Interest Places In Tawau, Sabah

Tawau Hills Park

The Tawau Hills National Park was gazetted in 1979 and comprises 27,972 ha. Located 24 Km from Tawau town, this area is accessible by road and the Park Head Quarters are located at the entrance of the park. The highest point of the park at 1310 m is Gunung Madalena. The park offers picnic areas, a vast camping site, and chalets, and is very popular with Tawau local residents on weekends.

Tawau Hills Park is about 40 minutes drive from Tawau town. The park consist mainly lowland forest. With the lowland attitude above 1000 meter, orchids are abundant and discover the most spectacular within the park, the Elephant’s Ear Orchid. If you're into plants you might find many lowland species plants here. Vegetation to see are the lowland Dipterocarp forest. Flora and fauna, such as orchids are in abundance.

If you're lucky you might able to spot some wildlife animal here. Long tailed macaques Red-Leaf monkeys are common. Occasionally a troop of white monkeys can also be sighted. U might want to be careful with your food when these monkeys are around. Other common animals include The Forest Tortoise, Giant Tree Squirrels, Civet-Cat and even Clouded Leopards, Hornbills and other forest binds are abundant in the park. Visitors can enjoy the facilities at the park such as crystal clear river for swimming, spectacular waterfall, picnic area, barbecue stands, suspension bridge, public shelter, jungle trails and canteen. If you like outdoor, there are also camping grounds.

The park was gazetted as a protection for water catchment for the people of Tawau town and the Semporna peninsula. The Tawau River flows through the park, fed by abundant rainfall throughout the year. The rivers in the park tumble over several attractive waterfalls, and the Table Waterfall has created a natural swimming pool. Shelters, toilets and changing rooms are near the Table Waterfall. Beware if you wish to swim beneath the waterfall as the pool is quite deep. A trail leads further into the forest to a calm Hot Spring, past more spectacular waterfalls, but you need to count three hours of trekking. Bombalai Hill (530m) is only about a half-an-hour jungle walk. From the hill you have a panoramic view of cacao and palm oil plantations, Tawau town and at the horizon the Sulawesi Sea!

The Park comprises rugged volcanic landscapes. Bombalai Hill is a relatively young volcanic cone and the remains of the central crater, which can still be seen on the summit. Vegetation to see are the lowland Dipterocarp forest. Flora and fauna, such as orchids are in abundance.

U can have a day trip visit here however if you wish to stay here there are 1 Chalet and 2 jungle lodges available for visitors. If you're a large group the campsite can accommodate 500 to 1000 campers. Camp site rate is RM5.00 per person/night. RM 2.00 (below 18 years) per person/night. Those who wish to camp must use their own camping equipment.

Accommodation and queries can made to:

Koperasi KOKTAS Sdn Bhd Tel/Fax: 089-768719

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Sipadan Island

Sipadan Island on the map

View of the Island

Map of Sipadan Island dan divesite

You can go to Sipadan Island via Tawau. Once you reached the airport you need to take a boat from Semporna, another small town about 1 hour from Tawau airport.

Many tourist visited this Island for diving. It is one of the most beautiful diving spot in the world. Presently, the island is in the care of Wildlife Department, which has stationed several park rangers to oversee the state of nature of the island. To protect the world unique flora & fauna on the island as well as the underwater world the Malaysian Government has decided that from 2005 no more overnight facilities shall be on Sipadan itself. This means that all dive operators on Sipadan have to move; diving Sipadan will be conducted from other destinations, such as Mabul and Kapalai. It is likely that Sipadan will be designated a marine reserve under Sabah Parks, and there are plans for a World Heritage Site listing.

Sipadan is the only oceanic island in Malaysia, rising 2,000 feet or 600m from the seabed. It is located in the Celebes Sea east of the major town of Tawau and off the coast of East Malaysia on the Island of Borneo. It was formed by living corals growing on top of an extinct volcanic cone that took thousands of years to develop. Sipadan is located at the heart of the Indo-Pacific basin, the centre of one of the richest marine habitats in the world. More than 3,000 species of fish and hundreds of coral species have been classified in this ecosystem.

Normally rare diving scenes are frequently seen in the waters around Sipadan: schools of greenback turtles and hawksbill turtles nesting and mating, schools of barracuda & big-eye trevally in tornado-like formations, pelagic species such as manta rays, eagle rays, scalloped hammerhead sharks and whale sharks.

A mysterious turtle tomb lies underneath the column of the island, formed by an underwater limestone cave with a labyrinth of tunnels and chambers that contain many skeletal remains of turtles that have become lost and drown before finding the surface

Source : Wikipedia

For more info pls visit this website1 and website2

Madai Caves

Madai Caves is another important place for birds' nests. The village at the entrance of the largest cave comes alive twice a year when the Idahan community comes to harvest the birds' nests from various parts of the caves. It is a special communal event, almost like a festival.The harvesting is a dramatic event with the men risking their lives to prise precious nests from the cave roof. Nowadays, the harvesters are hired. The Idahans have held their rights to the Madai Caves for over 20 generations.

To visit the caves, permission must be obtained from the Idahan elders. Visitors may visit the District Office in Lahad Datu town to make prior arrangements for entrance permission on their behalf.

The caves are near the Lahad Datu-Tawau Highway. The turn-off is 69km from Lahad Datu. Watch out for the signpost that says 'Gua Madai'. From the turn-off, it's 3km to the caves. You can see the sign board of Madai Caves as you pass by the main road. Just keep your eye open so that you will not miss it.

All buses between Lahad Datu and Semporna or Tawau will pass the turn-off to the caves. From here, you'll be able to find a minivan to take you to the caves. But you might have to walk back out to the highway to catch your ride back.