24 MAY 2017 / TRAVELANDLEISUREASIA.COM
FROM TOP: COURTESY OF DEV’S ADVENTURE; COURTESY OF UMGAWA/ here&now/
EXPLORESeas to Trees
From the edge of the ocean to the roof of the jungle, two new
tours offer front-row seats to the theater of natural wonders on
the lush island of Langkawi. BY MARCO FERRARESEtourists who bounce between the
packed sundecks and cocktail bars of
always-buzzing Pantai Cengang
beach get to see. This is nature, pure
and simple.
“We did a lot of research to offer
this package,” says Claudia Mueller,
Dev’s managing director. “The
concept is to take guests where
nobody else has gone before. It took
us a while to find the right places, an
expert boat man and spots where the
wildlife regularly dwells.” Guided by
expert naturalists from mid-
afternoon until sunset, Sea Safari
takes a maximum of eight guests out
to Langkawi’s least visited south-
western islets: Pregnant Maiden,
Taja, Snake, Kentur Kecil and Kentur
Besar. Besides gliding past limestone
pinnacles on emerald waters, guests
can enjoy a relaxing swim at secluded
Chawi Bay, or follow their guides into
the thicket, a rich ecosystem of giant
old trees and endemic exotic plants.
“I love to teach visitors about the
local mangrove forest and how itA S I FLOAT ON M Y BACK , the setting
sun drips shades of deep red over the
horizon. It isn’t the backdrop to
chattering tourists or the banter of a
bartender pouring drinks—it is the
main act, the sun’s soliloquy, the
day’s denouement. There are only six
of us present, and we look on in
respectful silence.
On an island that seems to get
more popular by the day—the
powdery shores of Langkawi
welcomed a St. Regis last year and
there is a Ritz-Carlton opening this
summer—it can be difficult to find
these precious moments of solitude.
Luckily, as enthusiasm grows, so
does the diversity of offerings, and
this blissful stop is the climax of Sea
Safari, a new eco-tour launched by
Dev’s Adventure Tours (langkawi-
nature.com; RM200 per person
including snacks) late last year. This
dramatic sunset at Chawi Bay—an
ocher crescent hidden amid
Langkawi’s southwestern islets—is a
different side of the island from whatFROM TOP: High above Langkawi’s
remote beaches; a great hornbill
o v e r l o o k s a r e m o t e c o r n e r o f
the island. OPPOSITE: Zip-lining
through Machinchang Cambrian.