Book Langkawi tours & attraction tickets

Langkawi is an archipelago of 99 islands off the northwestern coast of Malaysia, separated from the Thai border by little more than a short stretch of the Andaman Sea. The largest island, Pulau Langkawi, carries the weight of the group's reputation: a place where limestone karst formations rise from mangrove-fringed shores, where the interior is still largely forested, and where the sky and sea compete for attention in roughly equal measure. The whole archipelago was designated a UNESCO Global Geopark in 2007, a recognition of the geological record written into its rocks over half a billion years.

The island's duty-free status, granted in 1987, shaped much of its modern character. Kuah, the main town in the southeast, is where the ferry terminals and the bulk of the duty-free shopping sit, anchored by the Eagle Square roundabout whose giant raptor sculpture has become the island's most recognisable emblem. Pantai Cenang on the western coast is where most visitors end up spending their days, a long stretch of sand lined with restaurants, guesthouses, and watersports operators. Further north, Tanjung Rhu offers a quieter, more sheltered version of the same coastline, with shallow waters that turn luminous at low tide.