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Langkawi Nature Blogs
Luggage situation in the Langkawi ferries
Mark: 2 Jan 2011
The following was posted by "deedee030 from Melbourne" on the trip Advisor.
As it is a topic we did speak about several times already - and we have been asked to put it up - here it is:
deedee030 / Melbourne
“Don't do the Penang-Langkawi boat trip!! ”
Travelled from Penang to Langkawi in November 2010 expecting pleasant journey through tropical seas. Bad weather didn't help but what we ended up with was a high speed dash in an overloaded, out-dated boat that endured for about 3 1/2 hours. What was most worrying - apart from many cases of sea-sickness - was the baggage which was loaded haphazardly over halfway up the cabin wall and, no, there was no cage arrangement that might have kept it in place. Worse still was that all this luggage (and there was a lot of it) stood between about 300 passengers on the lower deck and the only exit that we saw. Any incident at sea would have seen all those cases spilling into the aisle, effectively blocking any way out. I still shiver at the thought and was never so glad to arrive at any destination. My advice?? Take the plane if you want to enjoy your trip to beautiful Langkawi.
Comments
Lol. by Mark on 03 Jan 2011, 4:49 pm
Yes probably
Mark
by Noriany Reeve on 03 Jan 2011, 6:12 pm
I would not take the ferry that is longer then 1 hour so best take a flights- either with air asia or fireflyz which going there twice a day one in the morning and one in the evening. If you want to start ur day earlier fly a day before. Lots of accident happen with ferries and it wont be the last one we will hear about it. So be smart - most of the time the flight ticket are cheaper then the ferry ticket itself.. and if it isnt think about the problem you would have if you board on a ferry... Its worth it..
by KT. Wong on 13 Jan 2011, 3:38 pm
Kinda sad isn't it? They want to make Langkawi as a prime tourist destination but they don't monitor the transportation part of it. It is the backbone of it all. The transportation on the island and also the gateways into the island. When it all started it was just wooden boats then they went all out and many companies landed in Langkawi with Australian built catamarans and Wavemasters powered by MTUs (a bit overboard infact!). Then they can't maintain it and sold all off and here we have flimsy ferries made in Sarawak and Tg.Pinang in Indonesia.
Penang Langkawi route used to take 2 hours and half hours extra maximum if the sea is bad now they have regress to 3 to 4 hours. The journey is torturous no doubt.
by Bob Talbot on 03 Jan 2011, 1:07 pm
The flight fare is very reasonable and the journey only takes around 20 minutes.
The only problem is the lack of flights throughout the day or early enough to enable people to have a good day - either here or from Penang.
The ferry problem will remain ongoing.