Best time to visit Langkawi
Malaysia · Southeast Asia
All twelve months scored on daily temperature, rainfall, humidity and holiday crowding.
The year in Langkawi
Tap a month for its page
- JanJLangkawi in January: sweet spot, busy
- FebFLangkawi in February: sweet spot, busy
- MarMLangkawi in March: ok
- AprALangkawi in April: avoid
- MayMLangkawi in May: avoid
- JunJLangkawi in June: avoid
- JulJLangkawi in July: sweet spot
- AugALangkawi in August: avoid
- SepSLangkawi in September: avoid
- OctOLangkawi in October: avoid
- NovNLangkawi in November: avoid
- DecDLangkawi in December: sweet spot, busy
- Sweet spot
- Good
- OK
- Avoid
- Busy
Dry season: Jan–Mar, 6 or fewer rainy days a month.
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Check whether your bank card or home insurance already covers this trip.
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Month by month
No fare history for this route yet, so this ranking is climate and crowds only — the price column will fill in as the scanner collects.
| Month | Max °C | Rain days | Humidity | Sun h/day | Verdict | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 31° | 4d | 75% | 10.0h | sweet spot busy | busier than usual |
| Feb | 32° | 2d | 71% | 10.6h | sweet spot busy | busier than usual |
| Mar | 33° | 6d | 74% | 10.7h | ok | 33C max, 6 rainy days |
| Apr | 31° | 17d | 82% | 10.1h | avoid | monsoon: 17 rainy days, 232mm |
| May | 30° | 22d | 85% | 9.2h | avoid | monsoon: 22 rainy days, 364mm |
| Jun | 30° | 16d | 84% | 9.4h | avoid | monsoon: 16 rainy days, 247mm |
| Jul | 30° | 14d | 83% | 9.4h | sweet spot | 30C max, 14 rainy days |
| Aug | 30° | 17d | 84% | 9.3h | avoid | monsoon: 17 rainy days, 292mm |
| Sep | 29° | 19d | 85% | 8.5h | avoid | monsoon: 19 rainy days, 349mm |
| Oct | 29° | 21d | 87% | 8.5h | avoid | monsoon: 21 rainy days, 362mm |
| Nov | 29° | 21d | 88% | 8.1h | avoid | monsoon: 21 rainy days, 331mm |
| Dec | 30° | 8d | 82% | 9.2h | sweet spot busy | busier than usual |
Rain days are the days with at least 1 mm of rain, as a weather station counts them.
Weather read at Pantai Cenang: ten years of ERA5 and ERA5-Land reanalysis, through Open-Meteo's open data.
A busy month is a crowded one, not a bad one — usually it is crowded because the weather is good. It is flagged rather than scored down, and crowds alone never make a month “avoid”: that is reserved for weather worth skipping.
How busy it gets
Then and now
Langkawi's March days now average 32.6°C, 1.3°C warmer than in 1981–1990. 7 of 12 months are clearly warmer.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981–90 | 30.8° | 31.5° | 31.3° | 30.3° | 29.7° | 29.8° | 29.3° | 29.3° | 28.6° | 28.5° | 28.5° | 29.0° |
| 2017–26 | 30.8° | 32.5° | 32.6° | 31.0° | 30.4° | 29.8° | 29.8° | 29.6° | 29.2° | 29.0° | 29.0° | 29.7° |
| Change | +0.0° | +1.0° | +1.3° | +0.7° | +0.7° | +0.0° | +0.5° | +0.2° | +0.6° | +0.6° | +0.5° | +0.7° |
The average daily high, month by month, for the nearest ERA5 grid cell. Bold is a clear change; grey is within the ordinary spread between years. Every destination, ranked.
Getting there
How far Langkawi is, and what it costs, depends on where you set off from — the months above do not.
- from Kuala Lumpur
- from Singapore
- from Bangkok
- from Ho Chi Minh City
- from Jakarta
- from Kolkata
- from Chennai
- from Hong Kong
Open in Rome2rio for every way from to Langkawi, flying or not.
Before you go
Type G plugs at 240 V. Drives on the left. The currency is the Malaysian ringgit. UK Foreign Office: avoid all but essential travel to parts. Global Affairs Canada: Exercise normal security precautions (with regional advisories). US State Department: Level 1: Exercise Normal Precautions. Everything for Malaysia: cost of living, languages, emergency numbers and health.
Being there
On arrival
- Paying — Cards work in most shops, restaurants and hotels, but DuitNow QR codes are even more common; visitors from 21 countries, India, China, Japan and Australia among them, can pay them with the Touch 'n Go eWallet, signing up with their own phone number and a card from home. Take cash to rural areas.
