As a company offering exclusive private yacht charter we try to give you some background information about Langkawi’s nature and history.  Although we are not official tour guides, other than as yacht cruisers, we are often asked by our guests if we can recommend other tours for their holiday on the island.  We are still working on this service but do not hesitate to contact us and ask – we’ll try to help. But keep in mind: to really see Langkawi’s beauty, your best bet is to charter a yacht and tour from the water. 

One visitor said he wanted to see the crocodiles of the island. Well, there has not been a single crocodile sighted in free nature for more than 3 decades.  However, at Langkawi’s crocodile farm, you can still find some of the impressive saltwater crocodiles that used to live in the northeast region of Langkawi, around the brackish water of the mangrove swamps of the Kilim River. If you go to the farm, you will see many crocodiles, but there is one special croc that was born without any teeth. It’s about 30 years old now, and measures approximately 6 meters. Its mouth is rolled up like a snake between its eyes and it has, by necessity, been fed by hand since it was born. It is like a pet for the farm staff.  As to the rest of the crocodiles, they can grow to a length of up to ten meters and can be quite dangerous to human beings.  The farm is very well set up for viewing, though, so it’s absolutely safe.  The female crocs lay up to 90 eggs in a nest and take care of the hatchlings for about 10 weeks. 

Wild crocodiles can still be found in some parts of Asia, like Kalimantan/Borneo, Papua New Guinea and a few of the Pacific islands.  

While on a tour with us on one of our yachts you have a good chance of seeing lizards up to 2.5 meters long.  Mainly they appear on some of the island beaches, or even swimming in the open sea. They look similar to crocodiles but have a much shorter mouth. Some of the species have a very long tongue and poisonous saliva.  (In Langkawi, it has never been reported that they attacked human beings.) 

Therefore you can safely  go for a swim at any time.  But please, do look out for jellyfish, because they can sting, and they can spoil your holiday if you come into contact with a larger one of these species.

Richard and John came over from cold and rainy old Ireland to see some sun and relax from their hard work as businessmen back home. Staying at the beautiful boutique hotel Casa del Mar they wanted to take their wives out on a cruise around the island and to show them the mangroves. Their taxi driver had told them about us and brought them to the yacht club to talk to me. We closed the deal for the following day to go on DADDELDU. Sure we have done this tour many times but we still love to go there as the scenery is stunning!

Our crew, Helen and her brother Matt, an English chef, plus Gerd as the skipper took off from the Royal Langkawi Yacht Club at 11 am and I stayed ashore as I had a few more meetings. But I had promised our guests to join them together with a tour guide for the mangroves in Kilim River later the afternoon.

When I arrived there at 5 pm the two couples had made themselves comfortable on the aft deck and were in the best mood possible sipping beer and wine. They told me enthusiastically about the tour they had had so far and about the many dolphins that had joined them on their way up to Kilim. Matt was the star this day as they couldn’t stop telling me about the delicious meal they had been served by him.

Irish guests for us are very special as Gerd and I had been to Ireland long time ago and love the country and it’s people. This year the weather in Ireland must have been awful: summer was on a Wednesday afternoon for two hours! The rest of the time they never saw the sun. Of course they loved Langkawi’s beauty including the fantastic blue sky.

I took them through the mangroves and to the fish farm together with an experienced tour guide who told them about the flora and fauna in Langkawi’s northern part. At about 6:30 we visited the bat cave where the bats were just preparing for their nightly hunt flying around like crazy!

My friend Oscar, the stingray at the fish farm, greeted me as always and we had a lot of fun to touch and play with him. Sometimes he almost jumps out of the basin as if he wants to come closer.

At the end of the tour our guests were very happy and thankful for the wonderful experience of sailing with us on our yacht and promised to come back soon.

Eva

What does a company whose target is exclusive private yacht charter have  to do with bats and flying foxes? Good question. But as we live on Langkawi we want to understand and enjoy the nature, culture, and myths of this tropical paradise. Sure enough, many guests coming here on a holiday also want more than just hanging around the pool or the bar. Langkawi has so many things to offer, to explore, and to enjoy. From the right perspective: you can drive around the island by car within 2 hours. You could sail around the island, let’s say within a few days, but you can also take your time and discover new fascinating details and amazing nature treasures that value your stay on this island much more and make you come back. Mostly we sail around the islands with our guests during daytime and you will hardly have the chance to see bats or flying foxes. But still we can show you.

