It's been helpful reading this post, now I would love some more specific information. We will be going from the E&O to the Datai,so we need to decide fly or ferry.
1) How far (time/distance)is the E&O from the airport and from the ferry that goes to Langkawi
2) How far (time/distance)is the ferry terminal on Langkawi (where the ferry from Georgetown would arrive) from the Datai.
Then I add the airport hassle factor, travel time (45 minutes to fly, 2 hour (is that right) by sea? and make a decision. Any other advice or questions I should be asking???

FromDC-

1) It is approx 15-20 mins from the E&O to the ferry terminal and about 30-45 mins to the airport, depending on traffic.

2) Google says the Langkawi airport is 20km from the Datai and 32km from Kuah town, where the ferry terminal is.

Having said that, and noting that you're travelling "high-end", I wouldn't recommend the ferry (more like a small and rusty catamaran).

In my experience, the ferry's quite uncomfortable (and the journey is closer to 3 hours than 2), usually freezing cold and the ride is often choppy.

Seats are in cramped rows of 6 (or 8?) with an aisle in between, there is no snack counter on board and bags are haphazardly piled in the front and back, so if you have a lot of luggage, it can be quite difficult dragging them onboard (rickety planks and narrow staircases).

To me, it has always been a "try to sleep and bear it out" kind of journey. Not torture, but nowhere near fun or comfortable.

Flying is a much better option in my opinion. As it is a domestic flight, you only need to get to the airport 1 hour before flight departure. Also the Langkawi airport is quite small, so luggage waiting should not take too long.

I honestly think that the ferry is a bigger hassle than the plane ride.

Hope that helped.

I am hoping Mrwunefl can wade in here as i guess he used the Ferry for his trip above.
I too had planned to use the ferry to avoid the hassle of flying and to add another dimension to the trip instead of the usual taxi-airport- LONG wait airport- taxi scenario.

We flew from Penang to Langkawi but due to bad sea conditions prohibiting us from diving one day, we completed a dive course a day late and had to catch the ferry back. Ferry was not enjoyable from memory - flight much easier. Catching the flight is little more than catching a bus - you don't have to have a long check in and it was all v quick - neither airport v big so not long distances to walk and luggage came off the planes v quickly. We used Malaysia Air and I am pretty sure we didn't even arrive more than 45 mins beforehand.

Bella - what time of year did you go?

I recommend flying if you are going to the Datai. It is on the opposite end of the island from the ferry. The Langkawi airport is much closer.

I generally enjoy riding/driving and might consider taking the ferry/taxi ride to Datai to enjoy the scenery. But having done it (more or less) I don't recommend it.

It was maybe a 5 minute taxi ride from the E&O to the port. I got there early, I thought, but ought to have gotten there sooner to get a seat on the upper deck. I sat on the lower deck starboard side at the window. I think there were four seats on the side. A girl sat on the aisle and nobody sat between us - which was good because there was very little leg room.

I took the boat to see what it was like - just for the experience. After the first twenty minutes or so of the ferry trip I got the idea of what it was like and was ready for it to be over. It is not a comfortable ride. At one point the crew came around and passed out barf bags.

Arriving at Langkawi was interesting. Got to see the Westin from the boat. There is a shopping center at the port. At the end of the pier just as you get to the shopping area are a bunch of men offering taxi rides. I probably should have hired one of those guys, but went out front and found a lady who had a little official looking setup. She organized the taxi for me. Rode out to the Sheraton, past the airport. The taxi was fine and it was an ok trip.

At the Sheraton I hired a car and, eventually, drove out to the Datai. Lots of winding road for the last couple of miles. I know I would not have enjoyed going out that far by taxi from the ferry.

Langkawi airport is nice, the building is surprisingly large. There are a few designer shops and a store that has Cuban cigars. But it only has two "gates". One for domestic and one for international. The plane pulls up outside, you give your bp to the gate agent, and then walk outside to climb the stairs to the plane. Except for all the shops the airport is like a small airport in New Zealand.

The Firefly flight was quite late so it was a good idea to get the later flight from PEN to SIN. They gave me a meal voucher which I used and then enjoyed a nice Cohiba.

If you arrive at Langkawi airport 30 minutes before your flight you can be pretty sure you won't miss it. If nobody stopped you, you could walk from the taxi dropoff to the gate in 75 seconds.

