Leaning back in my parasailing harness, connected by slender ropes to a speedboat carving a white arc on the sea’s emerald-green surface, I gaze up into the orange canopy of my parachute and am momentarily blinded by a beam of sunlight.
Getting a bird’s-eye view of Langkawi, which is named after the reddish-brown white-breasted eagles commonly spotted in these parts, is a fitting way to start my break in this West Malaysian paradise. Part of an archipelago of more than 100 islands off the country’s northern coast, Pulau Langkawi is the largest of its two inhabited land masses, at 478 sq km, and is less than an hour’s flight from frenetic Kuala Lumpur.
A less-frequented alternative to nearby Thailand, its history as a tourist resort dates only to the late eighties, as before it was believed to be cursed. It wasn’t until the then prime minister, Mahathir Mohamad, took it upon himself to encourage hotels to open and visitors to come that its fortunes took a change for the better. Nowadays, Langkawi is home to numerous five-star properties – from the Westin to the six-villa Seri Chenang, which opened in December.
In search of some time to recharge, I check into the magnificent Four Seasons (fourseasons.com/langkawi), which was unveiled in 2005 and has its own palm-lined beach and silent golf carts to whizz you to and from its 91 teak villas, dotted among verdant tropical gardens. I have barely unpacked before I am unfurling a towel on a lounger by the adults-only pool, ordering a cocktail and flipping open a book. In the evening, I watch the sun go down from the ocean-facing Rhu bar, where a newlywed couple pose for photos on a swing seat, and then dine on aromatic Malay curry at open-air pavilion Ikan Ikan.
The following morning, the hotel arranges for me to experience one of its cycling tours of the nearby area. I set off behind my guide, winding along paths that take us through mangroves, stopping here and there to observe the odd monitor lizard or songbird, until the twisted trees give way to paddy fields and rubber plantations, interspersed with ramshackle villages, scatterings of chickens and piles of jack fruit by the sides of the road.
It isn’t long before the steamy heat of the day sets in so I’m grateful when, after a long ascent up a steep hill, we clamber off our bikes and embark on a short hike up into the cool of a dense forest, where we find the Durian Perangin waterfall is the perfect place to refresh ourselves.
Back at the hotel, I eat a leisurely al fresco lunch at Kelapa Grill (choose from wood-fired pizzas, fresh seafood, salads or prime steaks) and spend the afternoon indulging in a healing “feminine spirit and radiance” treatment at the spa, which “distils the ancient energies of Langkawi’s UNESCO geo-park” to bring the life back to my aching legs. The soothing two-hour session begins with a flower bath and then a full-body massage and wrap, all to the sound of falling summer rain. I feel reborn.
From nighttime squid-scooping to a ride on the island’s cable car, there is plenty to do on Langkawi – the Four Seasons can put together an itinerary including an excursion to the rainforest with its resident naturalist, or bird watching on Gunung Raya mountain. But a happy coincidence means I get to spend a day with the father of a friend, who has made Langkawi his home for the past few years and owns a couple of boats moored nearby.
We drop anchor to picnic in the depths of the mangroves, and speed to Langun Island to swim in the freshwater Lake of the Pregnant Maiden. Here, the forests are alive with the strange calls of birds and cheeky macaques, who are always on the look-out for food to steal.
Keen to experience a more lively part of Langkawi, I end my holiday with a couple of nights at the four-star Meritus Pelangi (meritushotels.com). It doesn’t quite offer the tranquil pampering of the Four Seasons, but with bungalows right on buzzing Cenang beach, it proves the perfect place to take long sunset walks.
The shore also runs parallel with the island’s busiest strip of bars, and I soon discover my favourite hangouts – tiki-style Warung Café, specialising in ice cream coladas, and hippy Babylon bar. As far as I can tell, any curse that might have befallen Langkawi has been well and truly lifted.
- Naam watersports: tel +60 4966 5991. tourism.gov.my; malaysiaairlines.com
