Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Air
AirAsia
(
www.airasia.com
)
and
Malaysia Airlines
(
www.malaysiaairlines.com
)
have
direct flights to Kuching and Kuala Lumpur (KL). MASwings (
www.maswings.com.my
)
can whisk you to Kota Kinabalu (KK), Miri, Sibu and Kuching.
Bus
The long-distance bus station is at Medan Jaya, 5km northeast of the centre (aka Bintulu
Town); a taxi costs RM15. About a dozen companies have buses approximately hourly:
Kuching
(RM60 to RM65, 10 hours) Via Sibu (RM20 to RM25, four hours), from
6.45am to midnight.
Miri
(RM20 to RM25, four hours) Via Niah Junction (RM12 to RM15, 2-3/4 hours), from
6am to 11.15pm.
Getting Around
To/From the Airport
There is no public transport to/from the airport, which is 23km from the centre by road. A
taxi costs RM35.
Similajau National Park
An easy 30km northeast of Bintulu,
Similajau National Park
( by satellite phone
086-489003, office in Bintulu 086-313726;
www.sarawakforestry.com
;
admission RM20;
park office 8am-1pm & 2-5pm Sat-Thu, 8-11.45am & 2.15-5pm Fri)
is a fine little
coastal park with golden-sand beaches, good walking trails and simple accommodation.
Occupying a narrow, 30km-long strip along the South China Sea, its 90 sq km encom-
passes littoral habitats such as mangroves,
kerangas
(heath forest) and mixed dipterocarp
forest, (classic lowland tropical rainforest). Four species of dolphin, including Irrawaddy,
can sometimes be spotted out at sea, and green turtles occasionally trundle ashore to lay
their eggs along Turtle Beach II and Golden Beach.
Bintuluans flock to Similajau (especially the beaches) on weekends and public holi-
days, but the park is gloriously deserted on weekdays.
