Adventure

Miri is a popular dive destination, due to an abundance of pristine patch reefs that make up the Miri-Sibuti Reef Marine Park, lying at depths from 7 to 30 meters with average visibility ranging from 10 to 30 meters. There are also some interesting wreck dives. The best time to dive is from March to August, but diving is available all year round.

The diversity and accessibility of corals and other marine life on the reefs is amongst the best in the region. Hard and soft corals cover the entire reefs, with abundant gorgonians, sea-whips, anemones, sponges and crinoids. Angel fish, butterfly fish, fusiliers, groupers, stingrays, trigger fish, parrot fish, wrasses are among the numerous reef species that can be seen and over 40 species of nudibranch have been recorded.

Dive Sites
For the dive enthusiasts, Eve's Garden, Santak Point, Kenyalang Rig, Tukau Drop Off and Siwa Reefs are not to be missed if you want to see some of the most beautiful corals, turtles, variety of fishes and even the occasional shark. Sunken vessels such as Sri Gadong and Atago Maru are also interesting dive sites.

All the sites listed below are just a short boat ride from the city:

Eve's Garden (15 mins boat ride)
A shallow reef of just 7-12 meters carpeted with soft corals such as leather corals, elephant's ear and dead man's fingers. Giant anemones and clown fish inhabit the reef, along with schooling yellowtail fusiliers and angel fishes.

Anemone Garden (30mins)
One of the most interesting reefs with a depth range of 10 - 16 meters, with hard and soft corals, anemones and their symbolic clown fishes, bubble corals, anchor corals, colorful dendronepthya soft corals, feather stars, giant clams, nudibranches and schooling yellowtails.

Sea Fan Garden (30 mins)
This unique 16 meter deep reef provides an excellent environment for an amazing variety of gorgonian sea fans, sea whips and schooling batfish.

Tukau Drop-Off (50 mins)
An exciting drop-off reef (20-40 meters) with a vertical wall. Schooling jacks, barracudas, napoleon Wrasses, yellowtail fusiliers and large groupers are always present, and sharks and trumpet fish are occasionally seen here.

Grouper Patch (1 hour)
Giant groupers inhabit this reef of 15-18 meters depth. Spiny lobsters are also present together with yellowtail fusiliers and other schooling fishes.

Santak Point (45 mins)
The average visibility here is 30 meters of more. Large gorgonian fans of 2 meters in size are all over the top of the reeef at 21 meters. Te reef edge drops to 35 meters.

Atago Maru Wreck (15 mins)
A World War II era Japanese warship wreck just off Lutong. The 100 meter ship sits upright with the top deck just 10 meters below the surface. Most of the hull is covered with cave corals. A large moray eel has made its home here and travelly, jacks and barracudas are frequently seen.

Batu Belais Reef (30 mins)
A picturesque reef covered with gorgonian trees and seafans. Batfishes are common among the long swaying sea whips - a photographer's heaven.

Sunday Reef (35 mins)
Large hard corals make up this richly inhabited 11-16 meter deep reef, populated with anemones, clown fishes and nudibranches.

Sri Gadong Wreck (1 HR 10 mins)
A small 30 meter cargo ship sits on an 18 meter sand bottom. The whole wreck is teeming with life; jacks, yellow grunts, batfish and barracudas circle the wreck while giant groupers swim in or out of the cargo holds.

For more information for diving, please contact Tropical Dives for details and packages. They are located here.

This National Park is located in the upper reaches of the Sungai Bunut where Sarawak's largest natural lake is found. The local Berawan fishermen call this lake 'Logan Bunut'. At approximately 650 hectares, Loagan Bunut may not be large by most world standards, but, it is not an ordinary lake. The water level in the lake is totally dependent on the water level of Sungai Bunut, Sungai Tinjar and Sungai Baram. The water levels of these rivers fluctuate throughout the year and as a result, the water level at Loagan Bunut also fluctuates. The water levels at Loagan Bunut are usually lowest in the months of February and May or June. These periods of low water last for about 2 to 3 weeks. For more information regarding the water level in the lake, visitors can contact the Visitor's Information Centre in Miri. The fish populations also fluctuate as a result of this unique situation. When the dry periods are at their peak, Loagan Bunut can become a huge expanse of dry cracked mud. You can actually walk on the dry mud.

