Deer Cave
Gunung Mulu National Park, Malaysia
Boasting the title of the world’s largest cave passage open to the public, Deer Cave is a highlight of the UNESCO-listed Gunung Mulu National Park in Sarawak, Borneo. Stalactites drip from the ceiling of this dramatic limestone cavern, which more than 3 million wrinkle-lipped bats call home.
Tours of Deer Cave depart once a day in the middle of the afternoon and take around 3 hours. They involve a 2-mile (3-kilometer) walk through the rainforest on raised planks, taking you to an ancient riverbed and to the evocatively named Garden of Eden, a lush tropical valley with water cascades. Deer Cave is a staple of tours of Gunung Mulu National Park, which generally last a minimum of 3 days because of its remote location.
There is a fee to tour the cave.
The boardwalks in the cave can be slippery, so wear sturdy non-slip shoes and bring a waterproof layer just in case.
There are a lot of mosquitoes at Gunung Mulu National Park (that’s what keeps the bats so well fed), so wear plenty of insect repellant.
At the Bat Observatory by Deer Cave, there’s a small kiosk that sells drinks and snacks; only cash is accepted.
Take any litter back out of the park with you.
There are toilets and a smoking area outside of Deer Cave.
Gunung Mulu National Park has an extremely remote location, deep in the rainforests of Sarawak in Borneo. The only way to reach it is by plane using Maswings (a subsidiary of Malaysian Airlines). You can fly from Miri (30 minutes), the Sarawak state capital of Kuching (90 minutes), or the Sabah state capital of Kota Kinabalu (1 hour).
The visitor office in Gunung Mulu National Park is open from morning until early evening; tours of Deer Cave typically start in the afternoon and finish mid-evening if you stay to watch the bat exodus. The best time to visit the park is during the driest time of year, from April to September.
If you want to see huge clouds of bats departing in search of dinner, visit Deer Cave in the late afternoon around dusk—the exact time of the bat exodus can vary depending on the weather and temperature. You can watch the spectacle from the Bat Observatory outside of Deer Cave. The winged creatures (of which there are estimated to be 3 million living in the park) fly in incredible corkscrew-like formations that are said to deter competing predators.
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