Gua Ikan

Gua Ikan sits in a limestone outcrop just outside Dabong in central Kelantan, and it is a through-cave: a stream has cut a passage into the hill and out the other side, so the walk goes in at one mouth, along a wide gravelly floor with the water beside and sometimes underfoot, and out into daylight beyond. The name means fish cave and comes from a rock formation inside read as a fish. It is part of a cluster - Gua Pagar, Gua Keris and others in the same hills, some of which need a guide - and the whole group is usually visited from Dabong, which is a stop on the jungle railway and the reason many travellers pass through at all. Stalactites, bats and a cool draught through the passage are what you get.

What you actually see

• A through-passage cave - stream-cut, entering one side and out the other.
• The fish rock - the formation the cave is named for.
• A stream floor - gravel and water underfoot along the passage.
• A cave cluster - Gua Pagar and Gua Keris in the same hills nearby.

When to go

All year; avoid the monsoon, when the stream floods the passage. Half a day.

Honest expectations

The floor is wet and slippery and you will get your feet wet - bring a torch, lighting is minimal. The cave floods in heavy rain. The other caves in the cluster need a guide.

Nearby

Jelawang waterfall and Gunung Stong are near Dabong; the jungle railway runs through.