Most of what is worth seeing inside Miri is free: a hilltop oil well, a museum, a 1913 temple, a park, a sunset esplanade and a night market. The two paid stops are the national parks, at RM20 per foreign adult each. The bigger cost is the Grab between stops, which comes to RM40 to RM60 for a full day.
I live in Kuching, so this is the view from the other end of Sarawak, put together from what visitors to Miri report, not a local’s. That suits the people most likely to be reading: a spare day in Miri before a flight to Mulu or Bario, a border crossing from Brunei, or an evening free on a work trip.
Which Free Stops Fit One Day?
All seven free stops fit into one day, but they sit spread along roughly 10 km of coast and ring road, so the table below is ordered as a rough route rather than by interest. Costs are entry only, hours come from Google Maps listings checked October 2026, and the Grab column is the typical hop from the town centre.
| Place | Cost | Hours | Getting there |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canada Hill and the Grand Old Lady | Free | Open ground, always accessible | Grab, 5 to 10 minutes, RM5 to RM10 |
| Petroleum Museum | Free | About 9am to 4:45pm weekdays, 10am to 4pm weekends; Friday midday break | Next to the Grand Old Lady |
| Tua Pek Kong temple | Free | 6am to 6pm | Walkable from the waterfront, or RM5 to RM8 by Grab |
| Miri City Fan | Free | Grounds open 24 hours; library closed Mondays | Grab, 10 to 15 minutes, RM8 to RM12 |
| Luak Bay esplanade and Tanjung Lobang | Free | Open 24 hours | Grab, 10 to 15 minutes, RM8 to RM15 |
| Miri Handicraft Centre | Free to browse | 8am to 6pm | Jalan Brooke, in the centre |
| Saberkas night market | Free to walk, RM5 to RM15 to eat | Thursday to Sunday, about 4pm to 9:30pm | Grab, 10 to 15 minutes, RM8 to RM15 |
Free Things to Do in Miri
The free list is the town list: an old oil well on the hill, a temple and a park in the middle, a bay for sunset and a night market on the Pujut road to finish.
Canada Hill and the Grand Old Lady
Canada Hill is where Miri’s first oil well, Miri Oil Well No. 1, struck oil in December 1910 and kept pumping until it was retired in 1972. The derrick is known as the Grand Old Lady, and the ground around it is open and reachable at any hour. Visitors describe a modest site: a rusting tower, a few information boards, and a view over the town and the coast that most people come for at sunset. Around it, locals jog and cycle in the early evening, and at weekends a stall or two sells coconut water.
Go before dark. The hill has trails, and the repeated advice is to be back down before about 6:30pm.
Petroleum Museum
The Petroleum Museum sits beside the Grand Old Lady, so it makes sense to do the two together. Entry is free, and the museum takes about 20 to 40 minutes: old photographs from the first drilling years, a scale model of an oil rig, and replicas of equipment. It is air-conditioned, which is a reason in itself on a wet or hot afternoon.
It is also dated. The recurring complaint is that the displays are worn, some exhibits do not work, and the toilets are poor. Visitors who have seen Petrosains in Kuala Lumpur say this is far less interactive, though it costs nothing. Check the Friday midday break before you plan around it. It is open on Mondays, and closes on a few public holidays, including Hari Raya Aidilfitri, Gawai and Christmas Day.
Tua Pek Kong Temple and the Waterfront
Tua Pek Kong temple on Jalan Bendahara was founded in 1913 by Chinese migrants who came to work the new oilfield, and it is the oldest Chinese temple in Miri. It is free and open from 6am to 6pm. A seven-metre Tua Pek Kong statue was added in 2023, and parts of the compound were still under work when recent visitors passed through. Allow 15 to 20 minutes.
Miri has no old town in the way Kuching does, so the temple and the waterfront around it are the nearest the town gets to one. The beaches here carry the same brown water as Damai near Kuching, as the Kuching beaches guide shows.
Miri City Fan
Miri City Fan is a 26-acre park on Jalan Kipas, with landscaped gardens, shaded paths, an amphitheatre, an Islamic garden, a Chinese garden and the city library. The grounds are open all day and cost nothing. Visitors call it quiet and well kept for an older park, and Monday mornings are empty. The library is air-conditioned and people use it as a rest stop. The swimming pool is a paid facility and has drawn complaints about upkeep, so it is not on the free list.
Luak Bay Esplanade and Tanjung Lobang Beach
Luak Bay esplanade is the sunset stop now. The 2023 upgrade added footpaths, benches, gazebos, six barbecue stands, a reflexology pebble walk and a playground. Visitors mention easy parking, public toilets, kite flying, and picnics and barbecues at sunset. They also mention rubbish on the sand and in the car park, and few food choices on a weekday, so bring your own drinks.
