Gua Ikan Dabong, nature’s secret treasure in Kelantan

Gua Ikan, which means Fish Cave, is thought to be so-named because a stream flows inside, which may be home to fish.

Gua Ikan is the name of a cave complex at Bukit Batu Kapur about five kilometres south of Dabong.

There are a number of caves here but most are not easy to access and it is recommended to engage a guide in order to appreciate the full extent of this complex.

If there is no guide available at the cave complex it might be possible to hire someone from the nearby Gunung Stong State Park.

Gua Ikan, which means Fish Cave, is thought to be so-named because a stream flows inside, which may be home to fish.

Well, there could be another theory. When approaching on highway 66 from the direction of Dabong, you will notice that the limestone hill structure containing the caves appears to be fish-shaped.

See? The shape of a fish is easily made out.

In Gua Keris there is a stalactite column resembling a Keris, the traditional Malay dagger.

The entrance to Gua Pagar is so tight that visitors have to crawl through a tunnel. So if you’re the claustrophobic kind, better to give it a miss.

A poster details the many caves within the complex of Gua Ikan Dabong in Kelantan.

Other caves are called Gua Gelap, Gua Keris, Gua Batu Susun, Gua Tembakau, Gua Puteri and Gua Setol and contain the usual underground chambers, flow stones and cave curtains typically found in Malaysian limestone caves.

Plant and animal life include bats (and lots of bat guano), trapdoor spiders, whip scorpions, fungus, some species of balsam and the one-leafed plant (Monophyllaea hirticalyx). And lots of mosquitos!

This article first appeared in Malaysia Traveller.

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