With free time to spare—we arrived very early in Langkawi from Penang and our room at Mercure Langkawi Pantai Cenang was still unavailable—we decided to visit one of Langkawi’s most popular tourist spots, the Underwater World Langkawi.

Pantai Cenang Beach Langkawi Family
KID A AND BG AT PANTAI CENANG BEACH

Located at the southern end of Pantai Cenang or Cenang Beach, it can easily be accessed by booking Grab cars, passing taxis, or simply by walking—that is if you’re staying along the Pantai Cenang area of Langkawi like us. So, walk we did.

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BOOKING TICKETS


Underwater World Langkawi Building Pantai Cenang Malaysia Night
UNDERWATER WORLD LANGKAWI FACADE DURING EVENINGS

Underwater World Langkawi tickets can be bought straight from their lobby or online via booking apps.

We had ours via Klook, which has discounts. Redemption was quite easy, we simply showed our online booking, they scanned it, gave us physical tickets, and we’re in.

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UNDERWATER WORLD LANGKAWI


Underwater World Langkawi Pantai Cenang Malaysia
KID A AT THE UNDERWATER WORLD LANGKAWI

Dubbed as one of the largest marine and freshwater oceanarium in South East Asia, Underwater World Langkawi hosts more than four thousand animals and aquatic life forms along its sprawling grounds. It is divided into three major sections, which are further subdivided into eleven areas.

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TEMPERATE SECTION


The first area we explored was Underwater World Langkawi’s Temperate Section. It’s really not the first area you’ll see at the aquarium, but we entered UWL just in time for the penguin feeding, and those are located in this section.

To get there, we passed a few sectors, but backtracking is allowed, so no problem there.

Underwater World Langkawi Pantai Cenang Malaysia African Black-Footed Penguin
AFRICAN BLACK-FOOTED PENGUINS AT THE UNDERWATER WORLD LANGKAWI

The Temperate Section features around sixty African black-footed penguins, which you can see above and below water—they have a mini eight-meter aquarium tunnel where you can view penguins swiftly swimming underwater. These guys are fast!

Underwater World Langkawi Pantai Cenang Malaysia African Black-Footed Penguin Tunnel
UWL’S EIGHT-METER AQUARIUM TUNNEL
Underwater World Langkawi South American Fur Seal Pantai Cenang Malaysia
THE HYPER-ACTIVE SOUTH AMERICAN SEAL

They also have a separate enclosure for their South American fur seal, this animal is overwhelmingly huge and you can really feel its power underwater when viewed up close.

SUB-ANTARCTIC SECTION


Underwater World Langkawi Pantai Cenang Rockhopper Penguins Malaysia
THE FUNKY LOOKING ROCKHOPPER PENGUINS AT UWL

Right along this area is another section featuring penguins, twenty five rockhopper Penguins to be exact. Their enclosure looks similar to their black-footed counterparts, however, they don’t have an aquarium tunnel underneath. These rockhoppers are much cuter though, sporting their funky hair-style—which are actually yellow and black feathers.

PREVIEW TANK


Underwater World Langkawi Preview Tank Pantai Cenang Malaysia
THE PREVIEW TANK AND RIVER ECOSYSTEM

After the penguin feeding demo, we backtracked to the first section of Underwater World Langkawi, the Freshwater Area which has the aptly titled Preview Tank—a preview of what you’ll see on the oceanarium. But to be fair, this is hardly a cross-section of what Underwater World Langkawi has to offer, they have more.

The main attraction of this area is the so-called Jurassic fish, the arapaima. It is the largest freshwater fish on Earth and can grow to more than eight feet. There are also wallago catfish and freshwater stingrays.

RIVER ECOSYSTEM


Underwater World Langkawi Chinese Water Dragon Pantai Cenang Malaysia
CHINESE WATER DRAGON

Just across is the River Ecosystem area, a series of three connecting tanks depicting a river ecosystem. Still part of the Freshwater Section, it features freshwater fishes from all over the world. Besides these, it also has a collection of unique reptiles such as Chinese water dragons, Indonesian blue-tongued skink, and a host of snakes.

TROPICAL RAINFOREST


Underwater World Langkawi Tropical Rainforest Cenang Malaysia
UNDERWATER WORLD LANGKAWI’S TROPICAL RAINFOREST AREA

Moving inwards, an open-air area simulating a tropical rainforest features pink flamingos—a favorite of Kid A—and free-roaming birds like cockatoos, macaws, ruddy shelducks, and colorful pheasants. Also, be on the lookout for cute marmoset monkeys scurrying above the trees.

