Looking to take a few days away from China to do explore a new beach/island in Malaysia. I've looked all over and it seems that there are a lot of choices - some easier to reach than others. With my time constraints, it seems that these are two of the best choices. Langkawi seems easier and with nicer properties, while the Perhentians seems to be a bit more beautiful although a bit more difficult to reach. Obviously if this was some kind of special occasion, I would splurge for something like the FS Langkawi, but I really don't want to top $250 a night - especially when the Perhentians seem to be $30 a night. Basically, I'm not doing this trip for the properties/points, but for the beaches/snorkeling/diving.

I have no problem getting into either PEN or KUL on CX - both of which have feeder flights to the destinations. Maybe a night on either end in each of these cities is required due to the long travel time from PEK/HKG.

Any thoughts/suggestions/recommendations? Pretty new to Malaysia except for a couple of business trips to KUL a couple of years ago.