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Cruising Guide – Singapore to Darwin via Borneo and the Molucca Islands of Indonesia

INTRODUCTION

These notes provide a guide to this route based on our cruise in mid 2007 to mid 2008. We cruised at leisure and did not decide on the final destination until half way through. We cruised Singapore to Borneo using the south westerly monsoon of mid 2007, then took the north easterly monsoon of late 2007/early 2008 to passage to Halmahera in the northern Molucca Islands and Ambon, then the westerlies to the Kei Islands when we waited for the start of the south easterlies in April/May to passage to the Tanimbar Islands and Darwin. Our route around Borneo is shown on Chart 1 and our route through Indonesia towards Darwin is shown on Charts 2 and 3.

This is a viable, albeit leisurely, route from Singapore to Darwin. It took us a year but could easily be done in just over half a year by leaving Singapore late in the south westerly monsoon, say in September. It would be possibly to arrive in Darwin much earlier, but this would run the risk of meeting a tropical cyclone in the Arafura Sea.

We took a number of side trips: cruising the east coast islands of Malaysia, trips overland to the interior of Sarawak and Sabah, diving at Sipadan, a cruise up the Kinabatangan River and we visited the Rainforest Music Festival in Kuching. We would recommend all of these. Our cruising notes to the east coast of Malaysia are available from Noonsite and on our website, www.yachtcarillon.net. Cruising notes on the Kinabatangan River are available in the visitor’s book at Sandakan Yacht Club. More details of our travels are given on our website.

The notes have been written by Steve and Lyn on Carillon, a Tayana 48. Carillon is a monohull, 14.3m LOA, draft 2m. We hope the notes are accurate and useful, don’t blame us if they are not.

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

Indonesia. Few yachts travel through this part of Indonesia, we did not see a single cruising yacht from leaving Borneo until we arrived at Darwin. There is limited cruising information available.

We used a number of cruising guides to plan our trip through Indonesia:

Cruising Guide to Southeast Asia, Volume II, Davies and Morgan, 1999, published by Imray, Laurie, Norie and Wilson Ltd and the update available on the publishers’ website (the Cruising Guide)
Cruising South East Indonesia, a Guide to Anchorages, W R Burbridge 1994
Cruising Guide to Indonesia and Singapore, various authors, 1999
Cruising the Tanimbar Islands of Eastern Indonesia, Jan Carter, 2005 (The Tanimbar Cruising Guide)

Much of the information in these is out of date and we could not find any more up to date information.

We also used

Admiralty Pilots
Sailing Directions issued by the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, US Government
Various Lonely Planets and Rough Guides

The Cruising Guide is packed with passage information and good for other areas but has little detail on the Moluccas; Burbridge is well written and accurate for anchorages; the Cruising Guide to Indonesia and Singapore was, unfortunately, misleading in some anchorage details; the Tanimbar Cruising Guide (Carter) was of little use and was poor value; the Admiralty Pilots and Sailing Directions are intended for larger ships but, nevertheless, have some useful information.

Borneo. The Cruising Guide was also useful for planning the passage from Singapore to Borneo and around Borneo, although much of the detail on anchorages in Borneo is out of date. Useful cruising notes (The Borneo Cruising Notes) for the west coast of Borneo are available from Borneo Radio (the local Sailmail station), prepared by Backchat and Valhalla, contact them at radio@bruneibay.net and equally useful notes on the east coast of Sabah were prepared by Cetatean II. A supplement on the Kinabatangan River was prepared by Lifeline.

PAPERWORK AND BUREAUCRACY

Borneo. There are few problems with paperwork in Borneo. Some comments on procedures are given in the sections on anchorages below, more details are given in the Borneo Cruising Notes.

Indonesia. We obtained our CAIT and support letter for our Social Visas through Bali Marina who were helpful and efficient. Note that it is important to get a social visa as this is initially valid for two months and can then be extended on a month by month basis for up to six months; we had ours extended in Ambon with no difficulty. Our visas were issued by the Indonesian Consulate in Kota Kinabalu; there is a consulate in Tawau which can also issue visas. The visa took 24 hours to issue. Bali Marina arranged an extension for our CAIT after our original CAIT had expired. Note that the CAIT and extension can each take more than a month to be issued.

