Things to do in Miri
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Miri
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
The drier main season, with the best caving, trekking and diving conditions and the most reliable Mulu flights.
Shoulder month as rain builds, most things still run and prices ease.
Northeast monsoon, the wettest window, when Mulu tours can cancel, flights delay and dive visibility falls.
Among the driest months, but peak demand makes Mulu booking hardest.
What's on
- Borneo Jazz Festival 4-5 December in 2026, month varies by year
Sarawak signature music festival at Pullman Miri Waterfront, ten acts across jazz and contemporary sounds in 2026.
- Gawai Dayak 1-2 June
The Dayak harvest festival and public holiday, with cultural performances and longhouse open house visiting.
- Miri May Fest May, city anniversary 20 May
A month of city food, culture and community events around the anniversary of Miri city status.
- Chinese New Year January or February, date varies
Temple activity, lion dances and reunion dinner season, with the busiest domestic travel of the year.
Best things to do in Miri
The Grand Old Lady
Oil Well No. 1 from 1910 on Canada Hill, the well that created Miri, with the best viewpoint over the city and coast.
Petroleum Museum
The free museum beside the Grand Old Lady that explains the oil industry that built Miri, best paired with the hilltop view.
San Ching Tian Temple
A vast Taoist temple in Krokop with dragon carvings and statues of the Three Pure Ones, quiet and almost visitor free.
Coco Cabana
The Marina Bay promenade under the seahorse lighthouse, where Miri gathers for food stalls and the daily sunset.
Miri City Fan Recreation Park
The fan shaped central park with themed gardens and a lake, best in the early morning or evening when Miri walks here.
Piasau Nature Reserve
A coastal forest reserve in the city where wild hornbills fly at dawn, with flat trails and a small gallery.
Tamu Muhibbah
Miri central fresh market for jungle produce, kek lapis and Sarawak pepper, with cheap laksa and kolo mee stalls upstairs.
Miri Crocodile Farm
A crocodile farm and mini zoo on the Kuala Baram road whose feeding time show is Miri top family half day out.
Where to stay in Miri
City Centre and Old Town
first trip, food, practical base
Malls, market, waterfront and the widest food choice on foot, with the shortest rides to Canada Hill and the airport road.
Waterfront and Marina Bay
couples, views, festival stays
Sea views, the sunset promenade and newer buildings near Coco Cabana, quieter and more corporate than the centre.
Tanjung Lobang and Luak Bay
families, resort rest days
The leisure waterfront south of the centre, with the bay, food court and esplanade, a short ride from everything else.
Think twice about
- Lutong and Kuala Baram corridor
An industrial oil services strip by highways and workshops, far from every restaurant and sight, so a leisure base here taxes every day.
- Riam and Airport Road corridor
Car dependent sprawl with nothing walkable at night, fine only for a deliberate one night stop before an early Mulu flight.
Best restaurants in Miri
Zest
The Marriott all day restaurant on Luak Bay, Miri most polished dining room for a dressed up seafood and buffet dinner.
Excapade Sushi
The Japanese celebration restaurant Miri itself chooses, busy with local families and Bruneian weekenders for sushi and sets.
Bonzer Restaurant
A long running Miri favourite for Malaysian and Asian fusion plates, generous and well suited to groups ordering widely.
Ming Cafe
Miri default social cafe bar for Malaysian and Western plates, coffee and beer, and the best people watching in the centre.
Apollo Seafood Centre
The classic Miri seafood dinner where you choose live and iced catch by weight, so confirm the price before it is cooked.
Madli's
A central Malay restaurant with a wide menu and staff praised for handling vegan and gluten free needs with real care.
Khan's Islamic Restaurant
The best cheap sit down in the centre for roti, curries and biryani, halal and busy with locals at every meal.
63 Cafe
A small kopitiam praised by Malaysian food bloggers for its Sarawak laksa and kolo mee, open for breakfast and lunch only.
