Introduction
Places to Visit
Eco-Tourism
Places To Eat
Sports
Accomodation
Beyond Tawau
Gear up to go hiking up Bukit Gemok Tawau, explore through the unruffled trees within. Visitors will see huge looming trees that tower high up to the skies, unusual creatures hidden quietly among them. About seven huts are set around the trek paths,set for a short stop and rest. Depending on how fast or slow you travel, tourists will find themselves arriving at a canopy bridge walkway, Titian Silara, one of the strongest walkways in Sabah, approximately 231 metres long. Get ready to breathe in the fresh air, enjoy the beauty around and make sure to bring along water to keep the body hydrated!
The hill park is in the Northwest of Tawau. Arriving on scene, hiring a guide to navigate you around the rainforest would be helpful. Have fun being in awe at the majestic trees, as they are the tallest tropical trees in the world. There are more than 7 rivers that flow from this spot. Flowing through the huge park, the Tawau River has formed several deepwater pools and waterfalls, one being the Table Waterfall. A habitat for various flora and fauna, the park is also a fun place to conduct picnics, camping and many more outdoor activities for families.
One of Sabah’s Lost World is the Maliau Conservation Area, and it looks like it is a huge bowl of pristine and tranquil wild forest. This circular basin like wonder, reaches a height of 1675 metres above sea level, while staying uninhabited and undisturbed. Many large areas of the 58,840 hectares still remain to be explored and uncovered. It is a great place to do some trekking. Some of the animals that will probably make appearances include species of gibbons, hornbills, leopard cats, deers or even civets.
The Ulu Kalumpang Forest Reserve is a sanctuary for many animals that have been threatened with extinction in Borneo. It takes about 35km to get from Tawau to this reserve. It was first gazetted into a forest reserve in 1956 beginning as a block of land having 862 square kilometers. After undergoing many changes, it finally settled with having 511 square kilometres in 1992. As much as 8 million Malaysian Ringgit has been spent for the Ulu Kalumpang-Wullersdorf Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) Project to this day.
In Sabah, there are many hot springs and in Tawau, there was one hidden spring that was formed within the last century. It was abandoned and has now been developed into a hit with attracting tourists as a visiting destination. Despite not fully exposed as a popular site, it still manages to bring in families who want to have picnics and leisure time. In addition to being a family picnic location, the hot spring pool is also visited for various purposes including performing rituals to apply for 'granting of intentions'.
Basalt which is formed when lava that is flowing from a volcano undergoes rapid cooling. It is a rare occurrence in Malaysia but it can be seen at certain spots here in Tawau, with one being at Balung River, near the Balung Cocos village. One Basalt column was due to a flow from a nearby volcano that has now lay dormant. Many believe it is Mount Lucia. This location was published in 2016 as a tourist spot, both for foreigners and locals to increase exposure to the area.