Kota Kinabalu to Brunei in a day by public transport · Kota Kinabalu to Brunei in a day by public transport
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Kota Kinabalu to Brunei in a day by public transport
Kota Kinabalu to Brunei in a day by public transport
New buses and ferries make this much easier.
You will also find that there are many variations to travel between the two cities, especially at the Brunei end of the journey. The main route described here will allow you to make the journey in a day, while the variations may cause a delay in reaching your final destination.
Kota Kinabalu-Lawas-Bangar-Bandar Seri Begawan:
Three posibilities available - 1 Boring get on Bus in KK - get off in Bandar, Bus leaves daily from KK bus terminal.
2 Bus to Munumbuk - car ferry to Muara ( ) - public bus to Bandar.
3 KK to Lawas then Bandar ( same route as 1 but using a variety of transport)
This is the fastest way in which you will be able to travel from Kota Kinabalu to Bandar Seri Begawan and you should be able to make it in a day. If you are going the other direction, do the stages in reverse. Here is the stage-by-stage description:
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Kota Kinabalu to Lawas: Catch an early bus or minivans from Kota Kinabalu either directly to Lawas or by breaking your journey in Papar, Beaufort and Sipitang. Sipitang Express Bus Sdn Bhd has a 07:30 am express bus from KK to Lawas (RM20), taking about four and a half hours, allowing you to reach Lawas at about 12:00. The Lawas Bus Company express bus only departs KK in the afternoon and you will not make it to Brunei within a day. There are no direct minivans from KK to Lawas; you will have to at least change at Beaufort. If you cannot get direct minivans, you can change at Papar between KK and Beaufort, and at Sipitang between Beaufort and Lawas. Express buses leave from the Kota Kinabalu express bus terminal on Jalan Padang near the City Padang (City Field) in the city center whereas minivans leave from the open plot of land opposite Wawasan Plaza at the southern end of town. Minivans are most frequent early in the morning.
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Lawas to Bangar: You will probably have to do this leg by taxis -- one from Lawas to the Brunei border at Labu and one from Labu after you pass Brunei immigration to Bangar. Don't forget to get the taxi driver to stop at the Mengkalap Immigration checkpoint at Trusan (about 20km from Lawas) just before the ferry so that you can stamp yourself out of Malaysia. There is no immigration checkpoint at the border. All this will of course turn out to be quite expensive. There may be minivans running up to Trusan or the border although they are not frequent. You could also try taking one of the rickety Lawas Bus Company buses from Lawas to Trusan but that will be as near to the border as you will get, leaving you only with taxis to continue the rest of the way to the border. Once in Brunei territory, taxis are your only option.
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Bangar-Bandar Seri Begawan: From Bangar, regular speed boats make the half hour journey to Bandar Seri Begawan. These boats leave from the jetty in town and bring you straight into Bandar Seri Begawan. An added benefit going directly from Bangar to BSB, instead of continuing to Limbang, is that it allows you to bypass going through two more sets of immigration checks.
Kota Kinabalu-Lawas-Bangar-Limbang-Bandar Seri Begawan: This alternative is pretty much the same as the main intinerary; the difference is only at the Brunei end of the journey.
- After leaving Lawas by taxi, instead of stopping at Bangar, you should continue by taxi from Labu to western Temburong-Sarawak border at Puni. At Puni, cross the Pandaruan River by boat or ferry and get stamped into Malaysia at the Pandaruan immigration checkpoint which was opened in June 2007. From Pandaruan, you can catch a local bus or taxi to Limbang, about 15 km away.
- Once at Limbang, head to the jetty and catch a speedboat to Bandar Seri Begawan, which should take about half an hour. These boats leave when full and they are more frequent in the morning. However, if you have come directly from Kota Kinabalu, you may just make it for the last boats at about 4:30 pm.
- If you miss the boat connection, you can catch a bus or taxi to the land border crossing at Tedungan (bus destination "Batu Danau") 43 km away. After clearing Malaysian and Bruneian immigration (the checkpoint is called Bukit Lurah on the Brunei side), catch the purple minibuses to Bandar Seri Begawan. These buses (B$1) operate til about 7 pm and the journey is about half hour.
Other variations:
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Kota Kinabalu-Lawas-Bandar Seri Begawan: There is a daily Lawas-Bandar Seri Begawan ferry but they leave very early in the day. If you are coming directly from Kota Kinabalu, you will have to stay the night in Lawas if you want to catch the ferry. The only reason why you may consider this option is to avoid the expensive taxi ride from Lawas to Bangar in Brunei's Temburong district. Indeed, with cheaper accommodation options in Lawas, you may end up spending less by spending the night in Lawas. Also, you will only deal with one set of immigration checks - once by the Malaysians when leaving Lawas and then by the Bruneians when arriving in Bandar Seri Begawan.
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Kota Kinabalu-Lawas-Limbang-Bandar Seri Begawan: There is a daily ferry between Lawas and Limbang but again, they leave early in the day, requiring an overnight stay at Lawas. Once in Limbang, there is plenty of time for you to catch the direct speedboat, or do the road trip, to Bandar Seri Begawan. This option allows you to skip the expensive taxi rides between Lawas and Bangar while still get to see the geographically unique outpost of Limbang. Again, you will only need to go through one set of immigration checks - either at Limbang Wharf and Bandar Seri Begawan jetty if you take the speedboat, or at Tedungan-Bukit Lurah if you go overland.
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Kota Kinabalu to Brunei in a day Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.