Exploring the Wonders of Gunung Mulu National Park: A Complete Guide

No 11, Mulu National Park Pekan Mulu 98070, Miri, Sarawak, Malaysia

Opening Hours: Everyday

Gunung Mulu National Park, located in Sarawak, Malaysia, is renowned for its extensive tropical karst formations. This globally significant site is celebrated for its vast cave systems and majestic mountains. With over 295 kilometers of explored caves, the park attracts explorers and adventurers from around the world. It is also home to millions of bats and swiftlets, making it a key destination for wildlife enthusiasts and speleologists.

Why visit Mulu National Park?

The park’s landscape is diverse, ranging from lowland rainforests on the western side to towering mountain ranges on the eastern side, composed primarily of limestone and sandstone. The rugged terrain features steep ridges, escarpments, sheer cliffs, and awe-inspiring landforms such as karst towers, gorges, floodplains, terraces, hot springs, and stunning waterfalls.

Mulu’s Majestic Mountains

Gunung Mulu National Park is home to three main mountains: Mount Mulu, standing at 2,376 meters, is a sandstone mountain covered by moss forests. Mount Api, at 1,750 meters, is famous for its jagged limestone pinnacles. Mount Benarat, at 1,858 meters, is separated from Mount Api by the Melinau Gorge.

Trekking Adventure

The national park offers some of the most exciting trekking routes in Malaysia, perfect for both casual hikers and serious adventurers. Below are three must-try trekking experiences:

• The Pinnacles Summit Trek This 3-day trek provides breathtaking views of the Pinnacles, which are sharp limestone spires rising from Mount Api as seen from the featured image. The trek includes a boat ride, a 7.8 km walk to Camp 5, and a challenging ascent through mossy forests and steep rock faces.
• The Headhunter's Trail A route taken by the indigenous Kayan people, this trail covers 11.2 km and takes hikers through dense jungles and river crossings, eventually connecting to the Limbang region.
• Gunung Mulu Summit Trek This 24 km trek leads to the summit of Mount Mulu. Hikers will pass through primary forests, mossy landscapes, and vertical climbs using knotted ropes to reach the peak.

Flora and Fauna

Gunung Mulu National Park is a biodiversity hotspot, home to over 20,000 invertebrates, 81 mammals, 270 birds, 55 reptiles, 76 amphibians, and 48 fish species. Among the park's iconic residents are eight types of hornbills, including the rhinoceros, wrinkled, and helmeted hornbills, as well as a staggering bat population. Deer Cave alone shelters three million wrinkle-lipped bats, whose nightly exodus creates a stunning spectacle.

The park also features 17 vegetation zones, with 3,500 species of vascular plants, 1,500 flowering plants, and 109 types of palms. Its rich ecosystems span peat swamps, heath forests, mixed dipterocarp forests, and montane zones, supporting a remarkable range of flora and fauna.

Gunung Mulu Cave Exploration

Gunung Mulu National Park is renowned for its extraordinary cave systems, which include some of the largest and longest caves in the world. The four main caves listed below are open to the public for guided tours, allowing visitors to safely explore Gunung Mulu’s geological marvels.

Take note that guided tours are required for all show caves. Groups are limited to ten visitors, and tours are scheduled with 20-minute intervals between groups to preserve the caves and manage crowd sizes.

Clearwater Cave

Clearwater Cave, part of Southeast Asia's longest cave system with over 227 km of explored passages (as of 2018), is a fascinating site featuring a subterranean river, part of which is navigable by boat.

Visitors can either trek along a 4 km nature trail, which takes around an hour and a half, or travel by long boat along the Melinau River, usually stopping at Wind Cave. From Wind Cave, a 5-minute journey—either by boat or plankwalk—leads to the entrance of Clearwater Cave, where 200 steps ascend through the forest.

Inside, plankwalks, paths, and floating bridges make it easy to explore the underground river and capture stunning cave photography.

After the tour, visitors can swim in the crystal-clear pool at the base of the cave, or simply relax in the scenic picnic area, often surrounded by swarms of butterflies, including the striking Rajah Brooke butterfly.

