To renew a visa in Malaysia you have to do a ‘border run’, but what happens when the borders are closing? Sailing to the Philippines is no longer an option because the ports are now shut.

We know cruisers who are unable to leave and others who have left on their way to Malaysia. Brunei recently announced its borders are closing to some foreign nationals and those who are exempt will be automatically quarantined for 14 days.

As we made our way south by car to Brunei, Sarawak announced it would be closing its borders to all foreign nationals from 18th March. This would mean no more border runs from Sabah to Brunei and ports closed to sailing vessels.

How long before total lockdown in Sabah too? Our visas would run out on 26th March, so we had to do something…