Penang airport was 30 or 40 minutes from the E&O. It is a bigger airport than Langkawi. I was making a connection to an international flight and I don't remember any issues with it. You'd be on a domestic flight so it should be pretty easy. Might want to be there an hour before.

By "little leg room" I mean that my left leg, shoulder and arm used one seat and the rest of me was in a second seat.

mmmm ok the reason i am thinking of the ferry from Langkawi to Penang (we are staying at Bon Ton in LK and E & O in P) was the BF hates flying so i am trying to cut down flights, we are already doing 3 + our international so he will be well peeved if i say oh i am adding a fourth.... is it really that bad? i am happy to get there super early to get seats on the top deck (ferry doesnt leave till 2.30 so its not like i need to get up early)
But am now feeling nervous that it will be awful!!!

If either of you is prone to motion sickness then the boat is not for you. Otherwise, it is not awful. It is just not pleasant. Upper deck might be slightly better but I doubt you could call it pleasant.

If your boat would be at 2:30 then that means you are going from Langkawi to Penang. I don't know where Bon Ton is. The ferry terminal is certainly much closer to the E&O than the airport. And if you got to the Langkawi port before they started boarding the ferry, then you could spend time in that shopping center. There is a Starbucks and other restaurants and stores. There is one of those Bread <something> stores there like you see in Singapore - a variety of pastries in baskets and you serve yourself, put it on your tray and go to the cashier. So taking the boat has that going for it (unlike at Penang where it looked like there was not much to do but stand around waiting for boarding time at 8AM.

Flying on Firefly was dirt cheap. Fare was 9.99 MYR, IIRC, and adding taxes and fees the ticket prices was around US $17 total. They offered fares of 1 MYR on some dates/routes.

Now i really don't know what to do.... I do get motion sickness but can normally prevent it with tablets (as long as its not too choppy) i did manage to survive a small boat out to the barrier reef at christmas (and it was raining!!)

The biggest issue as i mentioned is the BF has quite a bit fear of flying so i thought the ferry could be a good alternative. I am not bothered about the cost saving....
Really in two minds.

Give the boyfriend a tranq and put him on the plane. Or, send him to a fear of flying school, they can reduce flying fears significantly in about 6 weeks.

How far is your hotel from the port?

The boat ride didn't affect me much. A car ride from the ferry to Datai probably would leave me feeling woozy.

I think you have three options:

1) Ferry from Langkawi to Penang. Pop a few pills, get a barf bag as you board, and hope for the best. It won't kill you.
2) Fly from LGK to PEN and then taxi. Have BF pop a couple shots of liquid courage and hope for the best. It only lasts for about 20 minutes. It won't kill him.

3) Other ground transport
a) Find ferry -> bus connections. It can be done. I think I would have enjoyed riding the bridge between Penanag and the mainland
b) Like a) take ferry from Langkawi to mainland, then bus to Butterworth and ferry from there to Penang.

Kathie
He has already done the fear of flying course, whilst he is better he isnt over it.
Biggest issue is he will spend about 3 days leading up to a flight stressing and not feeling relaxed, so to add another flight in the mix, will be more stress (we are flying London BKK then BKK to KL KL to Langkawi and penang to bkk then back to london all in 2 weeks.)
I feel sorry for him but it does make travel arrangements comlicated at times.

I will talk with him though as i didnt realise it was a 20 minute flight. is it firefly i look at? are they reliable? i seem to remember a post about them not being very good a keeping to the schedule?(mind you ferry could always be the back up)

thanks for all ypir advice, will let you know how we get on!

oh and Mrwunrfl i dont think the hoel is to far from the port (it fairly close to the airport about 7 mins i think- although i do have a res at the Datai too!!)

Ok now i have gone and dopne it.. i just booked 2 tix on fireflyz... ther is a promo and for the 2 it was about £25!!! so that way i figured if i change no big deal... in fact i may not even tell the BF till the day we fly!! am i cruel?

That is a good plan! If you don't tell him about the flight until you leave your hotel then he will only have an hour or so to fret about it - not three days worth. On the day of travel you can give him the choice.

Might be a tiny little bit cruel if you don't give him a choice at the last minute. OTOH you save him some suffering by not telling him days in advance!

You are keeping your options open which is a very good plan.

it does help that the flights are soooo cheap. I also thought that if the flight is cancelled i still have the option of the ferry! (and yes he won't fret for days... don't know why i didnt think of it before!!!!)
Also apologise for all the typos on the previous posts