- UPI, for visitors from India — Not accepted for paying here; bring a card that works abroad.
- Tipping — Not customary; many air-conditioned restaurants add a 10% service charge, shown as ++ on prices.
Getting around Langkawi
- Apps — Rides: Bolt, Grab. Maps: Google Maps, Apple Maps. Messages: WhatsApp.
There is effectively no public transport on the island, so your choices are to use taxis or to rent a car, motorbike/scooter, or bicycle. Taxis and the Grab mobile app operate on a fixed price system. More on Wikivoyage
From the Wikivoyage article on Langkawi, written by travellers and licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Help
- Emergency — police and ambulance 999 · fire 994. From a mobile, 112 also reaches an ambulance.
TravelCharika is not an emergency service: we cannot call for help or send anyone. Numbers can change; if one fails, ask someone local or your hotel.
Your embassy — : how to reach your embassy or consulate abroad. A guess from your city, : a city is not a passport.
Put together by hand from the sources listed, checked 3 October 2026. Apps, cards and rules change, so check before you rely on one.
Sources (19)
- gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/malaysia/getting-help
- travel.gc.ca/destinations/malaysia
- grab.com/my/transport
- bolt.eu/en/cities/kuala-lumpur
- mcmc.gov.my/skmmgovmy/media/General/IUS-2022.pdf
- reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/digital-news-report/2026/malaysia
- tngdigital.com.my
- tngdigital.com.my/international-tourists
- kliaekspres.com/offers/our-offers/get-25-off-your-klia-ekspres-airport-transfer-with-visa-card
- developers.google.com/maps/coverage
- apple.com/ios/feature-availability
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klang_Valley_Integrated_Transit_System
- en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Malaysia
- en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Kuala_Lumpur
- pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2286608
- nipl.com/uploads/Press_Release_NPCI_International_signs_agreement_with_Payments_Network_Malaysia_81a168b227.pdf
- paynet.my/about-us/media-centre/press-release/payments-network-malaysia-and-india-npci-international-sign-agreement-to-enable-cross-border-qr-payments.html
- nipl.com/uploads/NIPL_Razorpay_Curlec_partner_to_introduce_UPI_in_Malaysia_1dd408c92b.pdf
- nipl.com/uploads/Towards_Greater_Digital_Public_Good_NIPL_Q1_Newsletter_168a7608b4.pdf
Langkawi in pictures
i
Emran Kassim, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
What Langkawi is like
Langkawi (Jawi: لانكاوي), officially known as "Langkawi, the Jewel of Kedah" (Malay: Langkawi Permata Kedah) is an archipelago of 99 islands (an extra 5 temporary islands are revealed at low tide) in the Andaman Sea, 30 km off the mainland coast of Kedah. More on Wikivoyage
- Worth seeing
- Telaga Tujuh Waterfalls aka Seven Wells (Gunung Mat Cincang, Northwest corner of the island, 45 km from Kuah, walking distance from Oriental village and cable car (10 min)). More on Wikivoyage
- Worth doing
- Organized activities in Langkawi include cruises via yacht or sailboat, mangrove tours, island hopping tours, jet ski tours, birdwatching tours, nature walks, kayak tours, scuba diving & snorkelling, helicopter tours… More on Wikivoyage
- Getting in
- Langkawi International Airport (LGK IATA) (at Padang Matsirat, on the northwestern part of the island). There are direct flights to Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Penang, and Johor Bahru. More on Wikivoyage
- Staying safe
- Speedboats can often bounce off the waves at very high speeds and passengers can get quite strong jolts into the non-sprung seats, so persons with back or neck problems should not travel on the speedboats… More on Wikivoyage
- Staying healthy
- The biggest health risk on Langkawi is from jellyfish stings, especially during January - June season. More on Wikivoyage
From the Wikivoyage article on Langkawi, written by travellers and licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the full article has far more. The numbers above are measured; this is experience.
Around Langkawi
Also in Malaysia
- Cameron Highlands best Mar, Jun, Jul
- Ipoh best Jan, Feb, Jul
- Kuala Lumpur best Feb, May, Jun
- Kuching best Jul
- Malacca best Jan, Feb, Jul
- Penang best Jan, Feb, Jul
- Perhentian Islands best Mar, Apr, Jul
Nearby
- Ko Lanta Thailand · 163 km
- Phi Phi Islands Thailand · 192 km
- Phuket Thailand · 238 km
- Khao Lak Thailand · 306 km
Kind of place
Langkawi is in Malaysia, Southeast Asia. Distances are great-circle, so a short one can still be a long way round.
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