Singapore cave restaurant and karst walk

Singapore has no natural caves but a man made cave restaurant is opening in 2025. When I first saw the news I thought about the fiasco with the Lepak Cave restaurant at Batu Caves, Selangor, Malaysia. See my website for articles on Lepak Cave. 

However the Singapore cave restaurant is entirely manmade, so no damage will be done to a natural cave! 

Rainforest Wild Asia will be Singapore’s fifth zoological park, set to launch on March 12, 2025. It is located at Mandai Wildlife Reserve. See Time Out 7 Nov 2024.

It has 8 distinct zones including a subterranean labyrinth of walk-through cave chambers. The park includes iconic animal species from the region as well as trees and shrubs. One zone is The Karsts, jagged limestone formations that rise above the canopy, providing a stunning backdrop as primates swing through the environment. You can trek along the Karst Loop and go up the elevated Karst Lookout platform. An Adventure activity is to scale the karst along a guided via ferrata path.

Photograph: Time Out Singapore

The final zone is The Cavern. The Cavern, a 220-metre air-conditioned cave route inspired by the Mulu Caves in Sarawak, Malaysia, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that’s one of Southeast Asia’s largest and most intricate cave systems. It was made possible through a collaboration with Sarawak Forestry Department. As you venture through the darkness, keep an eye out for some fascinating creatures including Madagascar hissing cockroaches, Soro brook carp, blind cave fish, cave racers, and Asian black scorpions.

Photograph: Mandai Wildlife Group

There are Cavern Ranger Talks. Also the Adventure activity: Wild Cavern Adventure explores the nooks and crannies of the cave where you’ll squeeze through tight spaces and navigate narrow tunnels. The Adventure Plus experiences - Critter Crawl - a 20-minute adventure. Armed with just a dim headlamp, a small group will navigate a 60-metre cave tunnel, discovering impressive stalactites, stalagmites, rock formations, and fossil imprints along the way. Booking is required.

photo Photograph: Mandai Wildlife Group

Photograph: Mandai Wildlife Group. Time Out 12 Feb

The restaurant

Singapore's first and only cave-dining experience, The Cavern, is operated by Tung Lok Group. The restaurant offers hearty grilled meats, vibrant shared platters, and a tempting mix of signature cocktails and craft beverages. And fret not, The Cavern is open to the public and accessible without entering Rainforest Wild Asia. This this unique new restaurant in Singapore is modelled after Sarawak’s Mulu Caves.

See Time Out, 12 Feb 2025.

Photograph: Cavern Restaurant

Photograph: Cavern Restaurant

Photograph: Cavern Restaurant

Stal at the Gardens by the Bay, Singapore

One of the newest attractions in Singapore is the Gardens by the Bay, located by Marina Bay Sands. Although I have been to MBS, I haven't been to the gardens.

When a friend told me that there is a lot of large stal on display, I was curiously concerned. My friend said it had been imported from China.

So I googled the gardens and see there is a Chinese Garden in the Heritage Gardens. There are some photos on this site, and I also found this blog that shows some of the stones. They seem to be large pieces of rock rather than actual speleothems. I just hope they have come out of a quarry or were "free standing" stones - I hope they haven't actually been removed from any caves.

But then my concern grew when I continued googling and came across this blog Singapore Actually . It mentions a Crystal Cave and shows photos of stal - click on the link and scroll down to see the photos. The photos show some huge pieces of stal sitting on strangely shaped stands. They look totally out of place.

I continued googling and found these videos on youtube, by liberto , E. Pua and another by Pua showing the Crystal Mountain at Cloud Forest hall. There are mirrors around the hall to reflect the stalactites and stalagmites, see this blog by Alicesg . According to Wikipedia, "The Cavern and the Crystal Mountain contains exhibitions of mineraology and caves".

I don't know how these stal were imported to Singpaore, whether it was done 'legally' or not.
In the past there have been various exhibitions of speleothems in Malaysia, the supply presumably coming from China, or even Philippines.  See more on my website .

© Liz Price
No reproduction without permission