and to enjoy the wonderful scenery, Shasha and I said our farewells to Dayang Bunting’s Lake and made our way back to the group’s meeting point to carry on to the second part of our tour.
My suggestion is that, if you’re keen on visiting Pulau Dayang Bunting avoid school holidays and weekends. That way, not only will you be able to take your own sweet time without having to worry about holding other tourists up, you’ll also appreciate the island more as it’d be way more intimate! But nevertheless, it was fun and definitely a place my buddies would love to go to!
A short boat ride away from Pulau Dayang Bunting is Pulau Singa. We were told that we would not be getting off our speedboat for this leg of the tour, instead, we were going to to feed eagles! Hmmm I smell a photog opportunity!
Pulau Singha which is a mangrove island, is inhabited by different species of eagles.
The last item on our agenda was a chill out session at Pulau Beras Basah!
We arrived at the island of Beras Basah around 12.25 p.m. The Sun was out, it was breezy and the tourists were out to play! There were kids making sand castles in the sand, college students playing volleyball in the water, couples walking down the beach hand in hand Shasha chasing the waves on the shore and me -- the utterly stereotypical tourist, with camera in one hand, and tour booklet in the other! Haha, I felt as thought we were on one of those cliché ‘Wish You Were Here!’ Postcards and it was great.
All and all, I think for RM40 per person, the Island Hopping Tour lived up to its expectations and money well spent.
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