Exploring Gua Tempurung Cave: An Epic Ipoh Day Trip

by Jub | Aug 29, 2016

Caves are bad ass. When you enter a cave, you’re expecting an adventure. Peninsula Malaysia’s largest limestone cave certainly delivered, well eventually. I was looking forward to checking out Gua Tempurung cave after hearing about it in Penang. The perfect chance came up when I wanted to meet some friends living in Kuala Lumpur. Ipoh is the gateway to Gua Tempurung, roughly halfway between Penang and KL. The perfect spot to catch up with the buddies! We decided to do the Gua Tempurung tour 4 the night before (click here for a description of the tours available…prices are at the bottom of the post). Thankfully we did some research as the last tour started at 11am – rather early by our standards. We made it just in time running inside to catch up with the rest of the tour who started a few minutes earlier. The first 20 minutes of the tour was lame. We followed the concrete path up and down stairs in the sauna like conditions. With nothing interesting to look at and no chat about the history of Gua Tempurung or any fun facts I thought the tour was going to be a dud. Luckily that all changed when we got to the end of the 1km concrete walkway. Our guide told us to turn off our flashlights momentarily. When everything went pitch black that was the cue for adventure time.

The adventure begins

Gua Tempurung cave is over 3km long, 1.9km of which we would be exploring. The largest limestone cave in Peninsula Malaysia is made up of five different domes. Each unique with different:

stalactites & stalagmites
water levels

limestone and marble content
temperatures

Before we knew it, we were shimming through small gaps, crawling through the rivers, jumping over gaps in the path and sliding on our bums up and down levels. Our Gua Tempurung caving experience was now at the gnarly level we were looking for.].

Spot the scorpion

We also met some friendly cave dwellers on the way. I’ve got no idea how our guide spotted them but we saw two large spiders, a scorpion, a centipede and some bats. It was definitely one of those situations where you think, crikey, if you turned on the lights right now I’d probably freak out big time and possibly poop my pants a little bit with all the creepy crawly’s around.

Yay for finding the light

Two hours later we found light. It wasn’t where we entered the cave but the turn around point. We got a 15 minute break and this gave me a chance to see just how big the cave was (see photo below).

Gives you an idea of the size of the cave

Time to head back into the cave. It’s crazy to think we went back a different way, I saw no alternative routes on the way through. That’s why you have a guide I guess.

That’s thing is pretty scary too

There was an adrenaline pumping moment on the way back. At one section you slide on your bum with no chance of reclaiming your grip. You only slide for a couple metres but the guide definitely needs to be there to catch you or else 8/10 people are going to break something!

One of the girls starting her slide

After 3 hours and 15 minutes of intense sweating and maneuvering our body like a pretzel we exited the cave. Our Gua Tempurung caving experience was epic. There was around 15 of us in the group and everyone had smiles hidden behind their exhaustion and wet clothes. I highly recommend this tour!

Gua Tempurung Entrance Fee

A few notes:

These prices are as of 22nd August 2016
Bring your student ID along, you may get the discounted rate if you ask nicely 😉

The Gua Tempurung ticket price includes the guide

gua tempurung entrance fee and price list

Prices as of August 2016

How To Get To Gua Tempurung Caves

There is a large car park so can drive there. The caves are located just south of Gopeng and 25km south of Ipoh. Gua Tempurung Map Link (Google): click here

From Gopeng:

Hitchhike: There’s plenty of room for cars to pull over on the main road through Gopeng. Get your ride to drop you off at the turnoff to the caves. From there you can hope to get a ride with someone else or walk the ~2km the rest of the way. Taxi: There are plenty of taxis available from Gopeng bus station. We took a taxi from here for 20 MYR one way. Our driver provided his business card so we could call him if we wanted to get picked up afterwards (20MYR as well). Bus: You can bus from Gopeng to the turn off and walk or hitch the last couple of kilometres.

