“Smell the sea and feel the sky, let your soul and spirit fly.”
– Van Morrison
A popular excursion while in Langkawi, Malaysia is to explore the many surrounding islands along the southwest coast of the island. While walking the streets of Pantai Chenang you can find many travel operators advertising a half day excursion to the islands. Offering two tours daily. With this you can discover 3 beautiful islands nearby: Island of the Pregnant Maiden, Pulau Singa Besar and Pulau Beras Basah.
Early morning we went down to the Jetty Teluk Baru at the very southwest part of the island where the boats depart. There were dozens of boats awaiting the various tour groups with each boat holding about 10-15 people, life jackets included of course.
First stop on the Island hopping tour …
Pulau Dayang Bunting (island of the pregnant woman).
Only a 15 minute ride in, we arrived to the island of the pregnant woman. While entering the island you will see the mountainous outline of a woman lying on her back. (Her head, breast and baby bump). She looks so peaceful!
After we unloaded our boat to walk the pier to the entrance of the island we were awaited by mass loads of monkeys. While some greet you nicely, the majority just want your things! So we said our hellos but held onto our belongings with a tight grip. You know how it goes, once they’ve gotten a hold of your stuff, consider it gone. Cute monkeys but SAVAGE!
The cost to enter the fresh water lake on the other side of the mountain was RM12 for foreigners. After the numerous flights of stairs up and down between the mountain (monkeys still by your side) we arrived to the spectacular site of the lake of the pregnant women. Surrounded by mountains, the lake was formed when the cave chamber collapsed due to its inability to carry the load of the bedrock. This left a hole which was later filled by rainwater creating this 45ft deep freshwater lake we enjoy today. Because of the intensity of depth it is required all persons wear a life jacket while swimming.
We were limited to a one hour stay on the island but there were tons of activities to engage in! Swan boats, solar boats, kayaking, swimming, hiking along the trail at the rim of the lake. We opted for a relaxing feet dip into the water to soak in the beauty of the island then followed the trail around the lake.
On to the next!
The island of the famous eagles of langkawi.
We found our boat surround by birds swooping around us into the water to pick up food. With the backdrop of the lucious green islands and the birds all around us, it was quite an experience!
Last but not least!
Plain ole beach time? Yes, please. The beach was nice and isolated, tucked away around surrounding islands. Upon stepping off the boat, who else other than beach monkeys to greet us. While I quickly got used to all the monkeys that swarm Malaysia, there must’ve been 50 monkeys in front of me just walking, eating, and climbing! It was almost as if as humans we were outnumbered! But once we realized they didn’t mind us using their island, we were off to the turqiouse blue water. No frills – just fluffy white sand to lay on and refreshing water to take a dip!
After some relaxation on the beach, it was time to return to the main island of Langkawi. The breeze of the boat ride back to land cooled us off as that mid day sun began to hit. We were dropped back to the same jetty we left from then made our way walking back to the main strip of Pantai Chenang.
Great excursion island hopping Langawi!
