Tanjung Batu Beach in the 60's - 70's

The peaceful, undisturbed and long sandy beaches at Tanjung Batu, Bintulu.
The picture above remains true of the place in the 1960's - 70's

 The Tanjung Batu Beach is a major tourist attraction for visitors to Bintulu.  The beach is located about 4 km from Bintulu town.  The place is now very well patronised  by both the local residents and migrant population who have flooded the town after a series of four boom periods.   It is the best place to see the Binulu sunset.  I have had many joyful and memorable moments of the beach since my student days at Bintulu Government Secondary School (BGSS) in the early 1960's where we used to have class picnics at the beaches.  As a teacher in the same school in the early  70's, I had many pleasurable moments scrambling along the beaches with friends and students.  We had the beach to ourselves then.  The beach has been renamed 'Pantai Temasya Binutlu' to mark its makeover into a quality beach for the benefit of the locals and foreign visitors. The landscaping works at the place is very intensive and has added lots more plant species onto its typical original look of casuarina trees.  The long beach outline as seen in the top picture has somewhat been altered due to the construction of rocky islands just off the beach to create lagoons.  Today the place is provided with one of the best beach facilities and services in Sarawak.  A visit to Bintulu wouldn't be complete without a stopover at the beach.  

 

The same beach is now re-named Pantai Temasya Bintulu.
Some beach protection works seen just off the beach to create some artificial lagoon.
More picnic and recreational facilities were provided over a series of boom periods.  It is today the best public beach in Sarawak for its usage, quality of facilities provided and maintenance of the place.
Date taken : 5 July, 2014.

From Tanjung Batu Beach to Pantai Temasya Bintulu

"Pantai Tanjung Batu" (Malay) or Tanjung Batu Beach in 1979

 In 1979 I used to go for picnic and scrambling at the Tanjung Batu Beach.  The above picture shows me riding the scrambler at the beach area.  The site of the scrambling is today's car parking area.  The site was rich with white silica sand. However, for more fun and thrills, we would scramble along the beach and off-road areas further up the coast towards the Agriculture Department's fishery station where the present Bintulu Golf Course is.  Often times I used to bring my school students for picnic and swimming at the beach when a teacher at Bintulu Government Secondary School from 1975 -1976 and when I was the Headmaster of the school in 1979 - 1980.

Pantai Tanjung Batu has been re-named "Pantai Temasya Bintulu"
Date taken : 10 October, 2013.

The present site is one of the many car parking areas provided at the well-patronised and most popular beach spot in Bintulu.  It has been re-named 'Pantai Temasya Bintulu' in Malay to mean 'a beach for recreational, picnic, play and fun'.  In the November 1980 I joined the BDA (Bintulu Development Authority) and during the mid 1980's was greatly involved with re-developing the beach area especially the development of the beach facilities and amenities, landscaping and the Bird's Park (later re-named "Taman Tumbina").