From Ipoh:

Bus: From Medan Kidd bus station, take bus no.66 (they run every 20 mins or so). You can either get off at Gopeng bus station or at the turnoff to the caves. From there, see above. The bus fare is 2.70 MYR and takes 50-60 minutes from Medan Kidd Station to Gopeng Station. We asked a couple of people who were on our tour to drop us off at the bus stop near the turn off so we could get the bus straight back to Ipoh afterwards. My recommendation: If you want to get the 11 am wet tour, get a taxi from Gopeng. You wouldn’t want to miss out on the tour because you were mucking around with buses and hitchhiking. If you ask nicely, getting a ride back from Gua Tempurung – Gopeng or the bus station on the main road shouldn’t be too hard.

What To Bring Caving Gua Tempurung

That flash light life

A spare change of clothes: Assuming you are doing the wet tour, you will get wet! There’s no avoiding getting wet unless you have spider man abilities. There are showers available at the cave entrance for 1MYR. Shoes or sandals with straps: I brought my sandals along and they weren’t recommended, rightly so. They have some shoes available there. If you bring shoes, they’ll get wet….don’t forget that 🙂 gua tempurung stone

Waterproof camera/cover: If you don’t have a waterproof camera or phone case, don’t bring them into the cave. They won’t last very long in most cases. Cave photography is for the experts only anyway. A head torch/flashlight: One flashlight between two people is fine. If you don’t have one, they’re available at the entrance for 5MYR (cheap low quality ones but they do the job). Food and drink: You won’t be bringing food on the wet tour. You can take a water bottle, but please don’t litter. There are a couple of rubbish bins on the concrete path you can use in the first 1km of the cave. Food and drinks are available afterward at the shop. There are lockers available for your stuff near the entrance for 5 MYR.

Is There A Hostel Or Hotel Near Gua Tempurung

Such a hipster hostel

If you’d like to stay near Medan Kidd Bus Station in Ipoh, I can recommend Le’Bug & Boat Backpackers. A chilled out hostel where you half expect a hipster to come pour you a coffee! The hotel scene in Gopeng barely scratches the surface, so I recommend using airbnb in Gopeng. Otherwise Ipoh has lots of options. There’s my Gua Tempurung review for you. 10/10 would do again! My other epic Malaysia adventure was also memorable, climbing Mount Kinabalu in one day.

30 Comments

Lee on February 4, 2017 at 11:41 am

Great review – thanks for all the handy info.
Reply
- Jub on February 4, 2017 at 11:57 am
  
  No worries, Lee. Enjoy your trip, shout out if you need any answers and I’ll do my best.
  Reply
  - Samuel on June 24, 2017 at 3:29 am
    
    Can i purchase ticket by online??
    Reply
    - Jub on June 26, 2017 at 11:42 am
      
      Hey Samuel,
      
      From what I gather, no. You might find a tour organised on something like TripAdvisor but the prices will be a lot higher than buying the ticket yourself.
      Reply
Aiman Halim on March 10, 2017 at 2:00 pm

Hi! My name is Aiman and I’ll be going to Gua Tempurung this coming Sunday.
Thanks for sharing your experience. Now I got some ideas of what to expect & prepare before going there. ???
Reply
- Jub on March 12, 2017 at 9:49 am
  
  Thanks for the message Aiman, hope you had an epic time today exploring Gua Tempurung 🙂
  Reply
Synz on March 23, 2017 at 8:22 am

Hi!
We are planning to go to Gua tempurong next week. Do you have any idea how to get there from KL? We are arriving in KL at 6am on 29 March. And we plan to go directly to GT when we reach KL.
Reply
- Jub on March 31, 2017 at 6:47 pm
  
  Hey Synz, sorry I didn’t get to this til now (silly press trips). Let me know how the trip was!
  Reply
Aishwariya on March 25, 2017 at 6:01 am

hi, Im aishwariya. I am going to gua tempurung for next weekend. But, its kinda hard for me to find the actual price for the tours. Do we need to book in advance?
Reply
- Jub on March 31, 2017 at 6:49 pm
  
  Hey ya, no need to book in advance. Assume the prices are the same as the picture in the post 🙂 Enjoy!
  Reply
Farah on March 29, 2017 at 4:15 am

Great Post, Jub! I haven’t done the wet tour yet. Should pay a visit soon.
Reply
- Jub on March 31, 2017 at 6:45 pm
  
