Daro is a small town at the western edge of mid-northern Sarawak. The closest city is Sibu with is 3 hours of a car ride away, with a distance of 114 km. As of now, there is a bridge being built that is said to be finished by 2023. In this article, I will explain details about moving to and life in Daro.
Residential lots and its availability
Most people who come to Daro are either government officials/servants who were posted here in Daro, or contractors/engineers tasked with projects to work in Daro. As such, they would need a living space. However, because Daro has such a small population, finding a suitable place to stay here long-term is extremely difficult unless you have connections here. Some of these houses are furnished, some aren't. They can range from RM 500 to RM 1500 and above.
Since Daro is a small town mostly populated by Melanau people (with a small population of Chinese and Ibans), your chances of finding cemented brick-cemented houses are very small, as most houses here are wooden kampung houses on stilts, so be prepared as there may be rats and termites. However, these wooden houses are usually cheaper and more affordable for those who are on a tight budget. It would help if you know how to speak the Melanau language in order to communicate better with the locals.
They might also be quite a distance away from the town as houses over here aren't built like residential areas in cities. They're mostly more spread out (berkelompok & berselerak) than the usual terraced/semi-detached houses in cities, so having a car here to go around places would be helpful, especially if you're planning to go back to more convenient towns or cities such as Sibu or Sarikei during weekends.
(Will put pictures later)
Another small tidbit is: I noticed that living spaces for rent often don't have ceiling fans. If you're planning to move here, be prepared that some of these places may not have ceiling fans though, as when I tried searching for a place to live, none of the places I found had ceiling fans in the bedrooms available. However, you can request to add ceiling fans with your landlord or buy your own to install.
Facilities and services
Infrastructure
Daro is a small town that is in the process of expanding and advancing. At the time of writing this article, some shoplots in Daro are still made of wood. However, I heard locals saying that these wooden shoplots will soon be demolished and rebuilt as cemented-brick shoplots.
Update: 28-8-2022 - Those old wooden shoplots have been demolished and are said to be built with cement-brick buildings in due time.
Facilities
The town of Daro has a police station, a fire station, a hospital and clinic, a library (the green wooden house near SK Camporan, a pharmacy, several schools, several hotels/homestays ranging from RM 58-70+, some furniture stores, an electric appliance shop, several grocery stores and supermarkets.
There is a Sugarbun (fast food restaurant) and a ShareTea (bubble tea shop) branch here, just opposite of the police station.
There are also 2 laundromats (kedai dobi) here that operate with coins and are open 24 hours, near Sugarbun.
There aren't any printing/photocopy shops around yet.
Next to Eng Soon Lee Inn, there is a Chinese temple as well.
Food
Currently, most of the food services here are stalls (gerai) that offer order to cook/eat menus, such as nasi goreng, mee goreng, bihun sup, etc. You can find mostly Malay food in kopitiams or the food court Medan Selera.
If you're looking for Chinese food, there are only 2 places that offer Chinese food - the restaurant next to Long Heng supermarket and the kitchen at the back of Jumbo Cafe.
Medan Selera is a food court that is open from 10AM until night time. There is also Open-Air Daro which is another night food court.
Food here is priced around the same as in larger towns and cities, ranging from RM 6 for a simple nasi goreng to RM 8 for sup tulang with rice.
In terms of seafood, fishmongers start opening their shop at 7:30 A.M. in the market here. The choices of fish depends on the catch of the day, as they catch the fish fresh everyday. On average, medium to small-sized prawns/shrimps are priced around RM13-10 per kilogram. Fish are sold at RM15-10 per kilo here.
What's interesting in Daro
There is a unique food called Pipus here in Daro, which is a combination of seafoods mixed with spices and wrapped in leaves, then barbequed. People here describe Pipus as similar to "otak-otak".
The fish statue near the wharf is a grand work of art. Recently, the town has had a fair called Pesta Daro. You have facilities to help make your life more convenient, but in terms of entertainment such as malls, cinemas and such, there isn't much to see for now. But this town is still under development and it is advancing rapidly.
Directions to Daro
From Sibu, it takes about 3 and a half hours to travel by road as you have to travel using 2 ferries. These ferries need to be full before they can transport you and the other vehicles from one end to the other of the river. From Sibu, you should start your journey at Jambatan Batang Igan, turn left at the intersection, and once you reach Kampung Hilir, you should turn left. From then on, it should be a straight road until you reach an intersection with a signboard that shows
<- to Tanjung Manis
To Daro ->
Turn right and you should reach the first ferry at Paloh river. The ferry should take you to Bruit Island and from there, you only need to go straight. The road will be very rocky with lots of holes, so be careful when you're driving. You should be able to reach your second ferry point which should take you directly to Daro as long as you keep going straight.
If you're using Google Maps to find directions to travel to Daro by car, you may put your destination to "Batang Lassa Ferry Point" and "Serdeng Ferry Point" and finally to Daro as Google Maps does not include ferry travel as part of their directions. I hope this information may be of help.
Travel and transportation
As of now, the only form of public transportation available in Daro is a speedboat ride to an from Sarikei. There are two speedboats available for traveling to and from Sarikei. The first boat runs at 7am from Daro to Sarikei and at 12 noon from Sarikei to Daro. The second boat runs at 8am from Daro to Sarikei and returns back to Daro at 1pm.
As for land transportations, there are private car fetching services and vans. If you are interested their contact numbers are as follows:
Mr Hafizan: 01135514266 (Myvi car Sibu-Daro)
Mr Andrew: 010 5195929 (White Van from Sibu-Daro)
That is all I have about Daro for now. This blog post will be updated with more information as time progresses.
