Langkawi has it all, the white sand beaches, the lush, tropical jungles, the wide open roads, perfect for exploring, and even the waterfalls. Ok, so Langkawi doesn’t quite have it all, no place is perfect, and the state of the ocean around the beautiful island is a tad lacking, but that is not to say that Langkawi doesn’t have a great way to experience getting wet. If you’re in need of cooling down, skip the beaches (save those for suntanning later) and head straight to the Seven Wells waterfall. 

Seven Wells is undoubtably the best waterfall that this magical island has to offer. It is so named because of the seven natural rock pools that have formed by way of water rushing down from the peak of Langkawi’s second highest mountain. 

Upon arriving, there is a 1 ringgit parking fee, but after that, admittance is completely free. 

A path will lead you up from the parking lot, up a short series of steps, and an arrow will point to the left. This is where you turn to access the bottom of the falls, and this is where you will want to take all of your photos. It is here, that you can see the mountain spring water cascading down 90 meters of rocky mountainside. Many locals choose to bathe in the refreshing pools at the bottom portion of the falls. Many tourists don’t go any farther because they don’t realize that the top can be accessed as well. But don’t get too comfortable yet, because the fun is still up above! 

If you return to to the path that you turned left off of a short while ago, you will now notice that the steps also continue upwards. Follow those up to the top (there are only 638) and enjoy the view from a bridge that stretches over the main event of the waterfall, before ditching your bags and splashing in. The water is a refreshing 28 °C. Some might call that warm. I call it perfection. 

Make sure you start at the highest of the pools, because the natural rock slides are perfect for sliding down. I didn’t feel the need to do anything fancy, but a group of young, German backpackers were taking the slides at running starts and splashing to the bottom so violently that I was amazed no bones were broken. I felt like I needed a set of those large numbers they hold up at the Olympics to judge the springboard dives. 

Don’t worry about going over the edge. The slope is quite gradual, and before you are able to approach anywhere close to the edge, there are cable wires suggesting you don’t proceed any further. Of course, if you are a young, German backpacker, this cable fence is only a suggestion. After they disappeared to see what other pools they might discover, I looked over at the two girls who had stayed behind and said, “Your friends are very smart, aren’t they?” Of course then my friend decided to follow them. Luckily no one was lost over the edge that day. 

The Seven Wells are a short drive from a lovely little beach, Pantai Kok, which I received a tip from another backpacker to check out (don’t worry, it wasn’t one of the German guys). So I did just that, and had what very well could have been the highlight of my time on Langkawi. But that will have to wait until next time!