Wind Cave

The journey to Wind Cave by boat takes approximately 15 minutes, though low water levels can make it longer as boatmen sometimes have to push the boat. Wind Cave, known for the cool breezes at its narrow parts and impressive rock formations like stalactites and stalagmites, is part of the Clearwater system and contains a chamber dubbed the King's Room, a cavern featuring huge columns of stone on both the ceiling and the floor.

Deer Cave

Access to Deer Cave from the National Park entrance is via a 3 km (1.9 mi) plank walkway, which takes visitors through a captivating lowland and limestone tropical rainforest. This scenic path features immense trees, striking limestone outcrops, and passes by an ancient Penan Burial Cave, offering a unique experience as visitors immerse themselves in the lush rainforest while paying respects to early settlers.

Deer Cave is renowned for being one of the largest cave passages in the world, with a diameter of up to 150 meters. As you enter, you'll encounter some artificial lighting within the cave, though flashlights are recommended for navigating darker areas. Visitors are often drawn to unique stalagmites and a specific formation near the cave entrance that bears a distinct resemblance to the profile of Abraham Lincoln.

Further into the cave, you’ll discover the Garden of Eden, an impressive karst valley or sinkhole approximately 1 km (0.62 mi) wide, surrounded by towering limestone walls up to 300 meters (980 feet) tall and a mountain slope on one side. This green oasis, with a volume of 150 million cubic meters, is covered with rainforest. After walking 800 meters inside Deer Cave, visitors can enjoy the unique showerhead formations known as Adam and Eve’s showers, where columns of water cascade 30 meters down to the riverbed below.

Lang's Cave

As you return almost the same way, you'll experience different perspectives and find yourself in Lang Cave, the smallest of the four show caves. Known for its intricate limestone formations, Lang Cave features stunning shawls, stalagmites, and stalactites. In this smaller cave, you'll also have the opportunity to observe bats up close and see the shimmering webs of threadworm larvae, adding to the unique wonders of the Mulu caves.

Showcaves Pricing & Time

Clearwater & Winds cave

The Clearwater and Cave of the Winds tour costs MYR 67.00 per person, which includes a guide and longboat fees. The tour lasts for approximately 4 hours, with daily departures starting at 08:45 or 09:15.

The tour begins with a boat ride up the Melinau River, stopping at a Penan longhouse and market (closed on Sundays), followed by visits to the Cave of the Winds and Clearwater Cave. Swimming inside the caves is not allowed, but visitors can enjoy the crystal-clear waters at the picnic deck.

Deer & Lang Cave

The Deer and Lang Cave tour is priced at MYR 35.00 per person, which includes the guide fee. The tour lasts around 3 hours and is timed to coincide with the famous bat exodus, with daily departures starting at 14:00 or 14:30 from Park HQ. The total distance covered is 9 km, with a 3 km walk on raised plank walkways leading to the Bat Observatory, followed by an additional 500m walk to Deer Cave.

What to Bring

Visitors should bring a swimming costume, raincoat or poncho, sturdy non-slip shoes, a torchlight, and insect repellent for all the caves. Additionally, there are no food and beverage options included in the clearwater and wind cave tour, so visitors are encouraged to bring their own and take all waste back to the Park HQ. The tour also offers toilet and designated smoking areas. As for Deer and Lang, food and beverages can be purchased at the small kiosk located at the bat observatory.

How to Get to Mulu National Park

To reach this remote wilderness area, air travel is essential. MASwings, a subsidiary of Malaysian Airlines, provides daily flights to Mulu from Miri, Kuching, and Kota Kinabalu.

• From Miri: 30 minutes, with three flights a day
• From Kuching: 1 hour 20 minutes
• From Kota Kinabalu: 55 minutes

Kuala Lumpur serves as the primary entry point into Malaysia. From Kuala Lumpur, you can fly to one of the ports mentioned above to connect to Mulu.

Flight Details: MASwings operates 64-seater ATR turbine-propeller aircraft. Be aware that the weather in this region of Sarawak can be unpredictable, with potential delays due to thunderstorms or strong winds.