This is a Port of Entry.
For full details on clearance into and out of Malaysia see Formalities.
Call Bintulu Port Control on approach to request permission to enter the harbour.
The harbor police meet all yachts and direct them to a small anchorage at the very end of the harbor, just upstream of the Police and Customs boats. The holding is good and there is no swell here.
They do not require you to check in or out as long as you have checked out of Labuan and intend checking in at Kuching. Formalities, if required, will be completed in the Port. Officials will send a boat to collect you from your boat and take you to the Port to complete all the paperwork. They are reported to be very friendly.
Note the new update to the restrictions on visas. See Immigration.
Contact Port Control for permission to depart. They will give you instructions as to which channel to use based on shipping movements.
Last updated: September 2017
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We checked into Sarawak in Bintulu, since we didn’t want to go up the river to Kuching where you can’t get to the city because of the low bridge.
The Kamena River entrance is not where you go for officials since they are 5 miles north at the modern Bintulu Port.
You must call Port Control and they will send a boat out to lead you to where you must anchor. This is not in the port, but in a protected, shallow anchorage behind a break wall in the boonies! Seriously, there is nothing there, but it’s patrolled and safe.
They sent a boat out to pick us up for formalities which are all done in the port.
There is a small mini-mall nearby if you need a few supplies. We got rides around the port because it is pretty large. Bintulu town is about five miles away.