The lake and its surrounding areas are vibrant and scenic, both during high and low water levels. A major cultural attraction at the lake is the unique and traditional method of fishing ('Selambau') which has been retained by the Berawan fishermen. 'Selambau' was developed to harvest migrating fish during the times of fluctuating water levels. This technique has been used for centuries and has enabled the Berawan fishermen to manage this unique fishery effectively and sustainably for many generations.

The surrounding area is covered with peat swamp forest and Mixed Dipterocarp Forest. The common birds found here are the darters, egrets, herons, bitterns, eagle, swallow, stork, broadbill, malkoha, kingfisher, magpie robin, dove, bulbul, drongo, flying fox hornbills and kites. Animals can be found such as barking deer, bearded pig, sambar deer, argus pheasant, long-tail macaque, black barded langur, lesser mouse deer, small-tooth palm civet, giant squirrel and Gibbons can also be heard doing their morning calls.

Accommodation Facilitiesview of the forest hostel interior

Rate : RM15.00 per bed
Accommodation facilities consist of chalets units with electricity and piped water.

See also : Royal Mulu Resort Hotel

Gunung Mulu National Park is one of Nature's most spectacular achievements and the 'jewel in the crown' of Sarawak's expanding network of national parks. It is also the largest national park, covering 52,865 hectares of primary rainforest, which is criss-crossed by fast flowing rivers and clear jungle streams. Mulu is dominated by three mountains - Gunung Mulu (2,376 m), Gunung Api (1,750 m) and Gunung Benarat (1,585 m).

Yet many of Mulu's greatest attractions lie deep below the surface. Hidden underneath the forested slopes of these mountains is one of the largest limestone cave systems in the world.

Mulu's four Show Caves were selected for their uniqueness or sheer beauty. Besides the popularly visited Deer Caves, Lang Caves, Clearwater Caves and Lady's Caves, a more strenuous trek leads to a weird landscape of razor-sharp rock pinnacles.

They can all be visited as day trips from the park HQ and are accessible by plankwalks and well-lit concrete paths. Strategically positioned spotlights highlight the unique features of the individual caves. A plank walk leads through the forest to Deer and Lang's Cave whilst Clearwater Cave and Wind Cave are reached by taking a longboat up the Melinau River, or by following a 4 km nature trail. The more adventurous can do Adventure Caving.

Permits and a park guide are usually organized by tour operators. Access to Mulu was traditionally by boat, but Fockker Friendship and Twin Otter workhorse flights from Malaysia Airlines rural services are available and shorten daylong trips to 25 minutes and 40 minutes flights respectively.

The Canopy Skywalk, the world's longest tree-based structure, in Mulu National Park allow visitors a glimpse of life in the treetops of the rainforest. 480 meters of walkway hang 20 meters above the forest floor, forming a circular route suspended between 15 trees with a separate exit tower. To keep human incursions at a sustainable level, visitor numbers to the Canopy Skywalk are carefully monitored. Tour operators need to book canopy walks well in advance, and stay within the stated hours. Up to ten hours per day is available.

At dusk, millions of bats will fly out of the caverns, a very spectacular sight.

Link: http://www.mulupark.com

The Great Cave of Niah is enormous by any measure. The floor area of the cave has been calculated at almost 10 hectares and in places the cave roof rises a majestic 75 meters above the rubble-strewn floor. It has been the site of around 40,000 years of human occupation.

The earliest phase of cave occupation is referred to as the Paleolithic (old stone age) and occurs in the late Pleistocene epoch. The Pleistocene ends with the beginning of Holocene epoch around 10,000 years ago. During the Holocene there were many exciting changes in the way humans occupied a wide range of environments across the globe.

At Niah, human use of the caves changes from a location of intermittent use by mobile foragers during the early Holocene and becomes a major repository of the dead around 4,000 years ago. At the same time, there is evidence for the use of pottery as funerary gifts and also as burial jars, with much later evidence for the deposition of imported metals, ceramics and glass.

Niah Cave is a two hours' drive from Miri. Access is made possible by accessible roads, therefore National Park headquarters is easily reached by car. Navigation is made easy with the large road signs showing the distance and way. Batu Niah is the nearest township - from there is is a pleasant boat ride or 45-minute stroll along the riverbank to the National Park.