We cleared into Indonesia at Bitung and out at Ambon with no difficulty. Further details are given below in the sections for these ports. We checked in with the Harbourmaster at Ternate but nowhere else. We were boarded by the navy at Ternate who were very friendly and just wanted to check our paperwork. Also the police at Larat in the Tanimbars. We did not have any difficulties with officials at any port and no extra fees were asked for except at Buru (see below). After checking out at Ambon we continued cruising in Indonesia for more than a month. This did not cause any difficulties although we were careful to avoid too many officials.

PRACTICALITIES

These comments refer to Indonesia. Some comments on practicalities in Borneo are given in the sections on anchorages below, also in the Borneo Cruising Notes.

Communications. This is a remote area and this is reflected in the scarcity of local and international communications. We found Internet access at Ternate, Ambon and Tual but mostly the connections did not work or were too slow to be of any use. There is a workable Internet at the Hotel Amans in Ambon. Cell phones worked in the larger towns: Bitung, Ternate, Labuha, Ambon, Tual and Saumlaki. Some of the villages around Ternate could receive the signal from the town. Frequently the lines were so bad as to be useless. There is no cell phone access in the villages or rural areas. There are Wartel in all of the towns but they do not generally have international facilities except perhaps phone calls if the lines are working.

Money. There are ATMs in Bitung, Ternate and Ambon but they do not all work with international cards. We tried several ATMs in Bitung and Ternate before we found one that worked. Ambon was better.

The banks in Ambon could change foreign currency. Elsewhere you would have to rely on local moneychangers, not all of whom give good rates.

Provisions. Diesel is available everywhere and we had no trouble with contamination. We paid Rp 7,500 per litre in Labuha including delivery to the dock, Rp 7,000 per litre in Ambon plus delivery to the boat (Rp 100,000 for 200L), Rp 6,500 in Banda including delivery to the boat and about Rp 5,000 in Tual.

Alcohol (including beer) is not available in the northern Moluccas. From Ambon southwards beer is available in some of the Chinese provision stores. Typical cost Rp 17,000 for a bottle of Bintang. Hotels and guesthouses usually had cold beer at up to twice this price.

All the towns have markets but the choice is limited and the quality variable, particularly for fruit. Chickens (soft frozen several times) and good fish are available in the markets except in the Kei Islands where the fish selection was very poor and often not fresh. All the best fish here are exported live for the Hong Kong market.

Security. The security issues of a few years ago on the east coast of Borneo do not exist anymore but there is reportedly still extensive smuggling so it is best not to be out sailing at night. In Sandakan the police came alongside and asked us to make sure we locked everything up at night, particularly our outboard motor.

Security is always likely to be a problem in Indonesia. In Ambon we felt quite unsafe and did not leave the boat unattended at any time. We were attacked by pirates one night in the Tanimbars.

Security of our dinghy when going ashore was an issue as few Indonesian ports have suitable and safe places to leave a dinghy. We either found a local boatman to look after the dinghy (paying about Rp 50,000 per day, which is equivalent to a good day’s wages) or approached a house in one of the stilted villages which are found in most Indonesian ports and asked them if we could tie the dinghy up at their back door. We offered about Rp 20,000 for this which was gratefully accepted but did not seem to be expected. There was no problem leaving the dinghy in the villages except for small boys using the dinghy as a trampoline and filling it with sand.

WEATHER

Weather patterns were generally as predicted in the Pilot Charts:

Singapore/Malaysia to Borneo: the SW monsoon is reliable but can get quite brisk and stormy at times.

West coast of Borneo: we had some superb sailing in the SW monsoon. Best to get to the NW tip of Borneo before the NE monsoon sets in as this can blow at 20kn for days on end. There can be disturbed weather and strong winds late in the SW season if there are low pressure zones in the South China Sea. Best to sit these out and the Sutera Harbour Marina at Kota Kinabalu (KK) is an excellent place to do this.

North and East coast of Borneo: Again we had superb sailing in the NE monsoon. This coast is, however, a lee shore in this monsoon making some of the anchorages difficult.

Northern Moluccas: the NE/NW monsoons were mostly light (<10kn) becoming unreliable as we approached the equator and the ITCZ.

