Silabur Cave in Sarawak

From the entrance of the cave, it will take you another 15 minutes before you reach the main cave chamber, which is called Labak Tirason.

One of the photographers poses inside the cave. Photo by Paul Sarawak

From the foot of the mountain, you then need to trek up halfway which is roughly another hour before you reach the entrance of the cave at the mid of the mountain.

Inside the beautiful cave at Mount Silabur

What to do in Silabur Caves? 

A group of cavers climbing the wooden stairs inside the cave

Silabur Cave Legend

The Gua Silabur Legend

A long time ago, the local Bidayuh people here celebrated the harvest festival once every year. On one harvest festive celebration night, there was an old man who lived in the village. The old man has one grandchild who stays together with him. For the kids parents are nowhere to be found after they went out for food, some say they were killed by the head hunters, and some say they were eaten by animals.

On that festive celebration night, the old man was eating Kasam Ikan (a local delicacy where they marinade the raw fish with rice and salt, put it in a tight jar, leave it in a dark corner for a month or so and eat it), but one of the village people mixed the fish with the rubber tree fruits to play a joke with the old man. The old man eventually ate the rubber fruits, and got laughed by the village people. And the old man then called his dog, and he tied a bell on the leg of the dog, and asked the dog to bark at the village people.

The dog starts chasing after them, and due to the bell, the old man will know the where his dog is from the sound. But all of a sudden the sound of the bell is gone, complete silence. The old man keeps on calling the dog to come back, but it never returned. 

The old man cried, and while was crying, it started to rain, and a weird thing happened where it rained rocks instead of water drops. The rain became heavier, and soon when they knew it, the rocks had then formed the mountain, and also the cave. 

At the entrance of the Siturib Cave, which is a water cave. Photo from Silabur Facebook Page

Siturib Cave or Gua Siturib

Aerial view of Sky-Park on top of Mount Silabur. Photo from Silabur Facebook Page

This is the top of the mountain, where many visitors will also trek or climb up since they are here. A trek up to Sky-Park will take you about three hours, and is a medium level trekking. 

For those interested in doing this, you must engage the local Silabur guides, as they know the place inside out.

The thrill about the trek up Mount Silabur is enjoying the amazing view of the area from the peak here. Usually, it would be better to start with the trek up, and then visit the caves.

However, you can ask your local guides about this, and which is easier done. If you plan to do both trekking and caving, then you will require a full day here.

How to go to Silabur Caves? 

If you are in Kuching, you can ask some of the travel agents in town, as they would know who organize trips to Silabur Caves. 

For those who plan to explore by themselves, you can easily drive to Silabur Cave on your own, with your friends. Please do not go by yourself, as visiting caves is best done in a small group. 

The best way to go to Silabur Cave for travellers is to rent a car and self-drive there. There are directions on Google Maps which make your drive here easy.

Once you reach here, you can contact the local Silabur Cave Association to make arrangements. The contact is below in a photo.

Driving directions to Silabur Cave from Google Maps

Driving Directions to Silabur Cave or Gua Silabur

First, you need to head to Serian town from Kuching, which is about 90 minutes drive with mild traffic. I would recommend using Google Maps or Waze to do this. 

After you reach Serian, head to Tebakang town, which is another 15-minute drive. From the main Jalan Serian-Tebedu, you need to turn off at Kampung Tebakang. 

Here, there are two villages, known as Kampung Tebakang Dayak, and Kampung Tebakang Melayu, which are located one after the other.

Once you enter this village, you need to drive about 20 minutes until you reach Lampung Lobang Batu, and then look out for SK Lobang Batu, then look for a sign that turns right into the Gua Silabur or Silabur Cave.

After you turn into that road, head towards Kampung Batu Lin and Batu Mawang, which is about 1.5 km inside. Batu Lin is also a Bidayuh village, and signboards are showing the village name.

Do ask for directions if you are unsure as the locals are very helpful in this part of Sarawak.

The contact persons for anyone who wants to explore Silabur Caves in Serian

Additional Information For Silabur Caves

• There is an entrance fee of RM10.00 per person paid at the foot of Mount Silabur, to the Silabur Association. 
• The cave is also managed by the local Silabur Birdnest Operator Association.
• Local tour guides for the caves are available at RM50.00.
• The main office to do your booking is in the village closest to the caves. There is a small office there, and you can ask the locals when you are there. 
• I would recommend you contact them from the numbers above to make an appointment. 

Take a look at some of the other caves in Sarawak and Sabah, which I wrote about many years ago if you are interested in visiting the others.

I write this article about the Silabur Caves in Serian, based on the Visit Sarawak Campaign, which is in 2019, and the objective is to promote the other places of Sarawak, with a tagline of Sarawak More To Discover.