Borneo Caving Contacts

[bentruro@gmail.com]

Hi I am lucky enough to be in Borneo for a couple of weeks in August. I will be on my own with no caving kit. I had the same situation in New Zealand in March and managed to do a couple of great trips with a local caving gear. I want to go caving in Borneo but have no contacts there. I have been caving for 37 years, so I am pretty self sufficient. Any suggestions welcome 🙏 😎

 

[Fjell]

It’s possible to go caving in Mulu if you pay for it. There are several companies. Cave of the Winds to Clearwater and even Sarawak Chamber. Several massive others near the HQ. You don’t need vertical gear. You can’t go without Park guides.
Niah Caves you just need a decent head torch, not even a helmet. No guides.

As soon as you need rope you have escalated way past a holiday trip in the area, and there is vast scope without it.

If you took a helmet and lamp you are sorted basically. Maybe some knee pads. Tee shirt, shorts and some sort of boot. It’s hot, humid and buggy.

 

[Badlad]

Borneo is huge and divided into three countries. Brunai, Indonesia and two states of Malaysia, Sarawak and Sabah. Caves in all but Brunai. However, there is little freedom to just go caving. Much depends on where you are based. But a lot of the caves are difficult to access and require local knowledge and even official guiding. There are some options for paid guides but little to no options for recreational caving as we know it.

 

[Fjell]

There are some show caves near Kuching, but not overly exciting. I would not try in Sabah on a holiday, it won’t work. It is more organised on Peninsula Malaysia with Malaysian cavers more involved, but still not really that easy for a tourist. There are a lot of “local issues” around the place so I would suggest sticking to going with a company and guides. Mulu is about the one place in the world it is worth it.

I would pay to do something in Mulu and visit Niah by car from Miri. You can fly to Mulu from Miri or KK.

 

[Fjell]

When I last lived in KK about 8 years ago we had the Chinese on the horizon trying to invade from the west, and a war going on in eastern Sabah with some Filipinos who believed Sabah belonged to them: last time I went diving there we had a dozen guys with assault rifles standing guard. Malaysia had deployed it’s only working tank, so you know it was serious.

 

[Fjell]

The via ferrata on Kinabalu is a laugh. Long day if you do the full one after going to the summit. Keep you busy.