Central and Southern Moluccas: light westerlies (<10kn) with thunderstorms some afternoons and in the early hours of the morning. We were in the ITCZ while in the central Moluccas.

Weather forecasting is good from both Singapore and Malaysia. Once in Indonesia there is no reliable local weather forecasting. We used GRIB files from Sailmail and weatherfax from Australia.

ANCHORAGES IN BORNEO

Only brief notes are given here for anchorages south of KK as these are documented fully in the Borneo Cruising Notes. We made our landfall from Malaysia at Miri; if coming from Singapore landfall could be made at Santobong, near Kuching. It would then be possible to make a side trip up the Rejang River.

There are plenty of anchorages along this coast and it can be cruised easily by daysailing.

The coordinates given for anchorages are GPS based on WGS84. Depths, where given, are what we had once the boat had settled on anchor: they have not been corrected for tides.

Miri Marina: 04° 22'.99N 113° 58'.17E

The coordinates are for the centre of the entrance channel at the breakwater. The marina is part of a new development, mainly housing, which has not been started yet. The marina is set in the middle of a wasteland of reclamation. Good pontoons with power, water, rubbish disposal and a security guard. No other facilities until the development is built when there will be a marina club.

The entrance is marked with red and green beacons which are sometimes lit. There is a large statue of a seahorse and a large building on the western breakwater. Give this breakwater a wide berth (<200m) as there is shallow water to the west and a wreck to the SW. Enter the marina from the SW: there is a rather indistinct marker board in the basin to the NE of the entrance to line up on. Depths in the entrance are no more than 2m at LWS so best to enter at mid tide. A swell from the SW (normal in the SW monsoon) can result in reduced depths.

Once in the marina pick up any berth and report to the security guard. The office is a mile or so away.

Clearance into Malaysia can be completed here. Immigration is at Wisma Persekutan to the north of the town centre. Take a taxi from the town centre. Customs are in the building next door but they will probably not be interested if you are entering the country. The harbourmaster (Jabatan Laut) is at an inconvenient location outside the town to the north and few yachts bother to go.

Easy access to Miri town by taxi, marina bicycle or bus. Miri is an oil support town, quite pleasant, with a small expatriate population. Good provisioning and most repairs can be done. Diesel by jerrycan from the town. This is a good base for travelling in the interior of Sarawak.

Kuala Belait: 04° 34'.58N 114° 11'.75E
5m mud

The entrance to Kuala Belait is dredged and maintained for the oil support base. Straightforward access. Best to anchor upstream of the docks for the oil support vessels. Our anchorage is off the yacht club. We did not go ashore but we understand the yacht club is very welcoming. Clearance into Brunei can be done here.

Jerudong Breakwater (Brunei): 04° 57'.07N 114° 48'.53E
7m

The breakwater was reportedly built by the Sultan’s brother and is now not used. Good shelter but best to anchor away from the shore where there are several palace buildings. The entrance channel has beacons, not lit at night when we were there.

Brunei Yacht Club (Muara): 05° 00'.11N 115° 04'.17E
5.5m

Either anchor or pick up a mooring if there is one free. Do not cut the corner when entering the port through the marked channel as there are submerged training walls that extend some way out to sea. Clear in to Brunei at the ferry terminal a short distance by dinghy from the anchorage. The yacht club is very welcoming and has a good restaurant. Cheap fuel.

P Keraman 05° 12'.79N 115° 08'.54E
4.7m

Rather exposed anchorage on the way to P Labuan. OK in settled weather. We approached from the east but an approach from the south west looks feasible.

P Labuan 05° 16'.48N 115° 14'.37E
7m mud

Anchor off the stilted village away from the ferry terminal. This is an essential stop to stock up with duty free alcohol. Dirty and noisy anchorage which becomes very uncomfortable when the SW monsoon is blowing strongly. The Jotun paint dealer keeps a small stock of antifouling if you are planning to stop at the shipyard at Kudat. Otherwise get International paint from Miri.

Best to use the water taxis to get ashore, call them on Ch 67 or just hail one as they go past.

P Tiga 05° 43'.19N 115° 38'.92E

Anchor almost anywhere off the beach. Picturesque and sheltered anchorage if the SW monsoon is not strong. Good shelter from the NE monsoon. Resort on shore and most yachts visit the thermal mud pools a short walk from the beach. Pleasant walks around the island. There is some shelter from the SW monsoon to the north of the island at 05° 45'.01N 115° 40'.70E but the swell can work round.