Langkawi is home for about 20 different species of them and they are very important for the fertilization of many plants and fruits, in the jungle and the mangroves. The seeds of Durian fruit, for instance can only be carried by the larger flying fox (as we have no elephants in Langkawi, who love these fruits and are taking care of the propagation of Durian for example in India) as the seeds are quite heavy. Langkawi’s bats are mainly two different species. The fruit-eating and the insect-eating bats. I and my husband Gerd stay in Kilim River on the anchorage with our yacht fairly often. We stay quite closed to the mangroves and we wouldn’t do so unless the mosquitoes weren’t controlled by the many bats in that area.

Did you know that bats are the only mammals that can truly fly? I mean, they can really fly like they have no competitors. They can speed up to 50 km through the mangrove forest – at night, of course! And did you know that the female gives birth hanging upside down attached to the ceiling of the cave with only one leg. Not enough? Well, their only way to take a shower is to piss while hanging upside down. (Notice the very special perfume in the cave!) In case you want to visit the bat cave in Kilim River, please don’t disturb them by being noisy or pointing a torch light onto them for a longer time. And if possible, don’t make photos, as the camera flash disturbs them quite a lot. Many bats already left the caves due to the increasing tourism and escaped to caves that are not accessible for human beings.

 To visit the bat cave  at about sunset when these animals are preparing to leave the cave is a very special experience; actually the best time, indeed. (To do so will almost only be possible with us as the regular charter companies and the long-boats that are for rent normally don’t operate there at that time of the day, but we do if you ask us to do so!)

The cave is resounding with the bats “singing” like whispering and these little creatures are flying all around in the cave to warm themselves up so you feel as if you are standing in the middle of a swarm of them. They fly inches away from your face yet never touch you.

No need to be scared. It is of course nonsense to think about them as vampires or any such thing. When Gerd and I sailed the islands of Papua New Guinea I saw them on the wet market daily for sale. They cost just pennies and are either kept as pets – for only a while – or directly end up as part of next dinner. Nowadays we begin to understand what important and fascinating animals they are.

What does a company whose target is exclusive private yacht charter has to do with bats and flying foxes? Good question. But as we live on Langkawi we want to understand and enjoy the nature, culture, and myths of this tropical paradise. Sure enough, many guests coming here on a holiday also want more than just hanging around the pool or the bar. Langkawi has so many things to offer, to explore, and to enjoy. From the right perspective: you can drive around the island by car within 2 hours. You could sail around the island, let’s say within a few days, but you can also take your time and discover new fascinating details and amazing nature treasures that value your stay on this island much more and make you come back. Mostly we sail around the islands with our guests during daytime and you will hardly have the chance to see bats or flying foxes. But still we can show you.

Langkawi is home for about 20 different species of them and they are very important for the fertilization of many plants and fruits, in the jungle and the mangroves. The seeds of Durian fruit, for instance can only be carried by the larger flying fox (as we have no elephants in Langkawi, who love these fruits and are taking care of the propagation of Durian for example in India) as the seeds are quite heavy. Langkawi’s bats are mainly two different species. The fruit-eating and the insect-eating bats. I and my husband Gerd stay in Kilim River on the anchorage with our yacht fairly often. We stay quite closed to the mangroves and we wouldn’t do so unless the mosquitoes weren’t controlled by the many bats in that area.

Did you know that bats are the only mammals that can truly fly? I mean, they can really fly like they have no competitors. They can speed up to 50 km through the mangrove forest – at night, of course! And did you know that the female gives birth hanging upside down attached to the ceiling of the cave with only one leg. Not enough? Well, their only way to take a shower is to piss while hanging upside down. (Notice the very special perfume in the cave!) In case you want to visit the bat cave in Kilim River, please don’t disturb them by being noisy or pointing a torch light onto them for a longer time. And if possible, don’t make photos, as the camera flash disturbs them quite a lot. Many bats already left the caves due to the increasing tourism and escaped to caves that are not accessible for human beings.

 To visit the bat cave  at about sunset when these animals are preparing to leave the cave is a very special experience; actually the best time, indeed. (To do so will almost only be possible with us as the regular charter companies and the long-boats that are for rent normally don’t operate there at that time of the day, but we do if you ask us to do so!)

The cave is resounding with the bats “singing” like whispering and these little creatures are flying all around in the cave to warm themselves up so you feel as if you are standing in the middle of a swarm of them. They fly inches away from your face yet never touch you.

No need to be scared. It is of course nonsense to think about them as vampires or any such thing. When Gerd and I sailed the islands of Papua New Guinea I saw them on the wet market daily for sale. They cost just pennies and are either kept as pets – for only a while – or directly end up as part of next dinner. Nowadays we begin to understand what important and fascinating animals they are.