Outdoor things to do in Miri
Gunung Mulu National Park
Deer and Lang Caves and the dusk bat exodus in a roadless World Heritage park, reached by a short flight from Miri.
Mulu Pinnacles
A steep guided climb from Camp 5 to view limestone blades rising from the jungle on Gunung Api, over three days.
Mulu Canopy Skywalk
A 420 metre walkway high in the rainforest canopy near Mulu headquarters, best on the earliest guided slot for wildlife.
Niah National Park
The Great Cave and Painted Cave reached by boat and plankwalk, telling 40,000 years of human history in one day trip.
Lambir Hills National Park
Miri own rainforest park, 30 minutes away, with an easy walk to the swimmable Latak Waterfall and harder summit trails.
Co.Co. Dive
Miri longest established dive centre, running boat dives to intact table coral reefs, a drop off wall and a war wreck.
Eastwood Valley Golf & Country Club
Miri one serious visitor round, an 18 hole par 72 parkland course with a lake clubhouse, best played early before the heat.
Tusan Cliff Beach
A white sand beach under sandstone cliffs south of Miri, worth the drive for sunset even though the famous horse rock fell in 2020.
Best hotels in Miri
Miri Marriott Resort & Spa
Miri true resort on Luak Bay, with gardens, the biggest pool scene and sea sunsets, ideal after days in Mulu.
Pullman Miri Waterfront
A modern waterfront tower with an infinity pool and sea views, the most convenient luxury base for Marina Bay sunsets.
Mercure Miri City Centre
A modern central hotel with a rooftop pool, walkable to the food streets, and the mid range sweet spot for most visitors.
Imperial Hotel Miri
A central tower attached to Imperial City Mall with a rooftop pool, the most practical base for families and longer stays.
Kingwood Boutique Hotel
A smaller central boutique hotel with large well kept rooms and personal service that reviewers praise by name.
Dillenia Guest House
A family run central guesthouse famous for solving Mulu and Niah logistics, storing bags and arranging drivers and pickups.
Is Miri expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | MYR 130 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | MYR 300 a person |
| Splurge | MYR 750 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Gunung Mulu National Park: months ahead
- Mulu Pinnacles: months ahead
- Mulu Canopy Skywalk: weeks ahead
- Co.Co. Dive: weeks ahead
- Eastwood Valley Golf & Country Club: a few days ahead
- Bandar Seri Begawan: a few days ahead
- Dillenia Guest House: a few days ahead
- Zest: a few days ahead
- Book Mulu flights first, then cave tours, canopy walk and park accommodation weeks ahead, and months ahead for the Pinnacles.
- Never fly out of Mulu and out of Miri internationally on the same day, as Mulu flights are weather dependent.
- Carry cash, medication and a torch into Mulu, where there are no banks or ATMs and data is very limited.
Is Miri safe?
- Wet plankwalks at Niah, Lambir and Mulu are slippery all year, so wear shoes with tread and use handrails.
- Swim only where locals swim, never in estuaries or rivers where crocodiles live, and not in rough monsoon seas.
- Use repellent at dawn and dusk for dengue, and carry water into every park as none is sold on the trails.
Miri travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- The Tusan drinking horse rock collapsed in February 2020, so go for the beach and sunset, not the old postcard.
- Miri beaches are for sunsets and food courts, not swimming, with murky water and seasonal jellyfish.
- At seafood restaurants confirm the per weight price before anything is cooked.
Getting around Miri: public transport and more
- Use Grab for almost everything between districts, most in city rides are cheap and the airport is about 15 minutes from the centre.
- Mulu has no road, so the flight from Miri is the only practical way in, then longboats and plankwalks inside the park.
- For Niah choose an organised tour, a private driver, or the bus toward Batu Niah plus a pre agreed return taxi.
Who Miri suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Good |
| Bachelor parties | Not ideal |
| Families | Great |
| Bachelorette parties | Not ideal |
Make Miri your trip
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