Madai Caves

This massive Madai caves raises from 250 metres from the forest floor. Madai caves was like a home to thousands of bats since hundreds of years ago and it has been well known for generations among the locals for its supplies of bird nests. This generation comes from the Idahan peoples who has been harvested and they have earned the right for collecting all the nests since 20 generation now. This right to harvest ensuring that local Idahan people with traditional rights to collect nests do not lose income to illegal immigrant labor and to traders.

Madai Caves is not far from the main road of Lahad Datu-Tawau highway. The turn off is 69km from Lahad Datu.

The caves are habitat of swiftlets. These birds made their nest using their saliva. These natural products are highly sought after by the Chinese for its medicinal purpose. In high class Chinese restaurants this nest appears in menu as ‘birds nest soup’.

In the Hong Kong the price can fetch up to USD1000.00 per kilograms. The bird’s nests in these caves are harvested twice a year. Only the Idaan people of Sabah are given the exclusive rights to harvest by the Government. This Idaan people have been doing this trade for hundreds of years.

Visitors to Madai Caves is advisable to hire a local guide.
The village folks usually come to you to offer to be your guide. But it is up to you to use their services or enter on your own if you have been here before.

The guides usually ask for Rm20-30 for the service. If you are alone you may pay Rm20. If you are bringing a family you can pay a generous fee of Rm30. Even you pay less, the friendly local villages usually accept.


Madai is also an archaeological site of ancient tombs. But I am very doubtful because not only the local villagers, even Sabah Museum is not showing any interest in protecting the few timber ancestral coffins that left on the path way for villagers and visitors to step on.



Guarding infront the main cave is a small village which all visitors will walk passes the village houses. The villagers lived there for 100 of years ago.
Some are houses of nests collectors who will come to stay only during nest harvesting seasons.

From the hill foot, visitors walk up a wooden stairs of about 100 meters.

There are always a few full time villagers stay inside the caves day and night as guardian to the bird nest. One kilograms of bird nest fatches RM2,000 in Sabah market. There are experienced nest harvesters who return as theif for a fortune.

Madai Caves

Kunak