There is reportedly good shelter from the SW swell east of Kuala Penyu (approx 05° 53'N 115° 38'E).

Kota Kinabalu

Sutera Harbour Marina 05° 58'.15N 116° 03'.35E

The coordinates are for the entrance channel which is unmistakable, as are the hotel and marina club buildings. It is becoming hard to get into this marina, it is so popular, and much harder to leave. Excellent facilities and KK is a very friendly town. Good base to climb Mount Kinabalu, to visit the interior of Sabah and to dive at Sipadan on the east coast of Sabah.

The marina can provide details for clearing in. Immigration and customs (not needed for clearing in) are at the main port a short taxi ride (about RM10) or a long walk from the town centre. The harbourmaster is near the main port some way to the north (RM70 taxi ride and difficult by bus) so many yachts do not bother him.

There are also anchorages close to Tanjung Aru, off P Gaia and in Teluk Gaia.

Approach from the south can be east of P Mamutik but beware of the reefs. The ferries go through this way. Alternatively the channel between P Manukan and P Manutik is clear but again beware of the reefs. In unsettled weather or when there is a big swell running it is safer to leave P Manukan to starboard.

Best approach from the north is between P Gaia and P Manukan.

The marked channel north of the marina into the town is navigable at all states of the tide. Once through the dredged channel (near the fuel barge) keep close to the shore until near the main town pier where deeper water is found.

Teluk Usukan 06° 22'.18N 116° 20'.49E
10m

Reasonable shelter from both monsoons but some swell can work in to the bay in a strong monsoon. In settled weather the bays to the north and south of Teluk Usukan can be used. No facilities.

P Mantanani 06° 43'.29N 116° 20'.58E for the SW monsoon
4.5m

Good sunlight is needed to work in amongst the reefs on the north side of the island. In the NE monsoon good sheltered anchorage can be found to the south of P Mantanani. These islands are better visited in the NE monsoon than the SW monsoon. Village on the south side of the island.

Teluk Agal 06° 49'.36N 116° 39'.38E
6.2m

Straightforward approach. Good shelter from the NE. No facilities. There are several anchorages between here and the tip of Borneo which are sheltered from the NE monsoon but a swell will roll in if the monsoon is strong.

Kudat Town 06° 52'.52N 116° 50'.35E

This anchorage provides shelter from both monsoons but there is no reason to come here unless arriving at night as the anchorage at Kudat Marina is better. Clear approach from the ESE, the beacons had lights when we were there.

Kudat Marina and shipyard 06° 53'.51N 116° 51'.45E

The coordinates are for the centre of the mooring basin. The entrance is at 06° 53'.43N 116° 51'.73E. There are reefs in the channel on either side of the entrance. Best to enter in the morning as the swell builds up in the afternoon with the sea breeze. Beware the exposed wreck at 06° 59'.3N 116° 50'.5E if coming from the west.

The dock and travel hoist for the shipyard are directly in front of the entrance: best to be lifted in the morning before the swell sets in. The anchorage is to the right. The anchorage basin is small but has swinging space for two or three yachts. If there are more yachts space can be made by tying to the shore. This is not really a marina yet (although there are various plans to but berths in). It is just a mooring basin but it does offer excellent shelter. The hotel welcomes visiting yachts.

The shipyard is becoming used to dealing with yachts even though their main business is fishing boats. In 2008 they charged us RM 1000 for the lift and chocking, RM 40 per day for hardstanding and RM 50 per day for labour. The hardstanding charges reduce for longer stays and this is an economical and safe place to leave your boat. Any work on the boat needs to be supervised and the yard would not be able to manage complicated jobs, for example rigging. Antifouling and mechanical work is ok.

Kudat is a pleasant town and has good markets and a supermarket. Fuel can be obtained at the shipyard but it is expensive. Neither the shipyard or the town have any yacht spares but there are decent hardware stores.

