Pulau Payar

The sprinkling of jade green islands that makes up Pulau Payar lies just 30km south-east of Langkawi.

The Pulau Payar Marine Park is located in the northern part of the Straits of Malacca,off Kuala Kedah. It is about 20 nautical miles south of Langkawi and approximately 40 nautical miles north of Penang. Consisting of four islands, it was declared a marine park in 1985. Pulau Payar, together with the smaller islands of Kaca, Lembu and Segantang form the park. It was the first marine park to be established off the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and studies by WWF have documented 36 genera of hard coral,92 other marine invertebrates and 45 genera of fish species.

Visit to Payar Island, a day trip to the park is the only option. It can be accessed by boat from jetties in Kuah on Langkawi Island (one hour), Kuala Kedah on the mainland (40 minutes) and from Penang Island (75 minutes).The best times to visit the park are from October to March although it can be visited throughout the year.

There are 4 beaches sloping off with hard corals and bays with offer lots of soft corals and anemones. The southwestern end of the island is home to some beautiful coral gardens with lots of soft multi-hued corals. Sea fans, squirts, feather starfish,anemones,rainbow runners and ghost fish are also very common and also famous with baby shark. Want to get even closer to the swirl of fishes that make these corals their home? Grab a mask, a snorkel and fins and join the spectacle!