Malaysia Travel Expenses

Malaysia was a great destination for our Thailand visa run. In fact, it should have been on our radar all along. We saw beautiful beaches on Langkawi and ran around the vibrant city of George Town, snapping pictures of street art and eating as much food as we could.

Walking around George Town.

One of the hundreds of painted murals in George Town.

We were only in Malaysia for 10 days, but we were both surprised at how little we spent. All said and done, we only spent $67 a day. Accommodations and food were incredibly cheap. Beer and wine were affordable in Langkawi thanks to its duty-free status, but even the cheapest beer in George Town seemed expensive in comparison to how much dinner cost. A good cup of coffee was always difficult to find. Powdered coffee seemed the norm and when we did find a cafe with a real espresso machine, it always came with a high price tag. Otherwise, we just didn’t have that many expenses. Even getting into Malaysia was cheaper than typical as we took the ferry from Koh Lipe in Thailand.

On a walk though George Town.

Accommodations: We spent five nights in Langkawi and five nights in George Town. The George Town hotel was slightly more expensive than the one in Langkawi.

Restaurants: Food was extremely affordable so we ate out every lunch and dinner. We went to hawker centers and restaurants in Little India while in George Town and went out to regular restaurants in Langkawi.

Drinks: Beverages were around the same price as in Thailand, but they always seemed very expensive compared to the food. We stuck mostly to wine in Langkawi and beer in George Town. We didn't have much luck finding good coffee.

Transportation: We never had to spend much to get to Malaysia, which helped keep our trip total low. We spent $56 on a ferry from Koh Lipe to Langwaki and then $34 on a ferry from Langkawi to Penang.

Grocery: Since we ate out all the time this was mostly just snacks and water. However, sunscreen purchases also fall into this category and sunscreen has always been expensive in Asia. Six 125-mL bottles cost us $40. We brought most of this onward to Thailand with us.

Other: We picked up a SIM card, electrical adapter, and I got a new watch to replace my dead one.

Tourism: Only one expense, and we weren’t even sure where it belonged: we spent $10 on kiwi-strawberry flavored shisha one night. The locals don’t drink, so a popular evening social activity was to share a hookah with a circle of friends on the beach.

Cenang Beach on Langkawi.

At night people would head down to Cenang Beach for shisha. We gave it a try, but it's not our favorite activity.