A monitor lizard strolling past your outdoor spa pavilion, otters splashing in a distant swamp, hornbills overhead — that's a fairly normal morning at The Datai Langkawi, the rainforest resort anchoring Malaysia's most underrated beach escape.
Langkawi is an archipelago of 99-odd islands off Malaysia's northwest coast, near the Thai border. Its rainforests are among the oldest in the region: because equatorial Southeast Asia — the ancient landmass of Sundaland — escaped the Ice Age freeze, plants and animals here have had hundreds of millions of years to evolve. The rock formations date back over 550 million years. Locals explain the island's oddities with folklore instead: a fistfight between two giants, Machinchang and Raya, supposedly scattered objects across the island, naming the town of Kuah ("gravy", from a spilled sauce pot) and Tanjung Cincin ("Cape of the Ring", where an engagement ring landed).
Popular with honeymooners from Malaysia and Singapore since government investment in the late 1980s, Langkawi is far less familiar to Britons than Phuket or Bali — which is precisely its charm. Couples return year after year, and it's easy to see why.
Guided walks at the foot of Mount Machinchang blend forest bathing with Mandi Maul Hayat, a ritual of immersing yourself in morning dew or a creek — right foot first, for luck. Wildlife spotting is a genuine draw: long-tailed macaques are everywhere, but the shy dusky leaf monkey, with white spectacle-like eye rings and neon-orange babies, takes patience and a rope bridge to find. On the east coast, Kilim Karst Geoforest Park's limestone cliffs and mangroves are the hunting ground of Brahminy kites — the rust-coloured eagles said to have given Langkawi its name, often translated as "island of the reddish-brown eagle". Private boat charters bookable via Trip.com let you dodge the crowds.
The Datai, designed by Australian architect Kerry Hill in 1993, was built on stilts around the rainforest canopy without felling trees, and its conservation programme, The Datai Pledge, now composts or repurposes 96 per cent of solid waste. Langkawi is a butterfly hotspot — 530 species versus Britain's 59 — and the resort even employs a specialist to plant for them, plus an app for identifying the teal-striped banded peacock. Guests get free paddleboards on the calm sands of Datai Bay.
For a livelier evening, Pantai Cenang's beach strip has tiki bars, jet skis and excellent street food — Keladi Cafe's char kway teow, eaten on the sand at sunset, is a highlight.
Getting there has just got easier: AirAsia X launched a Gatwick–Kuala Lumpur route via Bahrain in August, with returns from £423, and KL–Langkawi hops start at £49 (compare local carriers Batik Air and Firefly on an Asia-focused OTA). Canopy rooms at The Datai start at £588 a night — a splurge, but one that comes with resident civets on the roof.
