Pulau Labuan, Malaysia

Pulau Labuan is the main island of Labuan group of one large and six smaller islands off Sabah in East Malaysia. It is best known as an offshore financial centre offering international financial and business services via Labuan IBFC since 1990 as well as a tourist destination for nearby Bruneians and scuba divers.

There are several attractions and places of interest on Labuan. The military cemetery contains various war graves and memorials to the fallen of World War II. This includes British, Australian, Indian, Sarawakian, Bruneian, North Borneo and Empire troops. There is also a memorial celebrating the surrender of the Japanese to the Australian Forces in 1945. There are also remnants of Labuan's history as a Royal Navy Coaling station, including 'the chimney', a well known local landmark. There is also a Labuan Maritime Museum.

Labuan is also the base for diving on four popular wreck dives: the Cement wreck, the American wreck, (the first USS Salute), the Australian wreck and the Blue Water wreck.

Things to See & Do

* Duty-Free shopping
* International Sea Sport Complex
* Wreck Diving
* WW II Sites
* Beaches - Batu Manikar, Pancur Hitam and Layang-layangan beach

General information

Cruise Season - Jan - Dec
Currency - Ringgit (RM) (MYR)
Language - Bahasa Malaysia, English
Population - 100,000 approx
Land Area - 91 km²
Electricity - 2 vertical square pins and one perpendicular below British style
Time - GMT plus eight hours
International Country Telephone Code - +6o

Travel Links - There are daily flights from Kuala Lumpur with Malaysia Airlines and AirAsia as well as 4 flights a day to Miri with MASWings and a couple more flights to and from Kota Kinabalu

Labuan is only 8km or twenty minute boat ride from Menumbok, a small fishing town in Sabah. High speed air-conditioned ferries ply daily to Labuan from Sabah, Sarawak and Negara Brunei Darussalam. The trip from Kota Kinabalu, capital of Sabah takes about 3 hours and about an hour from Negara Brunei Darussalam.