Mahua Waterfall, Tambunan
Mahua Waterfall near Tambunan in the Crocker Range Park.
Getting to Tambunan
Today, we’re travelling out of Kota Kinabalu to a small town in the interior called Tambunan. It’s another of our favourite Sabah destinations and the journey from Kota Kinabalu to Tambunan is a mild adventure in itself as you climb steadily from sea level to an altitude of 1,790 metres (over 5,800 feet), high in the Crocker Ranger and near to the peak of Gunang Alab before descending steeply to the town of Tambunan. It’s only 75km but takes the best part of two hours; a 4WD is highly recommended and the steepness of the road is beyond the capabilities of large tour buses so accordingly you won’t find many tourists here.
This hidden gem of a location sits in a narrow valley at around 2,000 feet above sea level and Tambunan is affectionately known as ‘Switzerland of the East’ for its uncanny resemblance to small towns to be found in Swiss Alpine Valleys.
Travelling from Tambunan to Mahua Waterfall
There’s lots to blog about in Tambunan but we’ll start with our visit to Mahua Waterfall that’s located about 14km north of the town. To reach the waterfall, you need to drive north from Tambunan towards the town of Ranau before turning off at Kampung Patau (Patau Village) and heading further up in to the hills on a minor road that’s only been tarmaced within the last decade.
Visiting Mahua Waterfall in the Crocker Range Park
The waterfall is under the loving care of the Crocker Range Park. It costs just a few ringgit to enter and from the park entrance the walk to the waterfall is about 500 metres through the rainforest along a sympathetically-built wooden pathway; be sure to look out for tropical birds and butterflies along the way and you should also take the opportunity to stop and admire the magnificent and frequently awe-inspiringly, ancient, massive and majestic rainforest trees, that are members of the Shorea genus.
We’re around 3,500 feet above sea level and it’s pleasantly cool at around 21C and the air tastes like nectar. We arrive at the waterfall after the short stroll and it’s beautiful – at around 17 metres high there are of course many higher waterfalls but it’s the idyllic location of the waterfall, framed by the rainforest that makes this place very special. Rewinding many, many years to ‘A Level’ physical geography, it’s a ‘plunge-pool’ waterfall where a deep depression (‘pool’ – in this case 1.3 metres deep) is the result of the erosional forces of falling water.
Crocker Range Park
We help a couple take some photos and they reciprocate then they’re on their way and we have this beautiful place to ourselves! Currently we understand there’s around 1,600 visitors a month, many of whom are locals so a total of just around 50 or so a day on average. There’s an opportunity to enjoy one further treat, as entering the pool is permitted, provided of course the participant(s) are wearing suitable and respectable attire, and clean washroom tandas (toilets) and changing room facilities are provided although of course there’s no life guard on duty. Locals try unsuccessfully to dissuade me from ‘swimming’ in the pool as it’s “So cold” and yes it may not be as warm as the tepid, lukewarm South China Sea but then again the locals are unlikely to have ‘enjoyed’ a swim in the North Sea at Scarborough on a ‘bracing’ day in early May…it’s all relative!
The dip is a memorable experience and one that for any number of reasons would not be possible in the UK. I respectfully inched towards the waterfall, each small step exponentially increasing the power I could feel from the raging torrents of falling water before I retired to the quieter water on the water’s edge.
A fantastic way to conclude a memorable visit and I cannot help but reflect on the thousands and thousands of visitors that would visit the waterfall should it be located in, for instance the Lake District in the UK.
Blue Kinabalu provide on request bespoke tours to Tambunan, and if you come jungle trekking with Blue Kinabalu we’ll start near Gunang Alab and end the hike with a cooling dip in Mahua.
Top Tip for Visitors:
Don’t forget your swimming costume, towel and a change of clothes to make the most of your visit to Mahua Waterfall!
About Martin
Martin is a British expat living in Kota Kinabalu who arranges tailored tours within Sabah primarily for British and Western tourists on behalf of Blue Kinabalu Travel Agency.