Holidays with toddlers and young children can be hard work. Beach holidays especially are a completely different ballgame with kids. Parents can no longer spend whole days jet-skiing or snorkelling. Unless of course, you are privileged enough to bring a babysitter – or grandparent- with you! Rather than kicking back with a good book, parents find themselves constantly on guard. Watching out for dangers, reapplying sun-screen and trying to washing sand out of the eyes of screaming children.

Our motto after months on the road with two toddlers is: Keep it simple. Keep it fun. Malaysia’s main holiday destination, Langkawi, proved the perfect place to live up to this motto. With long stretches of sandy beaches, there was plenty of fun for our toddlers to have as well as lots to do for adults. To take the stress away from your trip to Langkawi with toddlers, we’ve done the research, planning and cocktail-tasting for you!

Here is our tried-and-tested list of 5 fun things to do in Langkawi with kids and toddlers.  We’ve included beach bars, attractions and cafes that we really enjoyed with our kids.

Where is Langkawi?

Palau Langkawi is a large island off the coast of the Peninsula Malaysia and near Thailand. It’s only an hour’s flight from Kuala Lumpur so is a great mini-break for expats like ourselves who live in KL.

Langkawi is also easily compatible with a trip around the islands of Southern Thailand. You can take a direct ferry between Langkawi and Koh Lipe in Thailand. You can also hop on a ferry to Penang – the jewel in Malaysia’s tourism crown.

Why visit Langkawi with kids?

Imagine ancient rainforest, mysteriously gloomy mangroves and glorious wide sandy beaches, Langkawi has all these in abundance. Venture a little way inland from the luxury resorts and foot spas on the coast to find a slower traditional pace of life in the kampungs. In these traditional Malay villages, locals still live as they have for generations working with the land and the sea for their livelihoods.

As a major tourist destination, Langkawi has all the money-making attractions you find elsewhere like aquariums and theme parks. Don’t waste time or money though on man-made experiences, instead head into the wild mangroves and the captivating rainforests to experience Malaysian natural beauty at its very best.

If you like a glass of ice, cold beer or two, you’ll be pleased to know that Langkawi is duty-free. Alcohol is heavily taxed on mainland Malaysia but here on Langkawi, the prices compete with the Thai islands just to the North.

Where to stay in Langkawi?

With young toddlers, it’s best to base yourselves around the busy, commercial areas of Pantai Cenang and Pantai Tengah so that you have quick and easy access to restaurants and shops. If you decide to stay further afield, a resort might be your best bet. There are numerous resorts dotted around the island for every type of budget and interest.

Fun things to do in Langkawi with kids and toddlers

1. Kilim River Tour

Do not miss taking a cruise on the Kilim River. Float through luscious mangroves, under vines and pass eerie caves. Parts of the riverboat tour are slow and meandering whilst other parts are over open water are very fast. Tie your hats on tight!

For us, the highlights of the trip were visiting the Bat Cave. The kids loved walking beneath the thousands of bats sleeping high above in the dark shadows. Watch out for the monkeys outside though. We also enjoyed swimming at the secluded beach and lunch at a fish farm perched on the water.

Best of all was the abundance of wildlife that we were lucky enough to spot. A macaque carrying her tiny baby, a monitor lizard swimming across the water, a poisonous snake hidden in the branches – seeing these amazing animals up close was better than any visit to a zoo.

We highly recommend Dev’s Adventure Tours. Our tour guide was fantastic with our children – who as usual were wriggly and loud. Dev’s Adventure Tours is also against eagle feeding. One of the highlights for most tour companies on the Kilim River is allowing its guests to feed wild eagles. Feeding these beautiful birds of prey has a negative effect on the delicate natural balance of the eco-system.

2 Sky Bridge and Sky Cab

Whilst over-touristy and beyond commercial, the hugely popular Sky Bridge and Sky Cab do have an incredible WOW factor. The Sky Bridge is the longest curved bridge in the world. A true feat of engineering, it offers incredible views over the island of Langkawi and beyond. Our toddlers preferred running over it really quickly rather than taking in the views so our visit was rather short!

The Sky Cabs are cable cars which take visitors up to 708m above sea level. When you alight at the top of Machincang mountain, you can explore the two viewing platforms and take in dramatic views of deep chasms, overhanging cliff walls and stunning pinnacles. For more information and up to date prices on the Sky Bridge and Sky Cab click here.

