Labuan - Rigs, Sails & Canvas
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Related to following destinations: Labuan, Malaysia, Malaysian Borneo (Sabah)
Port Navigation
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Labuan Public Marina is no longer supported financially and is in an advanced state of decay. Marina staff say they’re unable to do anything to improve things as the government has refused further funding. The berths close to the land are all shallow berths as the marina silts up we recorded 0.5M Lat and most are taken anyway by work boats.we could only find one spot deep enough for our 2.3m keel on a pontoon with no piles which could only be reached by edging along a 5M high wall with no hand rail with ropes and pipes draped over it, lugging fuel and provisions is downright dangerous. Only security staff are present the marina office remained locked during our 4 day stay so no laundry on site and no services. I suspect the government is not interested in the few yachts that come in and happy to use it as a workboat station. Most berths are already taken for this purpose. We were here 3 years ago and it wasn’t great then but sadly it’s got much worse. It’s not really suitable for yachts anymore.
Just checked out of Labuan today and the customs office has moved to the ferry terminal, it’s in the same corridor as the immigration office there. I have found on my last two visits here, you only need to visit Jabatan Laut when arriving from Sabah or Sarawak in Malaysia, on leaving, you should do immigration first, then Jabatan Laut, then Customs. Check the Jabatan Laut clearance sheet as Customs went over every detail and sent me back to Jabatan Laut due to a small error.
SV Sister Midnight
September 2017
Reported by Evan on Catamaran JAVA
Anchored off the beach between marina breakwater and Shell oil pier in 23ft sand. Some roll from ferries but ok for the two days we were there.
Walked to check in offices by the ferry terminal, bought duty-free/groceries and checked out the next day with no problems.
The only problem is buying fuel since no station we found would sell over 40 lots at a time, but it’s cheap at RM2.05/lt. Guess you could taxi around from stations, but we found a friend with a car who did it all for us for RM80 tip.
(Side-note: we checked out to Kudat, but had good SW winds so sailed straight to Bonbonon on Negros Oriental. Ended up with 2-day SW GALE (WindyTy was wrong!) but who could argue with a fast trip with a max boat speed of 16 knots!)
Here is the newest situation at Labuan Marina, Borneo, Malaysia.
Coordinates 05’16,35 N – 115’14,85 E
Labuan Marina has been rebuilt two or three times. It reopened about three years ago after a second breakwater was added to keep the wash of the ferries out of the marina. The second breakwater improved the situation in the marina, but still, some surge runs into the marina. The new marina entrance is well lit with red and green.
The marina is divided into an inner and outer harbour. The starboard side of the inner harbour has sufficient depth for sailing yachts (3 to 3.5 m at low tide). The pontoons in both inner and outer Harbours are deteriorating. In the outer harbour, on one of the pontoons, a pile broke and fell onto a yacht. This pontoon is now secured with a thin line which blocks the access to this pontoon.
The berths are equipped with stands for water and electricity, but water pressure can be very weak. In the outer harbour the pontoons are very long and have not enough cleats and sometimes water and electricity are far away from the berth. There is no fuel station in the marina.
The way to the outer harbour is via a very narrow wall.
There are many local boats berthed in the marina and boats move in and out constantly. There is no security guard. Everybody can enter the marina.
There are a couple of hardware stores and small supermarkets with limited choice in town, which is about 2 km away from the marina. Labuan has an airport with flights to Kuala Lumpur and Kota Kinabalu.
The duty-free status of Labuan has been newly regulated. Sailors are allowed to buy 3 boxes of beer (3 x 24) and five litres of wine or spirits per person per month.
Even Labuan Marina is cheaper than Miri Marina, which is 120 miles further south. Miri Marina is the better and more secure alternative to leave a yacht unattended (in our opinion).
Walter and Gisela Mittasch
SV. Atlantis
I just arrived back into Labuan after being away for over 3 years, and I wanted to inform sailors that Labuan Marina is open again. They have created several long fingers docks. However, one finger has broken off (first one once you enter the marina) and it has been reported that the pylon is hiding underwater where the end of the docks are. The marina staff are very friendly, and there is a great little cafe on site (the same cafe as before they closed).
The swimming pool can be used for a reported 16 MYR a day at the Waterfront hotel, right next to the marina. Duty-free shopping is plentiful, however, I found the local Giant Supermarket lacking in many items, and the prices not that great. Diesel fuel seems to be hard to come by – apparently you are only allowed 20 or 30 litres per person from a gas station, in jerry cans. I would recommend Sutera Harbour in Kota Kinabalu for diesel fuelling (if vast quantities are needed). It is still a nice place here with very friendly locals.
We have anchored off the ferry jetty in Dec. 2013 and went for diesel. No one said a word even though we filled up 3 jerry cans, totalling 60 litres (Esso gas station).
We have used the water taxi and the drivers first asked for 5RM per pax, we offer 5 for both of us and some even accepted 2RM. One guy didn’t want anything.
Water is available either at the Esso gas station (for free) or from a faucet, which is located at the back of a stall with fried plantains on the right when you get to the road from the jetty where water taxi takes you. The stall seems to be open only in the late afternoon, so get your water in the morning and you won’t disturb anyone.
We tried to enter the marina (anchored out as they will tell you to leave as we were told by other yachties), but the marina was all locked up. Our charts indicate that anchoring around the marina is prohibited, but no one seems to care.