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 Labuan, located in the South China Sea, about
eight kilometers off
the coast of Sabah is a beautiful and charming island port and
Malaysia's only deep-water anchorage. Labuan, derived
its name from the word pelabohan/labohan meaning
anchorage, when seen from the air,
is often been likened to a star floating on a
turquoise sea. Covering an area of 92 square kilometers and once a part of the Sultanate of
Brunei, it was ceded to the British in 1846 following
the discovery of rich coal deposits. Ruled by the
British for 115 years, it joined the Federation of
Malaysia in 1963. Subsequently, in February 1984, Labuan was declared a federal
Photo: An'Nur Jamek Mosque
territory. A thriving duty-free port and international offshore financial
centre, Labuan has developed into an important venue
for business and commerce. The island offers several
excellent hotels and international venues for meetings,
conventions and trade exhibitions besides spectacular
tourists attarctions.
 Places of interest in Labuan include the
beautiful Botanical
Garden dating back to the colonial days, the
beautifully landscaped War Memorial, the Peace Park, Kampung Ayer, Labuan's traditional water village and
The Chimney at Tanjung Kubong, a reminder of the old
coal-mining days. For golf enthusiasts, there is the Labuan Golf
and Country Club which boasts of one of the
country's finest nine-hole courses and many
Photo: Labuan Bird Park international events are held here regularly. A round-island tour
of Labuan will take approximately an hour and a half and
tourists are recommended not to miss this scenic journey.
A
duty-free shopping haven, Labuan has plenty in store
for visitors looking for local and imported goods.
Eating out is also a pleasure as there is a wide choice
of cuisine - Western, standard local or traditional
Malaysian fare, seafood, Chinese and other oriental
dishes. Restaurants are open until the late hours of the
night. Labuan's crystal clear waters, ideal diving conditions
all year round and a wealth of World War II and post-war
shipwrecks have made it the region's centre for
wreck diving. Expeditions can be arranged to the
island's four most popular wrecks, the American,
Australian, Blue Water and Cement wrecks.
If you are
seeking seclusion, the outlying islands of Pulau Papan
and Pulau Burong provide the right ambience and are just
minutes away by speedboat. Tourists who visited Labuan
will definitely be attracted by its picturesque islands
(since Labuan is made of one main triangle-shaped island
and six smaller one), beaches and its facilities for
golfing and yachting.
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