As part of the Sky Cab/ Sky Bridge entrance ticket, you get admittance included into the many ‘tourist museums’ around the Disney-esque Oriental Village. We saw a 3D show about space, a dinosaur action show and visited an entertaining 3D art museum. All were tacky but gave us a laugh! The crowds, heat and queues did make a visit to the Sky Bridge an over-whelming day out for our little ones.

3. Kasbah and the Night Market

For me, Kasbah Restaurant and Guesthouse channels reminders of my inner-hippie and distant solo backpacker days. A short walk through the backstreets of Pantai Cenang leads you to this rustic bar and cafe. The owners are super friendly – giving our children a huge box of toys to play with during their visit and happily letting them dance and play on the raised sitting area/ stage.

Every Thursday night, the local Temonyong Night Market pops up right outside. The eco-conscious owners at Kasbah invite you to pay a deposit to borrow an eco-friendly container and metal cutlery rather than use the single-use plastic ones from the market. If you purchase a drink or two, you’ll be more than welcome to eat your night market snacks at their tables too.

4 Sample homecooked Nonya food whilst the kids swim

If you fancy a really good meal but are worried that your toddlers will become restless, look no further than Fat Cupid. We were so happy when we stumbled upon this swanky, modern restaurant set in the gorgeous grounds of a plush guesthouse. The staff were super-friendly and the white sangria exquisite.

Go around 5 pm so the children can have a dip in the small but immaculately clean pool whilst the adults enjoy some sun-downers. At 7 pm the pool closes, the sky darkens and the fairy-lights and candles sparkle. The food is delicious and will give you a real taste of local Chinese-Malay favourites. Check out their menu to make your mouth water!

5 Bar Crawl along Pantai Cenang at dusk

Unlike most beaches in Malaysia, Pantai Cenang has plenty of great beach bars. Grab the kids’ buckets and spades, kick back on a bean bag and sip a refreshing cocktail.

A few of our favourites on Pantai Cenang with the children were:
Kelut Bar– has giant bean bags on the beach and upbeat music.
Oh Chang Bar- has great cocktails (for grown-ups) and amazing mocktails (for the kids)
Thirstday – is a bit overrated and expensive but great location.
Yellow Beach Cafe – is fabulous. We went there 4 times! Good food, great location and happy hour!

Pantai Cenang is a busy beach – at certain times of the day when the jet-ski owners are dropping off/ picking up, it can resemble a motorway.

Family Friendly Travel Tip: Watch out for all the cars and trucks carrying the jet-skis on Pantai Cenang. I actually saw a teenage girl get hit by one of them. She wasn’t injured but it shook her up.

Mahsuri: The Legendary Lady of Langkawi

Mahsuri was a young girl who moved from Phuket in Thailand to the island of Langkawi looking for a better life. She was the most beautiful girl in all of Langkawi and wedded the mighty warrior, Wan Darus. As a warrior, her husband left to battle against the invading Siamese, abandoning Mahsuri. During this time, Mahsuri became friends with a youthful explorer named Deraman. The wife of the village chief was jealous of Mahsuri’s beauty and spread gossip that Mahsuri was being unfaithful with Deraman. Gradually, the townspeople began to believe the old woman and accused Mahsuri of infidelity. Mahsuri argued that it was all a mistake but nobody trusted her.

Mahsuri was tied to a tree and stabbed to death yet it didn’t work. After numerous executions methods failed, Mahsuri instructed them to murder her with her family’s own dagger. When she was cut, white blood spilt out of her wound revealing to the shocked townspeople her innocent. As she lay dying, Mahsuri cursed Langkawi Island with seven generations of misfortune. Not long after her death, the Siamese invaded and the villagers burnt all their paddy fields to prevent the invaders from using them. According to locals, the run of bad luck did not finish until the 1980s when tourism blossomed on the island – and seven generations had passed!

 

If you enjoyed this post on 5 Fun Things to do in Langkawi with kids, you may enjoy these similar posts about SE Asia with young children and toddlers.

Vietnam with Kids: 21 Day Itinerary with Two-Spirited Under-Fives

Southern Thailand Itinerary: 10 days in Thailand with Kids

Bangkok with Young Children; Make it memorable and NOT mayhem.

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