Private Mangrove Tour + Snorkeling Boat Trip – Malaysia – Two Perspectives Review
His Perspective
Rating: 5/5
Would I go back: Yes
Would I recommend: Yes
Comments: A fun day with lots to see. If you like wildlife, nature, and beautiful scenery, this is a must. Just the two of us on the boat made for a perfect adventure with plenty of flexibility in the day.
Her Perspective
Rating: 5/5
Would I go back: Yes
Would I recommend: Yes
Comments: Beautiful nature and scenery on the ocean. I got to feed monkeys from my hand, feed beautiful fish, and see dolphins play. An amazing day.
Overview
Much more than a “Mangrove Tour”, experience multiple islands and nature preserves in Malaysia such as: Crocodile Cave, Bat Cave, Geopark Forest, the Andaman Sea, and Pulau Kasut. Additionally, stop for incredible wildlife viewing opportunities such as an Eagle feeding and feeding peanuts to wild monkeys. In the middle of all of this, enjoy lunch at Sangkar Ikan, a local fish farm on a floating dock.
Cost
Price*: $146.44 USD (total for 2)
Vendor: Purchased from the resort we were staying at. https://www.rebakislandresort.com/. Read our review of the resort here.
*Price is as of the writing of this article. Prices subject to change at vendor discretion.
Our Experiences
We were picked up at our resort in a private car and driven to the starting point. The driver took our picture so the person driving us back to the resort would know who to looking for. This was a nice feature, as we are usually left searching for our driver.
We were guided through a very small shopping area that has souvenir trinkets and food items that can be fed to the local wildlife, such as peanuts for the monkeys and dried bread for the fish. We boarded a boat large enough for 10+ people, even though it was just the two of us and our guide, and began our adventure.
Our first stop was to feed wild Eagles. The driver had brought along pieces of chicken that he would through out in to the water, while we watched as a dozen beautiful eagles swooped down to scoop it up.
From there, we made our way to Crocodile Cave, named because the mouth of the cave looks like an open crocodile mouth, and Bat Cave, named because there are tons of bats that live in there. At both locations, our guide was able to navigate the front of the boat in to the opening to give us a better view inside. An impressive feat of driving.
After that, we continued our adventure to Sangkar Ikan, a local fish farm on a floating dock. Here, we had a quick guided explanation of the different fish they farmed and even got to feed a stingray. We had a pretty good lunch there, which featured a large selection of, as you could guess, fish but they also had other dishes to choose from. Many of the fish items do say “market price”, so be sure to ask how much it is before ordering.
Once we were finished with lunch we boarded the boat again and took off for a long journey around the Kilim Geoforest park, which is on the north-east coast of the island of Langkawi. This area featured beautiful scenery with a mix of trees, mangroves, and cliffs in front of a vast green sea.
Just past this, was time for snorkeling. We pulled up to an area that appeared to be designated as the tourist snorkeling area as there were several other tourist boats there. Snorkeling did not interest us but this location did. Prior to departing for the trip, we knew that this was one spot where we wanted to spend time and just relax and people/fish watch. We were not disappointed.
Tossing one piece of the dried bread in to the water, led to the immediate swarming of that bread by hundreds of colorful fish. Because the bread was dried, they would stay in that area for a good 30 seconds as the feeding frenzy ensued. Then, we would toss another piece in a different direction and watch as they all raced over to consume their next snack. Quite an entertaining 45 minutes.
On the way back to the starting point, we were told that there was a small chance that people get to see dolphins in the area. We were in luck as there was a family of them that put on a show just for us. We sat and watched them jump and play for about 5 minutes before they decided to move on.
Back at the starting area, we poked around for 15 minutes until it was pickup time, where our driver promptly found us by the picture that was taken early, and drove us back to the resort. A great day that we encourage you to consider if you are in the area. Especially for the price.