Banggi Islands 07° 07'.56N 117° 05'.76E
13m mud

Very pleasant anchorage with good shelter from the NE monsoon. Approach from the south west, turning north west into the anchorage. The channel is deep and wide until close to the anchorage. Anchor on either side of the channel depending on the direction of the wind. There are several alternative anchorages around this area and it would be worth spending a few days exploring. No facilities.

Beware the reef to the south east. There is space either side but good visibility is required.

P Tigabu 06° 52'.90N 117° 28'.28E
16m sand

Straightforward approach but beware the isolated reefs in the bay close to our anchorage position. Sheltered from the north east, but exposed to other directions.

P Langkayan 06° 30'.25N 117° 54'.89E
21m, mooring

This is very deep for anchoring but there is a mooring owned by the resort which can be used if they are not using it themselves. Check with the resort on Ch 16 first. Sheltered from the NE monsoon but exposed to other directions. We did not go ashore but other yachts have reported that the resort welcomes visiting yacht crews. The island is reported to have good diving and is in a superb location.

P Silingaan 06° 10'.33N 118° 03'.34E

This anchorage is exposed to all directions and it did not seem possible to get close to the island to get better protection. Better protection might be found behind P Libarran.

Sandakan Yacht Club 05° 50'.40N 118° 07'.45E
7m mud

The water is filthy and the anchorage is noisy from water taxis. Nevertheless this is a pleasant spot. The yacht club is welcoming with a swimming pool, gym and good restaurant and the town is friendly with all facilities. The yacht club charges RM10 per day for visiting yachts. Good shelter. Straightforward approach.

The tourist office has good information and enjoys chatting to visiting yachties. Don’t miss the restaurant at the English Tea House: King’s Seafood just down the coast is also very good.

The visitor’s book at the yacht club has cruising notes for the Kinabatangan River which is an interesting diversion. Note, however, that the northern entrance to the river cannot be used when there is any swell and the southern entrance at Dewhurst Bay can have dangerous surf on the bar about 4 miles offshore when the NE swell is running. We had < 1m under the keel at high tide in the surf.

We cleared out of Malaysia at Sandakan. The visitor’s book at the yacht club has information. Customs and Immigration are at the port a short taxi ride to the north of the town. The harbourmaster is in the centre of town next to the Milimewa supermarket.

P Tambisan 05° 26'.76N 119° 08'.33E
15m mud

Entrance to the anchorage is to the east of P Tambisan following the depth contour from the north west. We had 4m over the bar at about half tide. Once in the channel watch for the sand bar on the south side. The best anchorage is beyond the village. Good all round shelter but no facilities.

Felda Oil Jetty 05° 04'.23N 119° 04'.84E
7m sand/mud

Much better protection than it looks at first, the NE swell did not reach here. Anchor anywhere off the beach. We did not go ashore but others have reported a small village and some shops if you ignore the “no entry” signs.

P Timbun Mata 04° 35'.38N 118° 32'.92E
5.5m mud

This a delightful spot, very quiet with good shelter. There are many reefs in the approaches, but deep water between and the reefs show up well in good light.

Other anchorages in this area which we did not use are listed below (courtesy of Cetacean II). Many of these are reported to have good snorkelling.

Dent Haven 05° 16'.17N 119° 15'.16E
6m mud.

Anchor off the beach. The NE swell can roll in.

P Tetagen 04° 35'.59N 118° 43'.28E
5m sand.

Very open.

Semporna 04° 28'.69N 118° 37'.16E
7m coral rubble.

Good facilities in the town.

Tagassan Bay 04° 21'.64N 118° 41'.28E
7m mud

P Sebatik 04° 11'.37N 117° 52'.59E
8m mud

Tawau 04° 14'.94N 117° 52'.47E
6m.

Anchor off the yacht club which is very friendly and has no charge for visitors. Good facilities in town. This is a port of entry where you could clear out of Malaysia. There is also an Indonesian Consulate which can issue Social Visas.

Roach Reef 04° 10'.92N 118° 18'.29E
14m.

Mooring off the resort which can be used if there are no guests.

P Mabul 04° 15'.00N 118° 37'.88E
15m sand.

Diving at Sipadan can be arranged, try Seaventures at the oil rig.

P Batik Kulambu 04° 41'.92N 118° 24'.55E
15m sand

P Tabawan 04° 47'.69N 118° 22'.12E
&nbs