Malaysia has no shortage of islands for sun, sand, and relaxation.  We chose Langkawi as it’s the dry season this time of year.  It was a 60 minute flight from Kuala Lumpur and only $20 a ticket, including the checked baggage fee!  The island is fairly developed, with new construction going on everywhere.  Traffic is minimal and it doesn’t take long to get from one side of the island to the other.  I think our longest commute was 40 minutes.  It’s easy to rent a car and very affordable to just take cabs.  Langakwi is the only place I’ve been where the cab prices are set and they don’t try to rip you off.  It was $5-9 a ride for the 4 of us. 

There’s quite a bit to see and do besides the beaches, and it’s definitely a great place for kids.  They have an aquarium, some fun museums, and a theme park type area.  We set out to see the Sky Bridge on our first day.  It's the longest free span and curved bridge in the world and gives fantastic views of Langkawi and the surrounding islands. 

We explored a few of the beaches around the island and I was impressed.  The water was calm for swimming and the beaches were clean.  The only thing we had to worry about was the occasional jelly fish.  They have white sand, yellow sand and black sand beaches depending where you are on the island and it doesn’t get too crowded. There are tons of water sports available and you can even hop a boat over to another nearby island to check out a different coast. 

We took a day trip to Palau Payar Marine Park, a small island which is known for great snorkeling with tons of fish.  My dad enjoyed the scuba diving! 

On our last day in Langkawi, we took a tour of a mangrove forest.  We had a private boat that took us through the winding river, through caves and eventually out to the ocean.  We saw eagles, monkeys, a fish farm, and a beautiful cave with tons of bats.  

After 4 days in Langkawi, we took a ferry over to Penang, another Malaysian island known for it's culture and good food.