You get to Sibu three main ways from Kuching: fly into Sibu Airport (code SBW) in about 40 minutes, drive the Pan Borneo Highway in about five hours, or take the intercity bus over much the same route. The old coastal express boat that once linked Kuching and Sibu is the famous fourth option, but it has been suspended since the pandemic, so do not plan around it without checking locally first. From further afield, flying is usually the only sensible choice. The flight is the reliable one, the drive is for when you want a car waiting at the other end, and the bus is the cheap, slow middle ground.
Sibu is Sarawak’s third-largest town, a working river port well up the Rajang from the South China Sea, and it has been a transport hub far longer than it has been anything else. I have flown in, and years ago I rode the old coastal express boat before it stopped running, and the two experiences could not be more different. If you want the wider picture of the town itself, our Sibu travel guide covers what is actually there once you arrive. This piece is purely about getting in, and then getting around.
TL;DR
- Fly: AirAsia flies the direct Kuching to Sibu hop (about 40 minutes in the air, from roughly RM90 one way). The reliable choice. AirBorneo, the Sarawak-owned airline that took over the old MASwings rural network, does not fly Kuching to Sibu direct as of mid-2026.
- Old express boat (suspended): The classic Kuching to Sibu coastal express, which once ran the coast then up the Rajang in around five hours, has been suspended since the pandemic and the Kuching express-boat terminal has closed. Do not count on it; check locally before assuming it runs.
- Drive: The Pan Borneo Highway gets you there in about five hours by car, traffic and roadworks permitting.
- Bus: Intercity coaches run Kuching to Sibu in five to six hours for roughly RM50–70. Cheap, but a long sit.
- From outside Sarawak: Fly. SBW connects to Kuala Lumpur, Kuching, Miri, and Bintulu; there is no realistic overland route from the peninsula.
- Getting around Sibu: Taxis and a rental car are your dependable options. Local buses are thin and Grab coverage is patchy.
- Going further: Sibu is the staging post for express boats up the Rajang to Kapit and, when the water is right, Belaga.
Should you fly to Sibu?
For most people, yes. Sibu Airport (SBW) sits about 23km southeast of town, and the Kuching to Sibu hop is roughly 40 minutes wheels-up to wheels-down. AirAsia is the carrier that flies Kuching to Sibu direct, and as of mid-2026 it is the one to book for that leg. AirBorneo, the Sarawak-owned airline that took over the old MASwings rural network from 1 January 2026, does not fly Kuching to Sibu direct; its Kuching routes run to smaller points like Limbang, Mukah, Mulu, and Tanjung Manis, and getting between Sibu and Kuching on it means a stopover. The lack of a direct AirBorneo link drew public complaints in Sarawak in early 2026, so check current schedules rather than assuming it has been added. A direct Kuching to Sibu one-way fare on AirAsia starts around RM90 and climbs from there depending on how late you book.
The maths is simple once you count the whole journey. The road eats most of a day; the flight gives that day back. I flew the second time I went, and I was eating breakfast in town before I would otherwise have been halfway down the highway. If Sibu is your actual destination rather than the journey, fly, and book a few weeks out so you catch the lower fares.
From SBW into town you are looking at a taxi, which runs roughly RM35–45 depending on where you are headed and your luck with the rank. There is no train, no airport bus worth planning around, and Grab at the airport is a gamble, so budget for the taxi and treat anything cheaper as a bonus.
What happened to the Kuching to Sibu express boat?
For decades the coastal express boat was the classic way to get from Kuching to Sibu, and it is the route a lot of older guides and travellers still describe. Here is the honest update: it has been suspended since the pandemic, and the Kuching express-boat passenger terminal has closed. As of mid-2026 I cannot find an operator confirming a daily Kuching to Sibu sailing, and locals report there is no longer a ferry on that run. If you read elsewhere that you can simply turn up and take the boat to Sibu, treat that as out of date and check on the ground before you build a plan around it.
I rode it years ago, before it stopped, so here is what it was actually like, for the record rather than as a recommendation. It left Kuching in the morning, crossed open sea out of the river mouth, then turned into the Rajang estuary and worked upriver to Sibu in somewhere around five hours. The first stretch was open sea, rough enough to make a few passengers regret breakfast. The cabin was air-conditioned to a chill, the curtains stayed drawn, and a film played loud the whole way, so you saw far less of the actual river than the romance of “taking the boat up the Rajang” suggests. I was glad I did it once, for the experience of arriving at the Sibu jetty the way goods and people had for a century. I would have flown the next time anyway. Five hours of cold cabin and a bumpy sea crossing was a real price to pay for the novelty.
