Walk into the Great Cave of Niah

What the experience is

The caves of Niah lie in a limestone massif that rises out of lowland rainforest in the Miri division of Sarawak, in Malaysian Borneo. UNESCO added them to the World Heritage list on 27 July 2024. The main one, the Great Cave, has a very large mouth, reported as roughly 150 metres wide and 75 metres high. In 1958 a human skull was found in the deposits at its entrance. It has been dated to about 40,000 years ago and is among the oldest remains of modern humans in Southeast Asia.

From the park office a boat crosses a small river, and a raised boardwalk runs through the forest to the Great Cave. The path continues through the dark interior to the Painted Cave, a separate chamber with figures drawn in red along its wall, thought to be about 1,200 years old. Below them were found wooden coffins shaped like boats.

The caves are still worked. Swiftlets build their nests high on the roof, and the nests are the main ingredient of bird’s nest soup. At certain times of year collectors from the local community climb poles to the ceiling and scrape the nests down. Bats share the cave, and at dusk the birds come in as the bats go out; what a visitor sees depends on the hour and the season.

When to go

The park is open all year. The boardwalk is slippery after rain.

Good to know

A torch and shoes with good grip are needed. The return walk takes several hours. Niah is reached by road from Miri, which has flights from Kuala Lumpur, Kuching and Kota Kinabalu. Opening hours, the state of the boardwalk and access to the Painted Cave should be checked with the park. The caves are a working site for nest collectors and an archaeological site, so keep to the paths.

Why OKYTO recommends it

It is a walk into one of the largest cave mouths in Southeast Asia and into the oldest human story in the region. It combines with the caves and pinnacles of Mulu, Sarawak’s other World Heritage site.