  Definitely worth a look!
  Reply
Kvis on April 24, 2017 at 6:11 am

Hello,

How i get to require or go there only pay money then can go in ?
Reply
- Jub on April 26, 2017 at 5:44 pm
  
  Hey Kvis, yup, you don’t need to book in advance. Just bring cash along!
  Reply
Adrian on June 11, 2017 at 8:44 am

Hi,

I’m planning to go to tempurung straight away after I landed from Singapore at 9 am. Could we make it for the grand wet tour? Since we are straight from airport, we will bring along our backpacks.. is it possible to deposit the back at Tempurung Cave?

Thanks!
Reply
- Jub on June 11, 2017 at 11:59 pm
  
  Hey Adrian,
  
  As it’s an international flight you’d have to get a perfect run and still thin you’d not make it on time that day. Can you do it the following day?
  
  Can definitely deposit bags with the staff at the cave entry 🙂 ENJOY
  Reply
DS on June 12, 2017 at 4:58 pm

Hye Jub is there any package tours? Because I would like to have a look in all the 4 tours. And how about the price.?
Reply
- Jub on June 13, 2017 at 9:35 am
  
  Hey DS,
  
  Not that I am aware of, could be worth checking out http://tourismperakmalaysia.com/ and emailing them.
  Reply
Wong on August 18, 2017 at 10:27 am

Hi Jub, are the tours operated by GTOC ( Gua Tempurung Outdoor Camp)?
They are quoting RM 50 for the grand adventure tour and I am wondering if I can just sign up at Gua Tempurung instead.

Hope to hear from you soon.
Reply
- Jub on August 18, 2017 at 7:39 pm
  
  Hey Wong,
  
  Unless things have changed, you can just turn up and book there 🙂 Have the best time ever!
  Reply
Farah on September 6, 2017 at 3:19 am

Hey there Jub! I’m heading over to Gua Tempurung this Saturday and your blog has helped me a lot. Thank you!
Also, some of the places you’ve been are places i’m looking forward to go so i’ll be jotting down tips for that as well.
Look forward to read more!

xx
Reply
- Jub on September 6, 2017 at 10:25 pm
  
  Hey Farah,
  
  Awesome, thanks for reading. Have fun in the cave and the rest of Perak!!!
  Reply
Wariporn Sae ko on November 20, 2017 at 10:28 pm

Hi, im planning to go gua tempurung with few my bff, how can i get there from ipoh? And how to get back to ipoh after done? We will not be driving though. What is the best time to visit the gua?
Reply
- Jub on November 24, 2017 at 4:13 pm
  
  Hi there, sorry for the delayed response. Answers are both in the post 😀
  Reply
puteri on March 11, 2018 at 10:34 am

can i pay on online
Reply
- Jub on March 14, 2018 at 9:22 am
  
  Hi Puteri,
  
  Unfortunately, not at this time. Cash in hand at the location.
  Cheers, Jub
  Reply
Eugenia on March 26, 2018 at 10:28 am

Hi, I really wanted to try tour3 but I only have 3person in my team(including me). Is there anyway for us to do tour3?
Reply
- Jub on April 7, 2018 at 4:47 am
  
  Hi Eugenia,
  Turn up and you’ll be able to do tour3 no doubt. They’ll figure out a solution for you 😉 Let me know how you get on!
  Cheers, Jub
  Reply
Bee Hong Ang on August 21, 2018 at 7:18 am

Hello, thanks for the sharing, it is very helpful. We uni students (28 of us) plan to have a day trip over there. Hence I am wondering if we need to book the ticket in advance since there is huge bunch of us and we get a tour guide for it?

In the price listing, what is the diff between TWR and GT since both are wet tours.

Thanks
Reply
- Jub on August 24, 2018 at 1:47 pm
  
  Hey Bee Hong Ang,
  
  I believe the fourth tour GT is slightly longer. I’d definitely choose the GT tour.
  
  And probably a good idea to book in advance with such a large group. at least let them know you’re coming.
  
  Cheers,
  jub
  Reply