Boat trip from Kuching to Sibu and Sibu to Kapit

1. Intro

I had already been staying in Kuching for more than two months, when I decided it was time I looked around in Sarawak a little more, and visit places that are off the tourist radar. I looked at the map, and selected Sibu. I concluded that tourism in Sibu must be very low key, but that it was an ideal place to peep into local culture and the local way of life.

I told my landlord about my plans, and he seemed to be absolutely unimpressed, and said Sibu was nothing special. But I really wanted to, he can take me to the ferry. Ferry??? I was planning to use bus, but if there is a ferry, then my trip to Sibu is all the more sure, I said.

Then I did some more research, and found that you can actually continue your trip by boat up the longest river in Borneo, the Rajang, to small towns where the only option of travelling is by boat, because there are no roads. Now this made my plan all the more secure. I decided to spend one night in Sibu, and then take another boat to Kapit the next day, and return from there to Kuching on the same day, if possible (yes, it is possible).

So here is a short trip report if you want to do the same or something similar.

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2. Kuching to Sibu by boat

From Kuching to Sibu, you can take the Bahagia Express boat, which leaves at 8:30am, takes about 4 to 4,5 hours to get to Sibu, and costs 40-50RM (55, according to the latest news). You can buy the ticket on the spot at the ticket counter, but arrive at least half an hour before departure. The ferry terminal is a little far from Kuching centre, find Passenger Terminal Express Boat Kuching on the map:

You can get to the ferry terminal from Kuching centre for about 10-15 RM if you call a Grab car, and certainly more if you hail a taxi in the street.

The boat ride was not too comfortable, but it was enjoyable anyway. I settled down on the upper open deck, where they keep the luggage – sometimes you could hear a rooster from one of the bags. After a time, I just lay down on the floor, and then it was more comfortable. The boat navigates into the open sea, and into the river, stopping one in Sarikei, before arriving in Sibu.

Prepare your own food if you think you can’t survive the four hours without eating, although there will be some guys selling some snacks and water on board.

3. Sibu

Sibu is not a bad place at all. I enjoyed walking around the city. I was actually very lucky with the timing: when I was there, Sibu was just hosting the Borneo Cultural Festival – an attempt by Sibu to attract tourists. I don’t know how many local tourists they had, but it seemed to me that most of the crowd was local people. Anyway, it was a great event, with concerts, dance shows where you could enjoy folk dances and various other programmes. Lots of food stalls, too. Sibu has many Chinese inhabitants, you could mostly see Chinese writing at the food stalls, too (another sign which showed that the festival was expecting local people rather than tourists).

However, Sibu is also regarded as a gateway to your adventure up the Rajang river to see the native villages and their longhouses. For this, it is perhaps advisable to hire a guide, but if you do extensive research on where to go and how to get there and how to approach the villages and the families living there, then I suppose you can do it yourself, too.

When Sibu is mentioned to Sarawak people, one of the first things they will say is that Sibu has the largest market in Sarawak. The market is very near the harbour, so you will have to cross it anyway. TBH, I didn’t find it particularly interesting, it is like any other market in the country or Southeast Asia. But they have good food stalls, so check it out.

I only spent one night in Sibu, and then caught a boat to Kapit the next morning. So I can’t comment on the other sights like the Tua Pek Kong Temple.

I pre-booked a room at the “Good stay rooms” hotel, which turned out to be a disaster. I didn’t stay there, because it was impossible to get in. No reception, the local phone number that they had put up at the entrance was unreachable, knocking/banging on the door didn’t help either – avoid them! Actually, it is absolutely unnecessary to book anything in Sibu. When I got tired of trying to “break into” the hotel where I had booked a room, I just walked around a little, and found a good and cheap place, the Sarawak hotel for 50RM a night.

I am actually, sorry that I didn’t have more time in Sibu, it seemed like a nice little city to spend some more time in.

4. Sibu to Kapit by boat

From Sibu to Kapit, there are several boats daily, and all of them are small – anyway, they don’t have an upper deck where you could lie down and enjoy the ride. There are several classes, it seemed to me. When I talked to the ticket office guy, I explained him that I wanted to see the jungle on the banks during the ride, and that I didn’t want air conditioning either (they always set it to freezing cold, which makes me crazy – and sick). He said that the normal seats would not be very good for that. So he offered me a “special” simple seat where I would be able to see outside.

I could only find this seat with the help of some other passengers: it turned out to be a foldable seat next to the toilet outside the cabin, at the side entrance to the boat. But it was excellent for me. The boat ride was not awfully long, and I could really enjoy the view – and this was the only place on the boat where you could smoke.

5. Kapit

Kapit is a very small town, which doesn’t see an awful lot of tourists besides the ones who are on their way somewhere further up the river. There should be some possibilities to see small villages with the famous longhouses nearby, ask around at your hotel or even at the market. I only wanted to see Kapit itself, because I had seen native villages elsewhere. And also because I didn’t have a lot of time – it was only a “long weekend”, and I had to return to my job.

I enjoyed Kapit a lot. The town is only built on one of the banks of the river, and you could have a great time walking or sitting on the riverbank, looking at the jungle on the other side – had it not been scorching hot without any shade whatsoever there.

I stayed at the Hotel Meligai (80RM a night for a double), which I suppose is the only real hotel in the town – at least in the centre. I saw a few small guest houses as well, so you can just shop around if you haven’t booked anything. There were not too many options for food. I walked around quite a bit, and only saw a few places where you could have lunch and dinner.

There is actually nothing to do in Kapit, I suppose – except visiting the longhouses around Kapit. But that is a good thing. Sometimes, you need a holiday when you do absolutely nothing. Which means, you can just read, walk, look at the river and the jungle around you, listen to the birds or just contemplate life and try to solve the biggest mysteries of the world and our existence 🙂

I didn’t plan on visiting longhouses – I had seen some villages in the jungle, and also the Sarawak Cultural Village (an open air museum) near Kuching.

6. From Kapit to Kuching by boat in one day

Getting back from Kapit to Kuching is possible on the same day. Take the first boat from Kapit to Sibu, at 7:30am. When you arrive in Sibu, immediately buy the ticket there from Sibu to Kuching, it will leave at about 1pm or so. I had time for a lunch in Sibu before I boarded the ferry back to Kuching, where we arrived in the evening.