WiredTight

Just doing my part to help out Malaysia's Tourism recovery... I recently returned to Penang after a 3 day holiday to Langkawi MY.
Airfaire: AirAsia / PEN - LGK - LGK -PEN (including luggage) RM 200.
Hotel: 3 - 4 star hotel middle of Pantai Cenang: RM 120 a night.
9am flight from Penang airport was very quiet (7:30am). Contact tracing upon entry. AirAsia tried to implement a non-contact check in (didn't work). Social distancing at the check in counter.All the food outlets were closed. (except the Noodle place at departure terminal).
25 min flight to Langkawi, The plane was about half full. Flight attendants all wore masks and eye protection. AirAsia deplaned in groups of 3 rows at a time. Langkawi airport was almost empty. No contract tracing, Local taxi driver told me that before the virus he had 10 plus customers a day, R-MCO he was lucky to have 1 or 2 customers.
Very quiet at Pantai Cenang area. In the day time about 50% of restaurant,stores were closed. A few more places were open in the evening. The beach area was almost empty...except for the guys renting beach equipment, jet ski's, etc... More people were out a night time, but it still felt like things were running at half speed. Most of the businesses had contact tracing upon entry, Very common to see people walking around with masks pulled down, or no mask at all while walking at around, the police were not enforcing the mask rules,or Social Distancing...maybe they didn't get the Mandatory Mask memo. 9am flight departing Langkawi airport was almost empty (7:30am), contact tracing at entry. AirAsia flight about half full. No contact tracing upon arrival at a Penang Airport. The airport was quite a bit busier at 9:30am - 10am then it was at 7:30am when I departed.
How many times have you heard people say "too many people / tourist"...but the truth is...without the tourist, most business cut back or are closed. Langkawi (Pantai Cenang) was very quiet (relaxing)...perhaps too quiet. Until the borders reopen, Tourist number will be low, if you enjoy a quiet holiday you'll be happy, but if you like a little more day/night life, a bit of chaos to spice things up...Langkawi might be a bit slow. Good trip, I enjoyed getting away from Penang for a bit of different scenery.

eCdD

Nowadays have Grab in Langkawi? I will not set a foot on that island if they don´t. For me it is since 20 years the ugly face of beautiful Malaysia, unfortunately my wife likes it.

Gunnar45

"Nowadays have Grab in Langkawi?"
A friend of me used Grab w/o problems when he was there a few weeks ago.
Rental car would also be an alternative, I understand the prices offered at the airport are very low...

WiredTight

It's rare that I consider taking a regular taxi, but... when the private taxi guy tells me RM 20...I accept. Actually i had no problem with this airport taxi, I chatted with the driver, and he passed some good info about where to eat, and other local news. The Grab Taxi on the way off the Island was RM 13.
I've had a few bad taxis over the years. The worst In MY seem to the be Blue Taxis that drive in Kuala Lumpur, I've talked to various taxi drivers over the last few years about the explosion of Grab / Uber taxis about why they are so successful, and while the taxi drivers all say Grab is bad, they all agree after some convincing that the success of the Grab taxi type is directly associated with the Poor service that the average traditional taxi provides.Anyway, not all taxi are bad, but they do tend to be the first ones you remember.

SushiFan

My experience is limited to the pre-covid period (i.e. 2019 and before). It was easy to get a Grab in the more popular areas of the island (e.g. airport, Pantai Cenang, Kuah, etc.) and those Grabs can drop you off at any location. However, once you are dropped off in a more remote location it can be difficult/impossible to get a Grab to pick you up and bring you back. The taxis in these areas know this and charge double prices to get you out of your remote location.

eCdD

OK, thanks for the information. Looks like I can consider Langkawi and make my wife happy.

So far we travelled to Meleka, which was very good, the city is quite different than 20 years before and their river walk is really very nice. The 5 star hotel "The Shore" was amazing, the price of RM 99 can only be called crazy.

In Port Dickson we first stayed at a sea villa at Avillion. Good, nothing to complain, very natural environment. Then Lexis Hibiscus was really as amazing as it sounds. These villas on the ocean which private pools are just excellent. Around RM 500 per night is an offer that will never come back when the foreign tourists are back.

This week we make a trip to Penang, mainly kids attractions and IKEA for my wife. First time we are not staying at Le Dream Boutique, which has a well deserved reputation as Malaysias finest, another RMCO offer was just too good.

Later in the year we will drive to the East Coast, Perhentian area. And always slide in a one day trip to Cameron Highlands and Pangkor.

eCdD

And now the legendary Bayview Beach Resort in Batu Ferringhi is doing the crazy RM 99 thing, booked it for December.

Thats the promo: https://klfoodie.com/bayview-celebra...m99-per-night/

With the RMCO extended until 31 Dec, we can expect that the craziness continues. Enjoy!

By the way, my kids loved the dinosaurs and the aquarium at Komtar last time.