A Lap of Langkawi – March 2026
Article by Basil Byrnes & Luke Doherty
We sailed Birregurra up to Thailand in late December with Kari and Otso from Jong Dee. After surviving the edge of Typhoon Senyar and sheltering up a river in Klang, I eventually made it to Port Takola near Krabi. Following our annual maintenance, we relaunched in early Feb and I sailed with some Aussie mates from Krabi to Phuket, checked out of Thailand and then down to Langkawi. We spent a few nights at anchorages around Langkawi and decided it was too good not to come back for some more cruising.
Following lengthy discussions in the Ubin bar, Edwin, Luke and Rana all agreed we should take advantage whilst the boat is in Langkawi and go up for 5 days cruising. We all caught the 1:15pm Scoot flight on 23rd March, landing in Langkawi mid pm. Luke, Rana and Edwin headed to the Billion supermarket in Kuah for provisions and I continued to Royal Langkawi Yacht Club to set up the boat. The hull had been cleaned the day before and the boat is in excellent condition after the annual maintenance. We left the marina just before 6pm, determined to find an anchorage for the first night. We motor sailed and found a great spot before dark between Cenang Beach and Tepor Island, about 8-9NM west of RLYC. It was a great anchorage and there were fireworks and fire shows on the beach for entertainment and Luke cooked Italian sausages and vegies he had brought back all the way from Rome that week.
We set off next morning and the wind continued to build until we had 24kn apparent with a huge heel and hit 9.2kn at full tilt. Luke told me later he was considering a reef, but Edwin and I were like – yeah nah, lets just let the main sheet out a bit more and enjoy it while we can. We rode the wind around the island and anchored off the Datai hotel (SGD1,200/night) on the northwest of Langkawi. This is an excellent anchorage and great for a swim and lunch.
Later in the afternoon, we sailed and motor sailed as the wind subsided, around to the north east and the entrance to the signature Langkawi anchorage – the hold in the wall. Luke managed to navigate through the narrow opening with the boom tent still on and we anchored several hundred metres in, fully protected from all sides. The tourists’ boats depart after 5pm and you’re left with spectacular views and lots of eagles effortlessly riding the thermals. We had the entire anchorage to ourselves for the night and enjoyed a proper Singaporean chicken curry courtesy of Edwin. He has had way too much practice in the office kitchen at CSC over the years!
After a leisurely breakfast, we headed out and sailed through the channel below Pulau Langgun where we saw an eagle take a flying fish skimming across the surface at full speed. We continued to loop around the east and down to the southeast of Langkawi, anchoring in a narrow spot between the main island and Pulau Selat Riang-Riang and Teluk Ujong Buloh. This was another spectacular anchorage. We put out 40M of chain and another yacht came in later and anchored a sensible distance away. After Luke & Rana’s fabulous pasta dinner and red wine, we settled in for the night as the wind gusted up. The boat danced around quite a bit as the wind came in from various openings, but the anchor was well set. The boat behind got a bit anxious at 3am and flashed a light, concerned we were dragging. But Luke and Edwin were confident it was just the chain being extended in the gusts and we were holding well. The skipper was not even concerned enough to get out of bed! The Brazilian boat eventually went back to sleep, and all was fine.
The next morning, as we were departing the anchorage, a few dolphins were spotted nearby. We took the opportunity to explore several other fabulous anchorages for future reference including: Teluk Chawi, Teluk Ayer Tuan and the famous Fjords anchorage, behind Pulau Gubang Darat. We then had a great sail counterclockwise around Pulau Singa Besar and anchored in the calm water at Teluk Ketapang. Edwin tried his hand at trolling a lure for the last few miles, but didn’t manage to catch anything. Which was understandable given the great boat speed we were making.
Once the anchor was down in about 4-5M of water in a nice muddy bottom, Rana swam across to the beach while sundowners & snacks were prepared. During the sail, the skipper had made a pizza dough, and Luke baked another fabulous Birregurra pizza for dinner. Another fine bottle of Penfolds was found in the stores to compliment the pizza nicely.
After a good night’s rest at anchor we arose to a great sunrise, and had another excellent sail, tacking our way clockwise around Singa Besar and then all the way up the channel back to RLYC. We passed the port lateral buoy – Jerkom 1, where the navionics official notes said it was “a red buoy, but with white bird shit”. We guess they did not want us to mistake it for a safe water buoy
A quick wash down for the boat and we departed the marina in plenty of time to get the 3:40pm Scoot flight home. Upon landing, it was straight to CSC for members night, with lots of beers and sharing of pics, reminiscing a great week of sailing.
All in, our discovery circumnavigation of Langkawi clocked just close to 100nm over 5 days, cruising very comfortably on Birregurra.
Langkawi really is an under rated cruising ground. The best season is November to April as after that the rain really starts to build. We had excellent wind in the morning and later in the afternoons. Everything is relatively cheap and the duty free an added bonus. For sure I’ll be back for some more cruising soon.
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