Tanjung Lobang beach, near the Marriott, is close enough to the centre to combine with it. The water is murky, the waves and wind are strong, and nobody recommends swimming. The reason to go is the sunset and the two food courts behind the beach.
Coco Cabana at Marina Bay is the sunset spot most older lists still send you to, and as of late October 2026 it appears to be closed. Its Facebook page says “closed till further notice”, and on 9 March 2026 the Borneo Post reported the Miri MP saying he hoped it would “reopen one day” after its closure for renovation. Visitors in 2025 found it closed down, with the big seahorse still standing. Two March 2026 TikTok posts mention a grand opening or reopening, but nothing official confirms one, so check before you go.
Miri Handicraft Centre
The Handicraft Centre at the corner of Jalan Brooke and Jalan Merbau is free to browse and open 8am to 6pm daily, with 15 to 20 small shops selling Penan woven bags, beadwork and T-shirts. It takes about 10 minutes to walk through, and visitors say prices are lower than at the airport: a ceramic fridge magnet runs RM4 to RM5 here, about double that at the airport.
Saberkas Night Market
Saberkas night market, at Saberkas Commercial Centre on the Pujut road, is the free stop that costs the most, because you will eat. It is most reliably open Thursday to Sunday evenings, about 4pm to 9:30pm, though some listings add Wednesday and older pages say Tuesday to Sunday. The food is satay, grilled fish, apam balik, kuih, mee goreng and kek lapis, at roughly RM5 to RM15 a plate. Weekend evenings are crowded and parking is limited.
Cheap, Not Free: The Two Parks
Miri’s two national parks are the paid items, and both cost RM20 for a foreign adult. The full guide to things to do in Miri covers them, the flights and the rest, so these are short.
Lambir Hills National Park
Lambir Hills costs RM20 for a foreign adult (RM10 Malaysian), per the Sarawak Forestry fee table, and it is about 30 km south and half an hour away. The walk to Latak waterfall takes about 30 minutes and ends at a pool you can swim in. A Grab gets you there, but nothing waits to bring you back, and visitors report long waits for the return, so a hire car is the safer choice.
Niah National Park
Niah costs RM20 for a foreign adult (Sarawak Forestry fee table), plus RM1 each way for the river boat, and it is about 110 km and two hours from Miri each way. Without a car you need a tour or a hire car, which makes it the most expensive “cheap” day on this page. The ticket counter closes at 3pm and the last boat back is at 4pm.
Are There Any Hidden Spots Left in Miri?
Most “hidden spots” lists for Miri repeat the same places already above, so little is left that is hidden. Three more are worth a line.
Tusan Beach is 40 minutes to an hour south, near Bekenu. The horse-head rock that made it famous collapsed in February 2020, and visitors since describe a quiet, windy beach that is worth a look only if you are already in the area. The “blue tears” glow is seasonal and not guaranteed.
San Ching Tian temple on Jalan Chong Poh is often billed as the largest Taoist temple in Southeast Asia, though no independent ranking backs that up, and it is about five minutes from the centre. Visitors praise the stone reliefs and the four cranes on the roof, and say 10 to 20 minutes is enough. Go in daylight.
Marina Bay is the last one: the park area around the closed Coco Cabana still draws joggers and evening walkers, although the buildings were reported shut.
Getting Between Them Without a Car
Miri is spread out, and that is the one real downside to this free list. There is no walking route between the stops, the city buses charge a flat RM1 but do not run anywhere a visitor wants, and people who live there say public transport outside Grab and taxis is almost non-existent.
Grab runs RM5 to RM15 per in-town hop and RM15 to RM30 from the airport to the centre, about 15 to 20 minutes. Waits at Canada Hill and the parks are the usual complaint. A hire car from the counters in arrivals (Hertz, Avis, Mayflower) is the honest answer for Niah and the safer one for Lambir. Add four to five hops and a free day costs RM40 to RM60 in Grabs.
So, What Does a Free Day in Miri Look Like?
Start with the Petroleum Museum and Canada Hill in the morning, then the Tua Pek Kong temple and a look at the Handicraft Centre around midday, and City Fan if the afternoon is hot. Take Luak Bay for sunset and Saberkas for dinner if it is a Thursday to Sunday. Most readers are here because of a flight, and the Mulu caves guide and the Bario guide cover what comes after the free day, including the Twin Otter from Miri.
The day is free in entry fees and costs RM40 to RM60 in Grab fares, with a wait at the end of every stop.