For yachts making a transit from Singapore to Thailand, Langkawi, the northern-most island on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia, offers so much more than an overnight stop and a place to clear out of the country.

Known to the Malay populace as the Jungle Island, this forested, mountain-blessed island (about 10 miles tall by 16 miles wide, rising to more than 2,900 feet) is home to langurs, macaques, hornbills, and hundreds of other bird species.

Just a few minutes’ walk from the main town of Kuah takes you deep into greenery of hanging vines and philodendrons adorning huge rainforest trees.

Arriving from the south, your first stop in Langkawi might be Kuah town, where you have a choice of side tying to the megayacht pier of the Royal Langkawi Yacht Club or anchoring off the town in 20 feet, in spacious Kuah harbor.

A short walk from the yacht club is the main terminal for boats to Thailand, Penang, and other points in Malaysia. Inside the ferry complex you’ll find customs and immigration offices, coffee shops (even Starbucks) and stalls selling Western-style cotton clothing in beautiful prints and batiks.

A short walk north from the terminal takes you to the base of the Langkawi Eagle sculpture and a lovely park, or you can follow the road to a supermarket in an air-conditioned mall. 

Kuah’s waterfront is an interesting mixture of buildings with graceful arches, the eagle sculpture, a few high-rise hotels, and the golden domes of the city’s mosques. If you anchor, there is a dinghy dock near downtown, where you can leave your tender for $1 a day.

Being a duty-free island, Langkawi attracts Malaysians from all over the country who come for housewares, chocolates, candies and other imported goodies. Most yachties come for the duty-free beer, wine and spirits.

In Kuah, you’ll find hardware stores, duty-free shops, and a huge array of local restaurants serving Malay dishes such as nasi campur, nasi lemak, and roti, as well as Thai and Indian restaurants. Most offer main selections for less than $3. If you want a beer with your meal, chose carefully, as many restaurants (including some Indian ones) in this predominantly Muslim community are halal.

Cars and motor bikes are available for hire by the day or week, and it’s worth the time and money to get out into the countryside. The entire island can be toured in a day unless you want time for a round of golf, a hike, or a tour boat ride through the mangroves on the eastern coast where sea eagles and Brahminy kites rule the air. Rubber plantations and rice paddies with water buffalos dot the landscape.

Nestled around Langkawi Island like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle lie 103 more islands that make up the Langkawi Group. The second largest island, Pulau (meaning “island”) Dayang Bunting is known for clear, cool Pregnant Maiden Lake formed inside an ancient caldera, a volcanic crater.

The Malays (who generally don’t swim) tend to sit on the edge of the pontoons or paddle gingerly about in their life jackets. If you dive in, you may surface to applause and the amazing question, “Where did you learn to do that?” 

You can get to Pulau Dayang Bunting by tender or anchor your ship in “The Fjord,” a stunning channel hemmed in by towering limestone cliffs. Scenery here is similar to that of Thailand’s Phang Nga Bay because the same backbone of karst–limestone hills runs from the Thai peninsula right down into the heart of Peninsular Malaysia.

Stalactite overhangs, small caves and beaches characterize much of the Langakwi coast. Although Langkawi boasts about its white sand beaches don’t be looking for clear water yet, as you’re still in the Strait of Malacca.

The northwestern corner of Langkawi claims one of the region’s most spectacular anchorages, Telaga Harbor. You can either anchor inside the breakwater formed by two artificial islets, or tie up at Telaga Harbor Marina’s dedicated megayacht pier.

The “skyline” above Telaga consists of a series of jagged green peaks more than 2,300 feet high that project into the blue Malaysia sky. There are a few small restaurants around the marina and car and motorbike rental facilities.

The Langkawi Cable Car (about half a mile walk away) ascends the peaks and puts you on a suspended walkway 2,000 feet above the coast. The southern-most Thai island of Taratao is clearly visible across a 4-mile channel.

Perhaps the best activity on Langkawi is a hike up to Seven Wells (Telaga Tujuh), just a few minutes past the cable car base. Go prepared to sweat – a concrete stairway climbs more than 1,000 feet from the parking lot to the top of a 350-foot waterfall where you’ll find a series of natural pools and water slides. There are changing rooms but you may feel like jumping in fully clothed.

The surrounding forest is alive with the calls of birds and you may be lucky to see the bright flash of the blue back of a kingfisher as it flies from its perch over the river. Look carefully in the overhead branches for the shy dusky langurs with their beautiful white faces and black ruffs.

The trail is often patrolled by a troop of cheeky macaque monkeys who seem to think that your water bottle is their water bottle. So pick up a long stick and keep it handy. Langkawi is, after all, a jungle island.

Marina information:

Both marinas have facilities for megayachts including water, fuel, electricity and wi-fi. Malaysia clearance offices are in both Kuah and Telaga. Visas are issued on arrival, and clearance is free. 

Royal Langkawi Yacht Club at 6°18.2' N 99°51.1' E, www.langkawiyachtclub.com.

Telaga Harbor Marina outer channel at 6º 21' 31.7N 99º 40' 57.4E, www.telagaharbour.com.