Underwater World Langkawi Flamingo Cenang Malaysia
PINK FLAMINGOS AT UNDERWATER WORLD LANGKAWI

Right in the middle of the rainforest is a massive tank home to gigantic strange-looking fishes that looks straight out of Jurassic Park—knifefishes, giant gouramies, and arowanas.

Underwater World Langkawi Knifefish Arowana Cenang Malaysia
HUGE JURASSIC-LOOKING FISHES AT UWL

TOUR BREAK


Underwater World Langkawi Pantai Cenang Malaysia
THE REQUISITE TOURIST SHOT FOR KID A

The rainforest exits into the penguin area, which we have already explored. Then to a photo gallery where your photos are taken for the requisite souvenir photo at the end of the tour. A mini café, and finally, to the oceanarium area of Underwater World Langkawi.

HEXAGONAL TANK & TUNNEL TANK


Underwater World Langkawi Tunnel Tank Pantai Cenang Malaysia
A VIEW OF THE HEXAGONAL TANK FROM THE TUNNEL TUNK

The largest aquarium in Underwater World Langkawi is their Hexagonal Tank. It is 70,000 liters large and is home to black tip sharks, white tip sharks, huge manta rays, turtles, Pakistani butterflyfish, Madras snapper, and an astoundingly large 600-kilogram groper fish.

Underwater World Langkawi Giant Groper Fish Pantai Cenang Malaysia
THE BIGGEST GROPER FISH I’VE EVER SEEN

A fifteen-meter long aquarium tunnel cuts across the tank and from here, you can even see a sunken ship wreck. This, for us, was the highlight of Underwater World Langkawi.

KOI POND


Underwater World Langkawi Koi Pond Pantai Cenang Malaysia
A BREATHER AT THE KOI POND

After that intense experience, we were able to breathe out at the Koi Pond area—a small open-aired section filled with tropical vegetation, a faux waterfall, and a pond. Along the water swims numerous Japanese native carps popularly known as kois. There are also sultan fishes and chichids, although, to my untrained eye, I only saw kois, lol.

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INVERTEBRATE / CORAL REEF / VENOMOUS & POISONOUS SECTIONS


Underwater World Langkawi Prickly King Crab Pantai Cenang Malaysia
SHELL OF PRICKLY KING CRAB ON DISPLAY

Before exiting, we passed through the final area showcasing sea invertebrates, coral reef fishes, and poisonous creatures. These are housed in smaller aquariums and display cases for taxidermized animals, which are no less interesting.

Underwater World Langkawi Jelly Fish Pantai Cenang Malaysia Underwater World Langkawi Nemo Clown Fish Pantai Cenang Malaysia
A TYPICAL JELLYFISH DISPLAY AND OF COURSE, NEMOS

And a favorite for everyone is, of course, the tank containing clown fishes or Nemos. I also dig the jellyfish area, which was quite psychedelic.

SOUVENIR SHOP & SHOPPING AREA


Underwater World Langkawi Shopping Pantai Cenang Malaysia Underwater World Langkawi Shopping Pantai Cenang Malaysia
DUTY FREE SHOPPING AREA

Visitors exit through the Langkawi Underwater World souvenir shop and The Zon Duty Free shop. The whole of Langkawi is duty free, so you can find these tax-free shops anywhere. To be fair, even if it’s a tourist trap, The Zon is one of the more extensive duty free stores around Langkawi.

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MCDONALD’S LANGKAWI


Underwater World Langkawi McDonald's Nasi Lemak Pantai Cenang Malaysia
LUNCH AT MCDONALD’S UNDERWATER WORLD LANGKAWI

And to cap off our tour, we headed to McDonald’s for a somewhat local lunch of Nasi Lemak McD + Two-Piece Ayam Goreng Spicy. Yup, they have nasi lemak in McDonald’s complete with spicy chicken and sambal to boot!

There’s also a Starbucks within the building, but we weren’t able to check it out, I wonder if they have iced teh tarik there too.

~ BIG THANKS TO KLOOK FOR MAKING THIS TOUR POSSIBLE, VIEWS & OPINIONS ALL MINE

Underwater World Langkawi â–º BOOK TICKETS
Address: Jalan Pantai Cenang, Kedawang, Langkawi, Kedah, Malaysia
Contact Number: (604) 955-6100
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GPS Coordinates Map: 6.287708, 99.728583


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Backpacking With A Kid 2023



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