So for now, getting from Kuching to Sibu means the plane, the car, or the bus. The genuine river boat experience still exists, but it is the upriver run from Sibu itself, which the section below covers.
Can you drive the Pan Borneo Highway to Sibu?
Yes, and it is the most flexible option if you want your own wheels at the other end. The drive from Kuching follows the Pan Borneo Highway for most of the way and takes around five hours in a car, traffic and roadworks permitting. The highway has been under upgrade for years, so stretches can be smooth dual carriageway one moment and single-lane works the next; allow buffer time rather than treating five hours as a promise.
If you would rather not drive, intercity buses run the Kuching to Sibu route and cost roughly RM50–70. They are slower than driving, usually five to six hours with stops, and they leave from the Kuching Sentral terminal. The bus is the cheap, no-fuss option now that the coastal boat is gone: no driving, no airport faff, but a long sit either way.
Driving makes the most sense if Sibu is one stop on a longer Sarawak road trip, or if you specifically want a car waiting for you, which, as the next section explains, genuinely matters in Sibu.
How do you get around Sibu once you arrive?
This is where you need to plan ahead, and where I will not sugar-coat it. Sibu has poor local public transport and thin, unreliable Grab coverage, so once you arrive you are mostly stuck with taxis or a rental car. That is the trade-off I never saw mentioned until I was standing at the jetty myself, working out how to reach the hotel.
Taxis exist and are your most dependable fallback, but they are not thick on the ground the way they are in a bigger city, and you will often be calling one rather than flagging it. Fares around town are modest, generally RM10–20 for short hops, but you may wait. Local buses do run, but routes are limited, timings are loose, and they are built for residents who already know the system, not for a visitor with a day to spend. Grab works sometimes and not others; in my experience and that of friends who go up regularly, you can get a car in minutes one hour and wait twenty the next.
The practical upshot: if you are staying more than a few hours and want to roam beyond the town centre, a rental car earns its keep fast. If you are only in town for the markets, the temple, and the food, central Sibu is compact enough to cover on foot, and you only need a taxi to and from the airport or jetty. Sort your hotel location with this in mind; our guide to where to stay in Sibu flags which areas keep you walkable.
How do you travel further up the Rajang from Sibu?
This is the part that still makes Sibu worth knowing as a transport town. From the Sibu Express Wharf, longboat-style express boats run up the Rajang to Kanowit, Song, and Kapit, the river towns you cannot reach by road. Sibu to Kapit takes a few hours and is the classic onward leg, the way most people get into the middle Rajang. When the water is high enough, boats continue past the Pelagus rapids to Belaga, deeper into the interior, though that upper stretch is seasonal and depends entirely on river levels.
If your reason for being in Sibu is to push further inland, this is your connection, and it is genuinely the main one. Confirm departure times at the wharf the day before, because the upriver boats run to their own rhythm rather than a tidy printed timetable.
Which option should you choose?
| Route | Time | Rough cost (June 2026) | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flight (SBW), AirAsia direct | ~40 min in the air | From about RM90 one way | Saving a day; arriving from outside Sarawak |
| Car (Pan Borneo) | ~5 hours | Fuel and tolls | Flexibility, a car at the other end |
| Intercity bus | ~5 to 6 hours | Around RM50–70 | Cheap, no driving |
| Kuching–Sibu express boat | Suspended since the pandemic | n/a | Not currently an option; check locally |
My default recommendation is to fly in on AirAsia and sort a rental car or line up taxis for your stay. You arrive fresh, you keep your day for the food and the markets, and you sidestep the one genuine weakness of a Sibu trip, which is moving around once you are there. With the coastal boat gone, the drive is the option to pick if you want a car at the other end, and the bus if you want to spend the least money.
The detail that stays with me is the contrast between my two trips. The old boat dropped me at a working jetty among barges and cargo, the way the town had received arrivals for a hundred years. The flight set me down at a quiet airport 23km southeast of town with a taxi rank and not much else. Both are Sibu being exactly what it is: a river port that learned to fly. The coastal boat may be gone, but the river still runs the show upstream, where the express boats to Kapit carry on. For where Sibu fits in the wider state, our discovering Sarawak hub puts it on the map.
Last updated: June 2026. Flight, bus, and taxi fares checked June 2026 and will drift; confirm airline schedules before you travel, and check locally on the suspended Kuching to Sibu coastal boat rather than assuming it runs.
Keep exploring Kuching Insider: the Sibu travel guide, where to stay in Sibu, and discovering Sarawak.